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5 Unbelievably Simple Ways To Sharpen Your Soft Skills & Advance Your Career

You have recently passed out from a prestigious institute with an excellent grade in all your subjects. You have all the knowledge you got from books and you can’t wait to put it to good use.

Unfortunately, that prestigious institute did not teach you the major soft skills which are mandatory in every profession. If you lack these skills, then you might as well burn your degree as it would be of no use if you do not possess certain qualities that helps you move forward in your career. Take a look at the following five soft skills which you need to learn on your own: 

Be A Good Listener

Be a good and attentive listener. If you are working in a company and a client will come to you with a problem, then he is not going to use the same fancy terms as you. He will explain it in his own way. You need to be patient, and carefully evaluate what the person is trying to say and then wait for him to finish before asking questions. Empathizing with your customers is also a great way to earn their respect.

Communication In An Understandable Way

You will meet many types of people all working in different fields every day. You must practice expressing yourself in such a way that everyone in the audience will be able to understand and comprehend.

Avoid using a complicated vocabulary or rarely used abbreviations which can lead to confusion and eventually a disinterest from the person listening to you. Keep it simple and understandable, as there is no need to complicate even the simplest things in life just to sound intellectual.

Adaptive Nature

Adaptive nature means your will to accept change in life. The trouble working with older people is their inability to accept the fact that the world is changing and they should change with it; they prefer the old ways of getting things done. Sadly, you do not have that leverage. Keep yourself up–to–date with all the new techs and new software that the company introduces and utilize it in your work. The key to success is to go with the flow and adapt well to what the world presents to you.

Spread Your Knowledge

One of the best ways to remember something that you have recently learned is by volunteering to teach or explain it to a junior or a colleague; you can also write articles about it and send it to the expert assignment writing service in UK. When you spread your knowledge, you not only clear you concepts but also hone your communication skills. 

Critical Thinking

You will be judged by your capability to think on your feet. Major industries do not have the time and sources to waste while waiting around for some productive solution. As soon as a problem arises, kick start your brain and evaluate all the possible scenarios and predict the outcome of each one. After coming up with a reasonable suggestion, do not hesitate to share it with your boss in the fear of getting rejected. Your job is to come up with unlimited positive ideas and this is what matters the most to advance in your career.

You do not have to literally burn your degree but these skills go hand in hand with everything that was taught to you in class. With these skills, you might be able to land a job and prove yourself a resourceful person but it is also your education that will help you excel in career.

About Author:

Eileen Burton is a media and advertising consultant with years of leadership experience in her $500 Gucci bag. When not consulting, she loves to immerse in her favorite activity, i.e., blogging on leadership and entrepreneur topics.

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How to boost your employability and gain an interview

You’ve sent off a thousand job applications, a thousand more CVs, even a few begging covering letters that reek of ink and desperation – but all to no avail.

That’s enough, you think.I can’t do any more to find a job!

But being ignored doesn’t mean you can put your feet up, whistle a jaunty tune and tuck into a Breaking Bad box set. Now is the time to regroup and consider where you’ve been going wrong in the application process.

Indeed, jobseekers have upped their game over the past few decades – over 12 million people graduated from university in 2013, a steady increase since the beginning of the decade (according to government figures).

Meanwhile, thanks to the prevalence and increasing usefulness of the internet, applicants have become savvier, and more prepared for job interviews, referring to articles like this one to gain a necessary edge over the competition.

It means you have to, as they say; pull the finger out if you want to nab a decent position. But, aside from gaining an intricate knowledge of Breaking Bad, what can you do to increase your employability and gain that all-important job interview?

Make the right connections

Here’s a phrase that’s a cliché for a reason – it’s not what you know but who you know. You’ve seen those schmoozers carousing at dinner parties like Don Draper 2.0, casually slipping into the conversation that they could do with a new position, preferably on a beach somewhere, but they’ll make do with a sunny condo.

While you don’t have to be quite so unbearably smug, networking is essential to finding a position that’ll suit you. Use networking sites like LinkedIn to find execs and managers who could help you get into the field you want.

You can also use LinkedIn to find networking events in your area, allowing you face time with employees and peers without having your CV scrutinised.

Be a scholar for life

There’s nothing quite like a degree certification to pique an employer’s interest. Not only does it show a specific skill in your field of choice, but it illustrates that you’re willing and able to focus on and tackle a topic in-depth.

But if you’re struggling on the job-seeking breadline, on-campus tuition probably feels like a pipedream.

However, an online degree gives you the opportunity to apply for jobs while studying on the side. You’ll slowly build your skills and, eventually, have a degree that potential employers will really value.

Hone your CV

Your CV is the key to finding the job you want, but you’d be amazed by the number of people who fail to make theirs count.

Those two pages (and you should never make a CV longer than two pages) should be honed to perfection, detailing your past work experience, qualifications and triumphs that could make you an ideal employee.

Also, be sure that your CV is tailored effectively for the job you’re applying for. If you’re after a position in banking, for instance, it’s unlikely that an employer wants to read about the paper round you had when you were 14.

The same essential principles apply to your covering letter, with the only major difference being that, in this form, you’re selling your personality more than your experience.

Think of your CV as the brain and your covering letter the heart.

No matter how you structure your CV and covering letter, be sure that you don’t overstate your abilities (or, even worse, tell an outright lie). After all, you don’t want to show up to your first day at work with everyone expecting you to have a working knowledge of astrophysics!