When you get to college, it’s common to find people that have a lot in common with you.They have the same interests, went to a similar school, study the same subjects and generally have the same qualifications as you. When you get to a job interview, those will be the people who will be competing for the same job as you. Well, the question is: how can you compete with them if, at the end of the day, the interviewer will be reading very similar CVs?

I don’t have the magic answer to this question, but I can give you one way you can stand out. Ever heard of something called soft skills? I hadn’t heard about it until some time ago. Or, at least, didn’t know there was a name for it. Any way, soft skills are basically less specific, less technical skills. This term refers to the skills which are more intrinsic with a person’s personality and general behaviour. Some examples of soft skills are communication, teamwork and orientation to solution.

Nowadays, more than ever, it’s important to have the ability to understand what your soft skills are, know how to demonstrate them and use them to you advantage even when executing everyday activities. With more and more people entering the job now with qualified, technical hard skills, it’s important to stand out by using your soft skills to your advantage. Most people have really well-developed soft skills, but sometimes don’t understand them, don’t think they have any value or just think they only need to work on their hard skills to achieve better things in life. Soft skills are the difference between a candidate that is qualified for the job and a candidate that is ideal for the job.Recruiters now are more interested on if you have the soft skills to be and act like a leader than if you know how to work an excel sheet. Hard skills are, for the most part, learnable and adaptable.

But the soft skills are not only important for when you are looking for a job or when you want to get something. Using soft skills in your everyday life will make everyday tasks easier and will help you develop into a better leader. So, next time, when you are trying to learn some hard skills, think about the soft skills too. Think how you can improve your self-awareness, how you can act better in a team dynamics. Being a leader and working on your leadership qualities can get you farther in life than you might think, just be brave enough to explore them!