Soft skills in the workplace
Soft skills, or behavioural skills, come up everywhere, from internship offers to application advice, without always being explained. This article explains what these interpersonal skills cover, which ones matter in the workplace and how you can work on them, even without professional experience.
In brief
Soft skills, or behavioural skills, refer to interpersonal skills: the way of acting, reacting and working with others, as opposed to hard skills, which are technical.
Recruiters are giving them growing importance, and they are developed through experience: at Excelia Business School, team projects, commitment and the Talent Centre multiply them.
What are soft skills?
According to France Travail, soft skills, literally "gentle skills", are behavioural skills: the way of acting and reacting, in other words interpersonal skills. They are the opposite of hard skills, the technical skills, which are no longer enough to find a job: mastering a spreadsheet is technical, knowing how to explain your approach to a team is behavioural.
The category brings together character traits, such as resilience, emotional abilities, such as self-confidence, and skills that can be learned, such as organisation or creativity: part of interpersonal skills can therefore be acquired.
Which soft skills matter most in the workplace?
No list applies to every career, but two sources give a benchmark. France Travail cites a 2023 study according to which active listening, team spirit, responsibility, autonomy and the ability to solve problems are among the soft skills that managers appreciate most in their teams.
A survey by Pôle emploi (now France Travail) published in 2018 ranks what employers expected at the time. At the top:
- Organising yourself and prioritising your tasks: 98%
- Adapting: 94%
- Autonomy and a sense of responsibility: 93% each
- Teamwork: 90%
This ranking dates from 2018, and expectations vary by career: this survey cites organisation for retail, and stress resilience for executives and salespeople.
Why do soft skills carry so much weight in the workplace?
Because they make a person valuable, to a team, to partners or to customers. Recruiters are giving them growing importance, observes France Travail, and the same 2018 survey illustrates it: 60% of employers then judged behavioural skills to be more important than technical skills.
Two developments reinforce them. Digital transformation is pushing employers to look for socio-emotional skills, and artificial intelligence should place even more value on human qualities, according to France Travail, since it takes on more technical skills. And if you are aiming for a management position, the skills expected of a manager have a dedicated page.
How can you develop your soft skills?
They can be learned, and the first step is to get to know yourself better. France Travail recommends three steps:
- Ask yourself about your qualities and your areas for improvement
- Look back over your experiences, including personal ones: difficulties overcome, successes
- Ask for the opinion of those close to you
Next comes training: multiply the situations that call on these skills. You do not need a job for this, because personal experiences count: a leisure centre leader, for example, develops leadership, self-confidence and listening skills, and team sport, volunteering or a group project play the same role.
How does a business school develop soft skills?
By multiplying real-life situations: Excelia Business School, the management school of the Excelia group, teaches in the classroom, in companies and in environments that recreate professional situations.
Student commitment builds cross-cutting skills that lessons alone do not develop: running a student society project means managing a team, a budget and a schedule. The Humacité© and Climacité© commitment schemes extend this approach, with a solidarity mission for one and an environmental transition project for the other. As for the Talent Centre, the careers service of Excelia Business School, it supports you in showcasing your profile, from your entry to the school until your first job.
After the baccalaureate, the Master in Management (Programme Grande École) lasts five years and leads to a State-accredited qualification leading to a Grade de Master: an official recognition that employers know well. The Bachelor in Business lasts three years and its State-accredited qualification leads to a Grade de Licence, with the same recognition. Depending on the programme, the curriculum includes a Humacité© mission, a Climacité© project, or both: the page for each programme gives the details.
With a Bac+3, you can also join the Master in Management (Programme Grande École) directly, in the 1st year: it is the same qualification as after the baccalaureate, State-accredited and leading to a Grade de Master.
All that remains is to work out how to develop your soft skills in your own pathway: an adviser can discuss it with you at an appointment.
How can you highlight your soft skills on a CV and in an interview?
On a CV, the simplest approach is to link them to experiences. France Travail recommends mentioning them under the title of the position you are aiming for or associating them with each experience, keeping only a few of them and showing a consistent LinkedIn profile. According to the same 2018 survey, 57% of recruiters looked first at the behavioural skills mentioned on the CV.
In an interview, three habits help you to convince:
- Raise the subject yourself, without waiting for the question
- Illustrate each soft skill with a real situation, rather than an adjective
- Match your attitude to your words: if you claim active listening, listen and take notes
At Excelia Business School, the Talent Centre helps precisely to turn an experience, such as a Humacité© mission, into an argument for your CV and interview: a declared quality becomes proof that you can tell as a story.
Discover the Master in Management (Programme Grande École) after the baccalaureate
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between soft skills and hard skills?
Hard skills are technical know-how, soft skills are interpersonal skills: the way of acting and reacting with others. France Travail considers that qualifications and know-how are no longer enough to find a job.
- Which soft skills are most sought after by recruiters?
A 2023 study cited by France Travail ranks active listening, team spirit, responsibility and autonomy among the skills that managers appreciate. A survey by Pôle emploi published in 2018 put organisation and adaptability at the top.
- How can you put your soft skills on a CV?
Mention them under the title of the position you are aiming for or link them to each experience, keeping only a few of them. Keep the same consistency on LinkedIn.
- How can you talk about your soft skills in an interview?
Take the initiative to talk about them and back up each soft skill with a real situation. Your attitude must then confirm your words: if you claim active listening, let others speak and take notes.
- Can you develop your soft skills during your studies?
Yes, because studies multiply the opportunities to work on them: team projects, student society involvement, internships. At Excelia Business School, the Talent Centre also helps you to showcase your profile from your entry to the school.
