Soft Skills - Meaning & 145+ Examples for Your CV

What are soft skills?

Soft skills (also known as personal skills) are related to your personality and work ethic. These abilities are valuable in the workplace because they show employers how you’d handle issues and interact with others in different situations.

Your soft skills are developed throughout your lifetime and are affected by your:

• upbringing and relatives
• school and teachers
• classmates and friends
• approach to classwork and homework
• personality (for example, being an introvert or an extrovert)

Describing your soft skills on your CV is a great way to tell employers you’d fit well into their team culture. Your soft skills will show target companies you can:

• interact well with colleagues, managers, and customers
• work well on your own or as part of a team
• keep your work organised and up to date
• handle challenges from your job effectively (e.g., working under pressure, adapting to change)

Below we list 145+ key soft skills for your CV, provide examples of where to place them throughout your CV, and answer some frequently asked questions about soft skills.

145+ soft skills examples for your CV

Here’s a list of the top soft skills you can use in 2023 to boost your CV and impress employers:

1. Communication skills

Good communication skills help you explain your ideas in a clear and professional way. Being an excellent communicator is a valuable soft skill in any work environment because it allows you to:

• exchange information quickly and accurately with others
• avoid misunderstandings or potential conflicts with people you work with
• maintain positive relationships with your customers or colleagues

Here are some specific communication skills for your CV:

2. People skills

People skills ensure you can get on well with others, whether they’re colleagues, clients, or professionals in the same field as you.

Employers seek applicants with outstanding people skills in every field. For instance, say you’re a freelancer who works from home. You’ll still need to be able to make small talk and be personable when sending in your freelance projects to put yourself on top of the project manager’s list when they’re assigning new tasks.

Here are some other personal attributes related to people skills:

3. Flexibility

Flexibility is the ability to adapt to new situations and succeed in them. Employers seek applicants who are willing to adapt to different scenarios and adjust well to unexpected changes, so don’t forget to include this skill on your CV.

Skills relating to flexibility include:

4. Leadership skills

Leadership means setting a vision and guiding your employees towards it. This soft skill also involves being a good role model at your workplace and setting high expectations in terms of output and workplace behaviour.

Here are some key leadership skills for your CV:

5. Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are similar to people skills, but refer more to your ability to understand and relate to other people. By contrast, people skills refer to your ability to create positive feelings in other people.

These are some examples of interpersonal skills to add to your CV:

6. Management skills

Managerial skills are vital if you’re responsible for guiding other people in their work, which includes supervising them, providing feedback, and assigning them daily tasks.

Soft skills for managers include:

7. Customer service skills

Because the UK’s economy is dominated by service-sector jobs, you’ll often deal with clients in whatever role you end up in. Employers want to know you’re someone who has a pleasant demeanour when speaking with customers and will leave them feeling happy with your services.

Have a look at these customer service skills for your CV:

8. Creativity

Finding creative solutions to problems is essential in most jobs because it shows you can handle whatever problems arise. Creativity also refers to the ability to create unique work, which is essential for jobs such as teaching, journalism, writing, and graphic design.

Here are more skills related to creativity:

9. Problem solving skills

Employers expect employees to come up with solutions to problems rather than idly ignoring them and waiting for them to go away. Being able to identify issues, brainstorm answers, and follow through with solutions are highly sought after skills, so ensure employers know you can handle challenges in your target role.

Below are some problem solving abilities you can highlight on your CV:

10. Teamwork skills

Teamwork skills allow you to collaborate effectively and build strong relationships with your peers.

A good team player is someone who knows how to be respectful, motivate others, and contribute to making meaningful decisions that help everyone reach their goals.

Show that teamwork skills are a part of your character by highlighting these abilities on your CV:

11. Organisational skills

Organisational skills are important life skills that help you stay efficient and use the time, energy, and resources you have wisely.

For example, knowing how to set clear and realistic goals at work can help you reduce stress and stay on track with deadlines.

Show employers you’re able to structure your work effectively with these skills:

12. Skills for care

If you’re writing a nursing CV or carer CV, you should highlight your skills for care. These soft skills should show you can create a rapport with patients, understand their needs, and make them feel cared for.

Here are some examples:

13. Time management skills

Time management abilities let you know what to prioritise as well as how to keep ahead of deadlines and improve your efficiency. Companies look for candidates who have good work habits, so showing you’re a productive person on your CV is a great idea.

For good time management, you’ll need these skills:

What’s the difference between soft skills vs. hard skills?

The difference between soft skills and hard skills is that:

• soft skills are learnt naturally over the course of your life
• hard skills are learnt through training, schooling, or practical experience

For instance, driving is a hard skill gained through driving lessons, taking an exam, and then earning a driving licence.

By contrast, accepting feedback from your driving instructor shows you have a growth mindset — an important soft skill. Also, being patient while driving on the road with others is another example of a soft skill.

Where to add soft skills to your CV

Unsure how to write a CV that includes your most relevant soft skills? Below are four CV sections that are great places for you to add your soft skills:

1. Your skills section

The skills section of your CV is an ideal place for you to list your top hard and soft skills for your target role. Because employers have limited time to look at each application, ensure you list skills on your CV that directly relate back to the job advert.

For instance, this job posting is seeking someone with good caregiver skills:

And here’s how you could list the skills employers want to see on your CV for the above job advert:

2. Your work experience section

The work experience section of your CV is one of the best places for listing skills on your CV. If you’re listing soft skills in your CV skills section, provide examples of how you’ve used these skills in your work experience section.

Explaining when and how you’ve used these soft skills at work provides employers with proof of what you’ve accomplished and gives them an idea of how you’ll assist them if they hire you.

Here’s an example of a bullet point describing an applicant’s organisational skills in the work experience section of their CV:

3. Your hobbies and interests section

Listing your hobbies and interests on a CV is a good way to showcase positive parts of your personality that’ll make you an ideal candidate for companies.

By including hobbies and interests that highlight your soft skills and match the target company’s culture, you’ll have a higher chance of making it to the interview stage.

Here are some examples of hobbies and interests that are related to specific soft skills:

• Self-discipline and motivation (e.g., playing a musical instrument, gardening, programming)
• Creativity (e.g., painting, graphic design, singing)
• Teamwork and collaboration (e.g., playing a sport, joining a club, volunteering)
• Leadership (e.g., taking public speaking courses, joining a debate team)

4. Your CV education section

The education section of your CV is another place for you to highlight your soft skills.

Not only does your schooling showcase what you learnt in the past, you can also use your education section to include:

• your graduate degree (to demonstrate a commitment to your schooling)
• certifications (to demonstrate your growth mindset and openness to learning)
• relevant coursework (to showcase your favourite subjects or courses)
• school-related activities (to highlight your interpersonal skills with other students)
• high grades (to highlight your solid work ethic and ability)

Below is an example of a candidate’s CV education section that reflects their academic achievements and extracurricular activities:

Frequently asked questions about soft skills

Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about soft skills:

1. What are some good soft skills for managers?
2. Why are soft skills important?
3. How can I improve my soft skills?

More FAQs related to soft skills on your CV

Below are more questions to assist you with the CV writing process.

• What do employers look for in a CV?
• Why is a CV important?
• What should a CV include?