Even though academic qualifications are important, soft skills are what determine performance in the workplace (Photo: iStock)
In a fast-changing job market, employers are looking not only at academic qualifications but also and focusing on skills that cannot easily be replaced by automation. Financial literacy expert Patrick Wameyo says soft skills such as leadership, communication, project management, interpersonal relations, and sales remain among the most sought-after abilities across industries.
Workplaces evolve and employers are paying greater attention to qualities like social intelligence, adaptive thinking, sense-making, design mindset, computational thinking and new media literacy. These days, he says, have already been identified by the World Economic Forum as some of the most important skills for the future.
Candidates who stand out in competitive recruitment processes are those who understand the value they bring to an organisation and can communicate it simply and confidently. Many qualified candidates fail because they struggle to explain how their skills solve the employer’s problems. The rise of artificial intelligence and automation has also changed hiring expectations.
