If you are trying to get a job, or a better job, your chances of doing so will be greatly enhanced by the experience and education you place on your resume, but the “soft” skills that you demonstrate will distinguish and differentiate you from the gluttony of competitors who are vying for the same job.

But what are those skills?

Apparently, in spite of the flood of resumes that employers are receiving during a time when the market is saturated with job seekers, they are not as happy with their prospects as you might think.

This is according to a comprehensive survey conducted by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., and Katharine Hansen, Ph.D. Their survey is a distillation of many studies done on the skills universally sought by employers.

A portion of the skill list derived from their survey follows.

Communications Skills (listening, verbal, written). By far, the one skill mentioned most often by employers is the ability to listen, write, and speak effectively. Successful communication is critical in business.

Exceptional listener and communicator. Someone who effectively conveys information verbally and in writing.

Analytical/Research Skills. Deals with your ability to assess a situation, seek multiple perspectives, gather more information if necessary, and identify key issues that need to be addressed.

Highly analytical. Thinking with demonstrated talent for identifying, scrutinizing, improving, and streamlining complex work processes.

Computer/Technical Literacy. Almost all jobs now require some basic understanding of computer hardware and software, especially word processing, spreadsheets, and email.

Computer-literate performer. Competent with extensive software proficiency covering wide variety of applications.

Flexibility/Adaptability/Managing Multiple Priorities. Deals with your ability to manage multiple assignments and tasks, set priorities, and adapt to changing conditions and work assignments.

Flexible team player. Someone who thrives in environments requiring ability to effectively prioritize and juggle multiple concurrent projects.

Interpersonal Abilities. The ability to relate to your co-workers, inspire others to participate, and mitigate conflict with co-workers is essential given the amount of time spent at work each day.

Proven relationship-builder. Someone with unsurpassed interpersonal skills.

Leadership/Management Skills. While there is some debate about whether leadership is something people are born with, these skills deal with your ability to take charge and manage your co-workers.

Goal-driven leader. Someone who maintains a productive climate and confidently motivates, mobilizes, and coaches employees to meet high performance standards.

Multicultural Sensitivity/Awareness. There is possibly no bigger issue in the workplace than diversity, and job-seekers must demonstrate a sensitivity and awareness to other people and cultures.

Personable & Professional. Strengths include cultural sensitivity and an ability to build rapport with a diverse workforce in multicultural settings.

Planning/Organizing. Deals with your ability to design, plan, organize, and implement projects and tasks within an allotted time frame. Also involves goal-setting.

Results-driven achiever. Someone with exemplary planning and organizational skills, along with a high degree of detail orientation.

Problem-Solving/Reasoning/Creativity. Involves the ability to find solutions to problems using your creativity, reasoning, and past experiences along with the available information and resources.

Innovative problem-solver. Someone who can generate workable solutions and resolve complaints.

Teamwork. Because so many jobs involve working in one or more work-groups, you must have the ability to work with others in a professional manner while attempting to achieve a common goal.

Resourceful team player. Someone who excels at building trusting relationships with customers and colleagues.

As someone who specializes in career planning, I have to give kudos to Randall and Katharine for this meticulous list. It’s one of the best I’ve seen. If you are serious about finding a job, including and demonstrating the above skills on your resume, and highlighting them in your interviews, may be the key to opening the door to greater opportunities for you.

eld of endeavour we need knowledge, skills and an appropriate state of mind to perform well. Coaching is no different. In previous articles I have written about skills and state of mind. In this article I will consider the knowledge base that good coaches need, both in terms of subject matter expertise and knowledge of coaching itself.

Subject Matter Expertise

There is still some debate around whether coaches need a detailed knowledge of the matter in hand or underlying subject in order to be able to coach another person effectively.

Some argue that it is impossible to coach without subject matter expertise, as without it we can’t show another person what to do or give our advice or guidance. However it’s clear that telling people what to do is fraught with danger; do I understand how I get results myself? Can I find a way to express that to another person? Will they be able to remember what they’ve been told? We’ve also come to recognize that, these days, knowledge is out of date within a few months and it is highly risky to approach any situation with out of date knowledge. Far better then to coach in a way that allows other people to develop their own solutions and to do so in a way that encourages them to become self-reliant in the future.

That being said, as far as being a manager coaching in a work situation is concerned, in reality we probably will have some background in the situations being discussed, but we should resist the temptation to jump in with our own quick fix solutions.

Knowledge of coaching itself

This is a far more important area of knowledge for effective coaching and breaks down into four main areas:

1 What coaching is

We need to understand – and may often need to explain – that coaching is NOT about telling people what to do and how to do it. In fact, coaching is an interventions designed to raise awareness, generate responsibility and build trust.

2 How managers can incorporate coaching in their own style

We all have our own style of communication with some of us preferring a more directive approach and others a less directive one. Managers who coach need to develop an understanding and knowledge of incorporating the principles of coaching into their own natural style.

3 The principles of awareness, responsibility and trust

Before I can change and improve anything I must first become aware of how it is now. Ultimately it is I who must take responsibility for making improvements and changes. I must trust myself to try new things and I must trust my coach to help me do them. The best coaching managers are those that understand and apply these principles.

4 The impact of questioning and active listening

Questions evoke awareness, responsibility and trust infinitely better than instructions or advice, but even the best coaching questions are meaningless without effective listening.