What Are Soft Skills (And Why You Need Them)

Experience working with certain tools, knowledge of particular industries and years of work experience are common requirements found in day labor job descriptions. What you may also see is a set of skills, called soft skills, that are just as valuable to employers. Wikipedia defines them as a “cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, interpersonal skills, managing people, leadership, etc. that characterize relationships with other people.” So what are some of these skills and why do you need them?

Communication Skills

Being able to effectively communicate with co-workers, supervisors and customers is just as important in labor work as it is in white-collar work. While you won’t necessarily be writing memos or giving presentations, you must be able to clearly communicate important information such as project status, work needs and safety training. If you're not the best communicator it’s a skill that can easily be worked on. Actively listening, keeping eye contact and not talking over people are just a few of the things you can do to improve these types of soft skills.

Teamwork

A lot of day labor work happens in teams and being able to work with others is another important soft skill to have. That includes being comfortable working with others, sharing the workload and being helpful. Having this skill in the workplace also involves working well with people with different (and sometimes difficult) personalities. By being a good team player, the work you’ve been hired to do gets done more effectively and builds trust with your co-workers and your supervisor.

Flexibility and Adaptability

Projects can change, deadlines can be pushed up and work outside your job description may be required. When that happens, being flexible and focused can make you shine as an employee. These soft skills shows your boss that not only can you roll with the punches and get the job done, it also shows that you are ready for the additional responsibility that a permanent position brings.

Problem-Solving Skills

What can separate a standard employee from a star worker is how they go about solving problems that come up on a job site. Having this soft skill means being able to think on your feet and take charge of the situation instead of having to rely on a supervisor to do it for you. If a pipe bursts or an unsafe situation presents itself, having these soft skills can help you come up with quick and effective solutions so your boss can focus on more important tasks.

Have the experience and the soft skills? Then let Labor Finders help you find your next job! Click here to start working with us now.