The 5 Intangible Skills Your MBA Application Cannot Do Without
Soft skills are transferrable personality traits and behaviors that can be applied to a variety of situations. Soft skills, as opposed to technical or "hard" skills, are interpersonal and behavioral skills that help you work effectively with others and help advance you in your career. Soft skills are a combination of social skills, character traits, and employment qualities.
In this blog post, we'll look at soft skills, how they differ from hard skills and abilities, and which soft skills are most important for being accepted into top MBA programs and ultimately, achieving long-term success.
Key Soft Skills:
Soft skills include innate personality traits and abilities that can be learned. Broad types of soft skills include communication, problem solving, creativity, adaptability and work ethic:
Communication
Effective communication skills will be beneficial during the interview process and throughout your career. Knowing how to talk to people in various contexts or places is part of being able to communicate effectively. When working on a project, for example, you may wish to express when you feel a concept or procedure is ineffective or cost effective. Finding a method to disagree with people in a team gracefully and professionally without causing confrontation is a key quality that employers value.
Related communication skills include: active listening, confidence, conflict resolution, negotiation, public speaking, writing, nonverbal communication, and empathy.
2. Problem-solving
Employers appreciate if you can address problems promptly and efficiently. This might include using industry expertise to resolve an issue as soon as it arises, or taking the time to study and communicate with colleagues to discover a scalable, long-term solution.
Creativity, research, risk management, teamwork, critical thinking, analysis, decision-making, resourcefulness, and troubleshooting are all related problem-solving skills.
3. Creativity
When you have creativity, you may come up with new ways to complete tasks, enhance procedures, and even establish new and intriguing areas for the organization to pursue. Creativity is a broad skill that encompasses many various skill sets, including soft skills and technical skills. Creativity may be used in every position at any level.
Curiosity, learning from others, open-mindedness, taking measured chances, inventiveness, and experimenting are all related creativity qualities.
4. Adaptability
Can you quickly adjust to change? If you work in a technology-driven profession or for a start-up, you must be adaptable. Processes, tools, and the clients you work with may all change fast. Are you adaptable to new conditions and ways of working? This soft talent is useful in a variety of professions and industries.
Consistency, organization, optimism, flexibility, excitement, collaboration, patience, and a growth mentality are all related adaptation abilities.
5. Work Ethic
Work ethic is the capacity to do tasks and fulfill responsibilities in a quality and timely manner. Even if you're still learning technical skills in a new job, having a strong work ethic will help you create favorable relationships with your coworkers and boss. Many organizations would prefer to hire someone with a strong work ethic and an eagerness to learn than a qualified worker who appears unmotivated.
Attention to detail, honesty, persistence, time management, organization, reliability, motivation, tenacity, and you are results-oriented are all related work ethic characteristics.
How can you incorporate soft skills into your MBA application?
When you have a highly technical background, showing your soft skills might be more difficult than you anticipated. First, consider your leadership experiences, collaboration, empathy, and readiness to grow. Then look for common evidence of two to three attributes in your professional experience, extracurricular activities, and achievements. These two to three characteristics will become your unique selling points and should be present throughout your application, not just your resume or interview.
10 Reasons Why Soft Skills are Important