Hard Skills, Soft Skills and Personal Qualities

07/06/2022

Hard Skills, Soft Skills and Personal Qualities

Being a fish out of water is tough, but that’s how you evolve.
Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistani-American comedian, screenwriter

The job search website zipjob.com recently reported the top 15 qualities and skills employers are seeking in 2022, differentiating hard skills, soft skills and personal qualities.

Specific, measurable and often essential for the job, top ranking hard skills include technology skills, but also languages, bookkeeping and operational skills. Soft skills are more intangible and include communication, problem-solving, time management, organization and collaboration skills. Finally, Zipjob includes qualities that make someone more hirable: honesty, loyalty, determination, having a personal work ethic and eagerness to learn and adapt.

In Heart-Centered Teaching Inspired by Nature, Nancy Rosenow invites us to cultivate our unique qualities. “Spend some time thinking about qualities you especially appreciate in yourself. Choose one quality and think of a way you could express it more fully. Here’s an example from my own life. One quality I appreciate in myself is kindness. In order to cultivate it more, I decided if I find myself beginning to feel annoyed with someone, I will say to myself: 'Right now I’m choosing to be kind.' Just that small reminder often dissipates the negative feelings and gives me a chance to honestly address whatever it is that’s causing annoyance."

Rosenow asks, “What would it look like to let yourself fully bloom right now? I’ve asked myself that recently and been surprised at the answers. I began to realize how often I’ve let fear of other people’s reactions stop me from expressing who I truly am in this very moment.”

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