Soft Skills? Develop yours through seasonal work
Soft skills are competencies or personal attributes that, once you’ve got them, will stand you in good stead when it comes to finding a job, and throughout the course of your working life.
Soft skills are ‘personal attributes’, relational or behavioural aptitudes that are fundamental in the life of every individual. They’re also known as ‘transferrable skills’ because they’re not learned through professional training but are personal competencies that are also a huge plus when brought into the work arena. This is true both during the recruitment phase, within a team and throughout your career.
More specifically, soft skills are all those character and behavioural traits that influence how you present yourself and act in the workplace. The most widely known are, for example, communication skills, time management, attention to detail, leadership and work ethic.
Want to gain some of these skills fast?
Seasonal work is an excellent opportunity!
A seasonal job can often give you the chance to have an all-round professional experience that lasts for a short period, generally a few months. From managing interpersonal relationships to organizing the workday, handling projects with co-workers and interacting with customers, seasonal work is a fully rounded experience. That means it’s ideal for quickly developing those soft skills that are so crucial to your career.
Now let’s take a look at Soft Skills in greater detail:
- Communication and interpersonal skills: very often, seasonal jobs offer the challenge, and opportunity, to work in close contact with the public. You’ll learn to interact with other people, whether they’re your co-workers or customers, and communicate in a manner suitable to your working environment. Knowing how to interact appropriately will allow you to express your opinions, needs and goals in a polite, clear, efficient way.
- Stress management skills: summer jobs tend to be fast paced. You’ll have to fit into a completely new team and coordinate with them, as you learn to handle your duties and responsibilities. This will teach you to manage your time according to your personal needs and those of the team.
- Problem solving: it’s normal to come up against unforeseen challenges during the working day. Seasonal work is a great training ground to help you learn how to manage those moments: you’ll have to navigate your way through different situations and find a solution, fast. The upside? You’ll develop excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills in the process.
- Leadership: by leadership, we mean the ability to take charge and be a solid point of reference within your team. And it’s not necessarily correlated to your job description or status. Leadership can also mean being able to draw out the best that each team member can contribute to the group. It’s one of the most complex skills, but it’s learned on the job, working with other people. A seasonal job is the ideal opportunity to test your capacity for being a good leader within a team.
So, have we convinced you to venture into the fray?
Once your seasonal job has come to an end, you can add your newly-acquired skills to your CV: they’ll work in your favour when it comes to subsequent job applications!
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Cover: Freepik
