5 Soft Skills You’ll Need to Get Hired Post-Crisis

This is part of LinkedIn's new Newsletter Series. To get weekly career advice, hit the "subscribe" button above & be sure to follow #JTTalksJobs to join the conversation!

When COVID-19 is over and employers are finally able to start to hire again, the unfortunate reality is they will not be hiring back all of their positions. 

We will see an extended length of time with much higher unemployment rates than we have in decades. 

This means the number of people applying for jobs will be insane. 

Thousands of people will apply for the same positions. Hundreds of them will have the exact same qualifications and level of experience. 

So, how will employers decide who to hire? 

It will come down to the right combination of soft skills.

Here’s why...

Executives already know, it’s all about “presence.”

Executive Presence is something professionals seeking higher-level jobs understand. 

When you want a bigger job and an even bigger paycheck, the competition increases dramatically. 

It's very similar to professional athletes. 

Each time a player goes up in a league, the competition gets stiffer, and the athlete knows he or she can be knocked out at any time.

In the working world, professional presence determines how high you go. Especially, in times of crisis and extremely high unemployment.

Think of it this way...

Imagine an employer is staring at a bushel of apples. Hundreds of apples that all look exactly the same. How does it decide which one to choose? 

By discriminating. 

Hiring is discrimination. I realize that's hard to hear. 

We're told discrimination is illegal. And, for certain protected classes it is. But, when it comes down to choosing one candidate over another who is exactly alike in hard skills and experience, the employer must discriminate. 

Professional presence is your unique combination of soft skills. It’s what an employer uses to discriminate.

It’s how they decide if you will be a good fit for the organization. Especially, if the organization needs something different than what it had before.

There are five soft skills that make up the ideal Professional Presence after a crisis. They are:

1. Composure
2. Resonance
3. Practical Knowledge
4. Vision
5. Humility

In the LinkedIn live session I did today, I walked listeners through each of these and how, when put together, they create the right Professional Presence to get hired in a post-crisis, competitive environment. 

I’m not suggesting you be inauthentic or lie - that won’t work.  

Instead, I outline how to reveal these parts of yourself in a more succinct manner. 

I'm also not asking you to be something you’re not.

I'm explaining what parts of your professional self you need to do a better job of articulating in order to beat out the competition and get hired. 

The sooner you can prepare yourself for interviews showcasing your soft skills, the better the chances.

P.S. - Be sure to use the hashtags #JTTalkJobs & #PersonalDevelopment so we can all join in the conversation.

_______________________________________________________

P.S.S. If you don't think a membership to my company's career coaching service is for you (yet).

At Work It Daily, we put together the following free career growth tools for you:

• Laid Off And Looking. How to Bounce Back After You've Been Let Go

CLICK HERE for the FREE Training & to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.

• A complete job search checklist.

CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.

• A list of the 18 most common interview questions.

CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.

• Free cover letter samples.

CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.

• Guide to changing careers.

CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.

• Masterclass on how to avoid common job search mistakes.

CLICK HERE to ACCESS the video training.