Hamburg/Berlin, 6 June, 2017 – Soft skills are becoming increasing vital to employers when differentiating between candidates with similar experience and education. Job meta-search engine Joblift has analysed which soft skills are most frequently asked for in job adverts to show which are the most desirable skills hiring managers are on the hunt for. Joblift has also compared the UK’s top five soft skills with those in France, Germany and the Netherlands to highlight potential cultural differences and found that the UK shares the most with the Netherlands and the least with France.
Based on the 9,542,193 jobs that were advertised in the past year (from May 2016), the UK’s top five most desired soft skills are: 1 Dedication/commitment: 1,687,274 mentions 2 Communication skills: 1,603,040 mentions 3 Confidence: 1,101,815 mentions 4 Motivation: 1,101,293 mentions 5 Flexibility: 956,516 mentions Organisational skills (880,166 mentions) and a positive and enthusiastic outlook (851,769 mentions) also featured highly, whereas, being spontaneous (1,432 mentions), a quick thinker (3,654 mentions) and solution-oriented (5,178 mentions) were the soft skills that UK employers look for the least in candidates. Perseverance (7,002) and being tactful (7,256) round off the bottom five soft skills in the list.
Joblift also analysed the top five soft skills in the 9,830,914 jobs in France, 9,112,741 in Germany and 2,305,389 jobs in the Netherlands in the same period. Comparing the job markets allows a discussion into the similarities and differences in what recruiters are looking for in each of the countries. In France, independence was the most common soft skill desired with 2,102,829 mentions, being rigorous comes in second place (1,901,964 mentions), followed by social skills with 1,464,495 mentions. Being dynamic also rates highly in French job advertisements with 1,209,549 mentions and being a team player ranks with 1,006,517 mentions. On the other hand, in Germany being a team player (2,685,913 mentions), reliability (2,361,155 mentions), engagement (1,613,467 mentions), Communication skills (1,581,679 mentions) and adaptability (1,487,294) are decisive for professional success. Furthermore, in the Netherlands, adaptability tops the list with 446,688 mentions, followed by communication skills (359,030 mentions), being a team player (313,187 mentions), being proactive (194,583 mentions) and motivation (191,405 mentions).
In terms of comparing the four countries, communication/social skills are key in all job market with this soft skill featuring in each of the country’s top five. The UK has the most in common with the Netherlands as both countries feature communication skills and motivation in their top five. Interestingly, the UK is the only country analysed which does not include being a team player amongst the top soft skills desired, with the characteristic featuring in France, Germany and the Netherlands’s top five. Confidence is a characteristic which features exclusively in the UK’s top soft skills. In the UK job market, company-orientated soft skills appear most commonly with three out of the top five skills being company focused. In France, on the other hand, the majority of the soft skills in the top five are concerned with individualistic behaviour. Germany and the Netherlands share the same ratio of interpersonal and company-oriented behaviour, with individual soft skills not featuring in either country’s top five.
Joblift is meta search engine for currently more than 1,000,000 jobs from over 100 partner job boards. Joblift’s customised search filters and email notifications allow users to personalise their search criteria. The company was founded in 2015 by Lukas Erlebach and Malte Widenka. At the two locations in Hamburg and Berlin, Joblift currently employs a team of around 40 employees.