Employers say they can’t find enough workers with the skills they want for the jobs they need to get done. They’re not always talking about tech skills. The most valued skills for the workforce aren’t specific to a degree, certification, or industry.

Commonly known as “soft skills,” LinkedIn’s Chief Economic Opportunity Officer, Aneesh Raman, calls them the “core human skills” that 72% of U.S. executives want.
“For a long time, we’ve mistakenly undervalued these skills as soft, when in reality, these are some of the most critical skills we all need to get better at in order to be successful in the workplace – and more generally to just be better humans,” says Raman.
Also now known as “transferable” and “durable” skills, they’re considered versatile competencies that are, for some jobs, preferred more so than technical skills. Durable skills are seen as foundational, that can help an employee navigate any work environment, and focus on how someone interacts with others, manages tasks and approaches problem-solving.
“There are hundreds of skills that fall under this category, but I like to boil them down into the five Cs: curiosity, compassion, creativity, courage, and communication,” according to Raman.
The specific skills can include:
- analytical and creative thinking,
- communication,
- collaboration,
- time management,
- resilience,
- flexibility,
- and emotional intelligence (EQ).
“These are not skills relating to how well we can use a certain tool or software, but skills relating to how well we work with and alongside other people,” Raman says.
Strong aptitude in these areas can future-proof a career, experts say. Even with the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, LinkedIn data shows those with hard and soft skills get promoted faster.
Learn How to Communicate
Development can start as early as one’s pre-teen years.
“There’s a lot of data that we show our middle school, high school, and alumni that talk about, for a lot of employers, they will hire somebody based on their communication skills, even if they have the strongest technical skills. And their minds are always blown,” says Jorge M. Ochoa, director of Undergraduate Career Services at KIPP NYC. “They’re like, ‘What does that mean?’ And I say, ‘well, you need to learn how to communicate.’”
If pursuing a degree, students may build durable skills in some areas of study, such as liberal arts, philosophy, and ethics.

“One of the trickiest parts is you don’t want to be a specialist in one particular area. You want to be able to solve problems analytically and then communicate your ideas with lots of different types of people and lots of different formats,” says John Haller, vice president for Enrollment Management at Denison University.
“I think liberal arts education are set up for that, but I also think for students who have a certain passion or a certain interest in a particular field, if your curriculum is broad enough and flexible enough that allows students to find those intersections, they can take what they have and immerse themselves in a particular field.”
Raman adds, “The study of philosophy and ethics are about to become some of the ‘it’ fields in this next era of work. These are the fields to focus on if you want to understand how to think, how to learn, and how to navigate big moments of change like the one the world of work is in right now.
“We’re already starting to see major employers say they are looking for engineers who don’t just know how to code, but understand ethics and can bring in ethical frameworks to how they deploy new technologies like AI,” he adds.
What You Can Do to Improve Your Durable Skills
In addition to formal education, here are some ways job seekers can learn and improve their durable skills:
- Ongoing education through workshops and courses via platforms like Coursera and edX can provide training.
- Find books, blogs, and podcasts that focus on the desired skills.
- Seek feedback from colleagues, managers, and mentors, and observe how they manage situations.
- Practice communications, empathy, and active listening.
- Take on leadership opportunities whether at work or in the community to develop team building, decision making and problem solving.
- Consider hiring a career coach.
- Assess progress regularly.
Once proficient, don’t forget to add these skills to your resume and profiles on platforms like LinkedIn.
Raman says members who list at least one skill receive up to two times more profile views and connection requests and up to four times more messages. He also recommends a skills audit, which requires a review of each job in the profile, and mapping out the skills used and learned in each role. This exercise helps recruiters identify talent, and job seekers describe their career path.
“More and more, recruiters are going to care less about what specific job title you held, and more about what skills you bring to the table. This is ultimately a positive shift for professionals,” he says.
“Unlike a job title which is assigned to you by your employer, skills are something you have agency over and can keep growing on your own at any given point in your career.”
Jorge M. Ochoa and John Haller were interviewed by WorkingNation editor-in-chief Ramona Schindelheim and Senior Correspondent Laura Aka at College Board Forum 2024 in Austin, Texas. You can see all the WorkingNation Overheard videos from that conference here.