5 Soft Skills for Long-Term Career Success

5 Soft Skills for Long-Term Career Success 5 Soft Skills for Long-Term Career Success With the rise in portfolio careers, part-time work, freelancing, and side jobs, it can be hard to figure out which skills are most important to possess for your career. I attended a conference earlier this summer that talked about the critical soft skills all job seekers and professionals should possess in order to thrive in the changing world of work. Lets take a look at five soft skills for long-term career success that you can master. The good news is that none of these five skills require any advanced training- truly any professional can build these skills, regardless of career field or level. These skills were discussed by Valerie Ward of EmploymentReadiness.info, which maintains the Employment Readiness Scale, an online assessment tool. According to the folks at ER, these are the five skills needed for employment readiness. Self-Efficacy This critical soft skill has to do with your ability to be proactive and perform well. Similar skills include self-management, a feeling of control over your work and life, and a confidence in your abilities. These are all particularly important if youre looking for flexible or remote work, because this type of work requires a huge amount of self-motivation and self-management. Outcome Expectancy Ward describes this as the belief that ones efforts will result in positive outcomes. Essentially it means that you have a positive outlook on your possibilities- that youre optimistic about your future. In an ever-changing career landscape, it can be very difficult to remain positive, but people who can master this skill will find greater success than those who get stuck in a negative mindset. Social Supports Outside of work, who can you turn to for help and support? Your list can include everyone from friends who listen to your problems and act as cheerleaders, to your child-care provider(s), your local library, your professional network, and anyone or any group of people whom you can turn to when you need help. For long-term career success, people with the bigger and better support networks tend to go further. Job Maintenance My notes from the conference describe this as all those team work-y skills because job maintenance has to do with all the skills you use to communicate, self-manage, and generate repeat business or contracts. For people in full-time traditional jobs, this means your ability to maintain and grow your career within your current company or through new opportunities elsewhere. The skills that fall under this soft skill include communication, problem-solving, working well with others, prioritizing, and being able to draw a line between personal life and work life. Good job maintainers address work problems, learn from mistakes, work collaboratively with others, and want to see themselves succeed. Work History Interestingly enough, the thing most professionals are concerned with as they look for new work- having the right background and work experience- is only one part of the puzzle. Work history has to do with how positively you feel about your past work experiences (including volunteer work!). People who can look back positively at their work history are more likely to choose great jobs in the future. Readers, are you confident in these five soft skills for your long-term career success? Which ones do you need to improve? Leave a comment and let us know!