The Soft Skills Gap Costing Jobseekers

The study, conducted by job search-engine Adzuna in December 2017, analysed over 1 million live job ads and 50,000 jobseeker CVs to compare the soft skills sought after by employers with the soft skills shown by jobseekers, revealing the hidden soft skills gap afflicting jobseekers in the UK.

Management is the most sought-after soft skill for employers looking to fill a vacancy, specified in 53% of job ads, followed by proven examples of responsibility (41%) and experience of training others (35%). Communication (34%) and planning expertise (24%) round-off the top 5 most in-demand soft skills.

Soft skills also include personality-driven attributes that may be deemed key for professional success. The study found the traits most sought-after in a future employee are being flexible (20%), competitive (18%), motivated (15%) and friendly (15%), proving attitude is often as important as experience when looking to secure a new role.

While this is a serious issue for the career prospects of civilian jobseekers, ex-Service people are extremely well placed to take advantage of both the demand for and the short supply of soft skills in the UK labour pool.

Graham Brown, Managing Director of Forces Recruitment Services Ltd, has worked with employers from a huge variety of industries and is acutely aware of the value that companies place on the skills that ex-military personnel possess:

"Employers who hire former Servicemen and women are getting the complete package. They can harness the amazing range of technical skills that Veterans are blessed with as well as the soft skills that a military career provides, such as management, communications, adaptability, commitment and much more."