Will soft skills get you a job? Depends where you want to work
Spanish journalist Rita Abundancia called me to talk about the importance of soft skills, technology and the job market for an article in Spanish (pdf) she has published in El País. The article has also been translated in the English edition of El País, as “Traveling the world or walking dogs as a volunteer: The importance of acquiring skills that AI cannot imitate”.
My feeling is that soft skills, as opposed to technical skills, are enormously important, but that this is largely tempered by the structure of labor markets. Rita told me how in North America, Japan or South Korea, for example, soft skills were highly valued, and that she had met people who had walked the Camino de Santiago or travelled around the world because companies value job candidates who do those kinds of things.
Soft skills are usually seen as a plus by employers, who first compile a list of candidates who have the technical skills, experience or training they require, and then use their soft skills to filter them. Given that we live during a time when technology is developing rapidly, unsurprisingly, the focus has been on technical skills. But as more and more people master new skills, and technology changes at lightning speed (what you know today is obsolete tomorrow), some organizations begin to be interested in more durable skills, more…
