HUMAN RESOURCES Transition to Business By Paul Falcone
Why Soft Skills Matter (and Technical Abilities May Not Be Enough)
“Soft skills” are the drivers behind performance that define your character and reputation. In last month’s issue (January 2022), I wrote about the importance of longevity, career progression, and technical skills when transitioning into the private sector and conducting your job search. To this third point, though, there’s a healthy caveat worth noting: technical skills—no matter how wellhoned or developed—will likely not be enough to make your career transition a full success. Yes, technical skills can help you stand apart from your competition, no doubt, and there are lots of training and certification programs (think LinkedIn Learning) that you can access on your own in the months preceding your military-to-private sector transition. But the workplace demands a commitment to both performance and conduct, to high levels of productivity and behaviors that support teamwork and camaraderie. In short, it demands a heightened sense of leadership and a willingness and ability to create and sustain a friendly and inclusive work environment. 36
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / FEBRUARY 2022
“Soft skills” are the drivers behind performance that define your character and reputation. For example, good listening skills are more than just the ability to hear others communicate. They’re about listening with your eyes and heart in addition to your ears. They’re about showing empathy and creating a sense of having someone’s back. When you’re described as a “great listener”—a very important soft skill—people sense that you care about them and have their interests in mind. Further, a lack of soft skills, such as reliability, time management, or critical thinking can derail an employee with solid technical skills. According to LinkedIn, more than 80 percent of recruiters say when a new hire doesn’t work out, it usually comes down to a lack of soft skills. And that makes sense—you wouldn’t have made the final hiring cut without the technical skills and certifications needed for the position you were hired into, but if a new hire doesn’t work out, it’s typically due to
