In today’s complicated job market, a lot of people are asking themselves what it takes to get ahead and land a good job.
It might seem that specialised technical knowledge is the only way to compete in an increasingly tough economy, but that isn’t the case. To really secure a future, what a worker needs is social skills.
Knowing how to get along with others, work in a team and lead gives you a much wider circle. It also helps you negotiate your salary and even land a better job. In the same way, social skills can help you do better in sales.
A recent study, reported in The Atlantic, found that because well-paid jobs are growing slowly and computer technology is advancing quickly, many jobs have become obsolete and will disappear over the next two decades, so those with social skills will have a good opportunity.
Professor David J. Deming of Harvard University argues that social skills have already become a key asset over the last few decades, especially for people seeking high salaries and competitive positions.
According to Deming, jobs that require both cognitive and social skills have seen faster wage growth in recent decades than jobs that demand a high level of mathematical or analytical training but little social ability. And those wage gains hold at every level of employment.
See also: The businesses of the future and the jobs that will be in demand
In the future, the jobs least likely to be automated are those that call for a great deal of interaction with co-workers or customers, not just routine analytical tasks. These jobs also require the ability to do something innately human: weigh up the other person’s point of view. These nuances of human interaction are something computers have yet to master.
Social skills are most valuable when it comes to teamwork and to negotiating tasks according to each person’s skills or abilities. “Human interaction in the workplace involves team production, playing to each member’s strengths and adapting flexibly to changing circumstances,” Deming writes. “This non-routine interaction is the human advantage over machines.”
The study also suggests that the higher value placed on social aptitude may be partly responsible for helping to narrow some gender pay gaps, since women tend to show higher levels of emotional intelligence than men.
Together with rising educational attainment, that could mean better social skills have helped women thrive in the workplace.
See also: The 50-30-20 rule for career success
Featured image: Michael Coghlan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
