As many students approach the end of term with exams completed, some about to graduate, and others with a long summer ahead of them, this is a poignant article highlighting how a degree or predicted 2:1 isn't enough to impress a hiring manager to offer you a job. Every job without a doubt involves some form of teamwork and communication with other employees, and without demonstrating and highlighting these soft skills, you won't get hired, because you won't be able to do the job. 

The article mentions the importance of skills such as problem solving, attention to detail, critical thinking and public speaking - it may be that you do in fact have these skills from your degree, but you've got think outside the box about how you can demonstrate these to an employer through examples. 

All of these skills and strengths that employers are seeking, as well as the technical skills from a degree, can be summed up as 'Professional Readiness' - if you can show an employer that you're ready to leap into a job and hit the ground running, that is that you are a good communicator, you can write professional emails, and get on with everyone as a team player, then you stand a far better chance of being shortlisted for interview. 

This article also raises the important point of coming across as friendly and likeable - it's always worth remembering that an interviewer is trying to figure out whether they could imagine enjoying working with you on a daily basis. This goes hand in hand with cultural fit. If the environment and culture of the organisation isn't right for you, then it won't be a good fit for you, or the employer. Ultimately, if it's the wrong role or the wrong organisation, you'll both suffer. So it's key to use the interview process  as a valuable chance to get to know the company, and figure out how it feels. So ask questions, try to imagine being there. Do you feel comfortable? Do you like what the organisation stands for? A good hiring manager will also place importance on cultural fit and making sure it's a good fit for both parties, so they will respect your motivations for wanting to consider this. 

So, if you're a student reading this, perhaps it's struck a chord, and you're wondering how you can upskill your soft skills? It's never too late to do this, and getting some summer work experience as a student is a great way to do this. There is a reason that the large organisations request a minimum of two different examples of work experience as part of their application criteria. It's so that they can see that you've got some of these soft skills and have put them into practice. Many universities will be advertising shorter summer internships that you can apply for, and if you aren't able to secure something, then even a typical part time vacation job will allow you to develop these soft skills. Of course some types of work experience will be more impressive than other types, but in reality, most employers aren't fussy - they just want to see some hard evidence that if they hire you, you'll be able to function as a positive and effective team member, and can be relied upon to be professional and reliable.