Soft Skills Needed for the Work World	
Soft skills are your work personality skills that are needed in all jobs
.  Technical skills are the skills you 
need for one type of job such as carpenter (how to use power saw), com
puter coder (how to program), nurse 
(how to take blood pressure), or graphic designer (how to use Photosh
op software).  Here are words 
employers use when describing the SOFT SKILLS or PERSONALITY SKILLS workers need to succeed.
1)  Adaptable (Flexible):   Make changes in job duties smoothly, such as learn new ways to do things or 
new equipment.  Successfully adjust to changes and different people that at work.
2)  Committed (Persistant):  Stick to a job or task until it is done.
3)  Creative:   Think of new solutions, new ways to do, new designs
4)  Dependable:  Do what is required every day such as showing up for work on time.
5)  Good Communicator:  Can listen, speak, read, and write.  Can talk to all people.
6)  Honest:  Never lie, cheat, steal.   
7)  Loyal:  Speak good about company, customers, coworkers.  Do not gossip about work situations.  
8)  Organized:   Keep the work area and supplies clean and neat. 
9)  Polite:  Show others care, concern, and respect.
10)  Positive:   Think about what’s right instead of what’s wrong; to speak about what can be done instead 
of what can’t be done; to share good events rather than complain.
11)  Reliable:   Trusted to do job tasks correct and complete every day. 
12)  Self-Disciplined:  Control oneself in a businesslike manner in dress, words, and actions. 
13)  Shows Empathy:   Understand how another person feels about something or someone.
14)  Shows Good Judgment:   Make good decisions about which actions and words 
  are right for a work situation and which are not right.  
15)  Shows Initiative:  Start a task without being told —continue working until task is compl
eted.
16)  Shows Integrity:  Personal character (personality) to always do what is right, honest, 
and true.
17)  Tactful:  Saying or doing the right thing in a difficult situation.
18)  Team Player:   Ability to work smoothly and accurately with 
  coworkers and supervisors while completing job tasks.
19)  Trustworthy:  Can keep a secret.  Can hande money without stealing.  Will do a job right.
QUICK CHECK:
 1. Select 10 soft skills (words in bold).  For each soft skill —  
   a) Name of a job that uses that soft skill.  
   b) How the worker uses that soft skill on the job.  
   Example: 
     #1 Adaptable.  a) Sales tech in Apple computer store. 
     b) Needs to learn about new products and new software quickly.
U.S. Work World
CAREER mini-lesson
College & Career Publishing. Permission to use with usworkworld.com subscription.