Three Soft Skills for Career Success

Education? Check. Hard skills? Check. Experience in the industry? Check. What else could a hiring manager be looking for??

Just because you check all the requirements listed in a job description doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the ideal candidate for the role.?Companies?often look?for specific soft skills that may be difficult to include in a resume. In recent research conducted by?Efficio,?half of the survey respondents said soft skills were very important for procurement leaders to have, while one-quarter of respondents deemed them essential. ?

Let’s look at what could be considered three of the most important soft skills we see in profile requests for procurement roles. ?

Adaptability?

There is no doubt that organizations are looking to hire?people?with exceptionally strong sourcing fundamentals.?However,?following the steps and completing?the tasks required is only one part of the job.?Many hiring managers are looking for someone who can combine the fundamentals with the ability to be creative and propose solutions that don’t merely follow tried and true recipes.??

More than one-third of respondents in the?Efficio?survey believe that “flexibility and agility to manage ongoing change” is one of the top three skills needed by procurement professionals today.?

As highlighted in?Supply Chain Management Review,?being adaptable includes having?“an ability to work towards strategic goals and enables employees to take on more complex tasks.” Think beyond completing tasks and more towards?meeting?goals, especially for positions where strategic procurement is being upskilled or introduced. In your cover letter or resume, highlight ways you have helped achieve strategic goals for a company and how you had to adapt your work or skillset to make it possible. ?

Emotional intelligence?

Procurement is not an island. It has to be seen as operating in lockstep and with an appreciation for what’s going on in the business as a whole.?Doing this well requires a high level of emotional intelligence, empathy, listening, and relationship-building skills. ?

Emotional intelligence can also be an?essential?skill when working with external suppliers. According to the?Oxford Professional Education Group,?understanding and interpreting?a supplier’s behavior will help you adapt your approach when working with them. And building a good relationship with your suppliers will be beneficial in both current and future negotiations. ?

Data from the?2021 Deloitte Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey?found that many CPOs are increasing their focus on relationships and influence across functions and supply markets. Having an understanding of what’s happening in your business, as well as in the business of your suppliers, is?a crucial?element to building these successful relationships. ?

A learning mindset?

The third key skill hiring managers are looking for is self-awareness and a learning mindset.

How businesses operate is changing, and organizations are looking to solve?many?problems they’ve never faced before. While companies don’t expect you to have all of the answers all of the time,?acknowledging?that you don’t have the answer and finding ways to get the answer is a valuable skill. ?

Don’t shy away from acknowledging skills you may be lacking in your interview. If a company is looking for a specific skill or understanding of a tool that you may not have yet, explain how you plan to learn that skill to succeed in the role. If you’re willing to acknowledge this about yourself and how you approach problem-solving, it says a lot about how easily you would acclimate to a job that you’ve not explicitly done before. In doing that, it’s?telling to?a hiring manager in terms of how much confidence they would have in hiring you.?

While it may not be easy to quantify and qualify soft skills like these on your resume, being able to demonstrate them in your interview with solid examples will help put you at the head of the pack when hiring managers are making their decisions.

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