# Seriously, what are soft skills?

**URL:** <https://forum.freecodecamp.org/t/seriously-what-are-soft-skills/159494>\
**Category:** Career (You Can Do This!)\
**Created:** [November 17, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/t/seriously-what-are-soft-skills/159494 "2017-11-17T04:22:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DanStockham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/freecodecamp/user_avatar/forum.freecodecamp.org/danstockham/32/111714_2.png) [@DanStockham](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/u/DanStockham)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/t/seriously-what-are-soft-skills/159494/1 "2017-11-17T04:22:35Z")

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There is a lot of talk about soft skills, however, there isn’t much explanation as to what soft skills are. Therefore, I think it’s fair to understand what soft skills are and how it works in the workplace. It is often used as an ambiguous umbrella to describe habits, and good practices when interacting with coworkers and externals such as outside departments or customers.

These are the things I learned while working in IT and in customer service. This has given me an edge in my career:

- When someone does something wrong, never blame them for any reason.

- Open communication and transparency in the work environment is a rare commodity. A **good** employer will strive for and pay a little extra in finding an associate who practices it on a daily basis. Although, what exactly does it mean to be transparent and an open communicator?

- When you communicate over email, remember these key points:

- Being consistent with creating and maintaining documentation

From an experience point, this is what soft skills are. Focusing on the problem and not blaming the person who caused it. Staying transparent and keeping at least one open communication channel. Being mindful of how you craft your messages, keeping it concise and to the point with your audience. And distributing your knowledge amongst your team through up-to-date documentation.

Regardless if you’re introvert, this will win over your coworkers and satisfy the external folks you typically work with.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps 🙂

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**Author:** ![JacksonBates](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/freecodecamp/user_avatar/forum.freecodecamp.org/jacksonbates/32/123402_2.png) [@JacksonBates](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/u/JacksonBates)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/t/seriously-what-are-soft-skills/159494/2 "2017-11-17T04:29:36Z")

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Great podcast:

> **[Soft Skills Engineering](https://softskills.audio)**
>
> It takes more than great code to be a great engineer. Soft Skills Engineering is a weekly question and answer podcast where software developer hosts answer questions about all of the non-technical things that go along with being a software developer.

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**Author:** ![ILM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/freecodecamp/user_avatar/forum.freecodecamp.org/ilm/32/363239_2.png) [@ILM](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/u/ILM)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/t/seriously-what-are-soft-skills/159494/3 "2021-01-17T19:56:29Z")

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Closed on January 17, 2021, 7:56pm UTC