We often used the term “soft skills” in a corporate environment. But what are soft skills and why are they important in the UAE job market? Soft Skills are the skills that characterize relationships with other people. Soft Skills are also known as “people skills”, “interpersonal skills” or “social skills”.
With the UAE’s rapid economic growth, it has attracted different nationalities from around the world. This makes even more important to know about soft skills as it becomes the key to managing your professional relationships at workplace.
7 soft skills everyone needs in the UAE job market:
1) Communication skills
Communication skills are always top of the soft skills list and often mentioned as the “essential skills” for a job. With excellent communication skills, you can bridge gaps between the teams through a long term relationship. It simply means to express yourself clearly. With good communication skills, you can express your thoughts clearly to the other person.
2) Teamwork
For a sustainable growth, teamwork is very important. Employers want collaboration within the team to reach the common goals and objectives of the organization. That means, sometimes being a leader and sometimes being a good follower.
3) Problem Solving
Employers prefer their employees to be the problem solver and to be the problem cribber. Even in interviews, most HR managers often ask “How did you solve the problem”? Today’s organizations are looking for talent who have the ability to take the responsibility and solve the problem and grow further.
4) Making Decisions
If you pose the problem-solving quality, by way of default you tend to make decisions. The results of the decision are important but not as important as the ability to take critical decisions. Correct decision making comes with years of experience on the shoulder.
5) Self-Motivation
Training is a vital part of employee’s growth but organizations cannot constantly invest in paid motivational programs. The employee needs to be self-motivated. To fall is a part of life, but to stand up and keep moving forward is what makes you stronger. Self-motivated employees don’t need close supervision and they get the desired results for the organization.
6) Leadership skills
It’s a topic of debate whether leadership can be taught or is it ingrained within an individual. There are different styles of leaderships such as autocratic, democratic, strategic, transformational, etc which are needed in an organization for a sustainable growth.
7) Adaptability
One needs to be flexible in the corporate world. This stands true especially for the senior people in an organization. If people are not adaptable there won’t be any new way of doing or looking at things. This will bring monotony in the job for junior employees. Being adaptable means open to new ideas, acceptance of change and so on.
This list isn’t an exhaustive list but a glance at the skills you need to grow in the United Arab Emirates job market.
Westford University College recognizes the importance of soft skills for students to remain competitive in the UAE market. To achieve this, Westford organizes numerous soft skills programs for Bachelor’s and MBA students. If you would like to learn more about soft skills or enhance your abilities, enroll in any degree program and learn from the experts.
