Soft skills are becoming more and more important for MBA students, a TopMBA article argues. These personally-developed attributes are generally developed through life and work experiences and can be transferred between many different roles.

Amongst the skills that the blog author deems most useful are clear verbal skills, communication and interpersonal skills as well as problem-solving skills.

Another skill is to listen carefully and the top quality for executives is to combine being a listener, a facilitator, a team leader as well as the person who gets along with others and pays attention. To listen carefully also means to accept and learn from criticism and to take everything in and turn negatives into positives.

Teamwork has also always been an essential trait for new employees and the ways to improve this skill are to

·         Split up work evenly
·         Keep an open mind
·         Never make assumptions and always praise when possible
·         Make everyone feel important
·         A positive attitude

Many employers also put a high emphasis on a strong work ethic and say this is the key to success. One aspect of this is facing the negatives as well as the positives. Most people will find this challenging, as it can be quite difficult to take criticism. Remember, the person giving you feedback wants to help you improve your work and has the best intentions.

It’s possible to improve soft skill by working with a mentor for example. Communication skills can be improved by joining groups, or by trying public speaking courses to build up confidence and verbal style.

Read more on www.topmba.com