Personal and Professional Skills are essential whether starting your first job, advancing in your career, or managing your own company. In today’s world, success is achieved by more than just knowing the ins and outs of your industry. Striking a careful balance between specialised knowledge and personal or interpersonal skills is equally important.
Perhaps you are well-versed in using a spreadsheet or computer program, but your communication and time management skills are lacking. In that case, those technical skills will not take you far. The same applies in the other direction. Being a kind and flexible worker is crucial, but without the relevant workplace skills, tangible objectives become difficult to achieve.
In today’s blog, I will take you step by step through explaining what both personal and professional skills are, their significance, and the balance that exists between them. I will also discuss balancing both to attain one’s fullest potential and improve all aspects of their daily life.
What are personal skills?
Personal skills, more often referred to as soft skills, are the personal attributes that a person possesses to effectively deal with others and certain situations. They are transferable and important across all career and life stages.
Some key examples include:
- Communicating effectively
- Prioritising and organising work
- Being flexible
- Analysing or evaluating
- Having reasonable emotional responses
- Having fortitude
- Collaborating with others
- Having intrinsic motivation
These skills assist you in relating to others, working to get desired outcomes, and managing problems. They also help you remain professional and calm amid workplace pressure.
What Are Professional Skills?
A Professional Skill or Professional Skills refers to work-related capabilities acquired through education, training, or experience. Sometimes, they are dubbed as simple as hard skills or technical skills.
A few examples are:
- Data analysis
- Project management
- Programming
- Legal writing
- Financial forecasting
- Graphic Design
- Proficiency in a foreign language
- SEO and marketing
These skills are directly mentioned in job postings and are measurable, teachable, or provide the required qualifications. While they may give you a chance at an interview, these skills alone do not guarantee success in the workplace.
Why You Need Both Personal and Professional Skills
Let us tell the brutal truth: not equipping the other set will only leave you fighting an uphill battle.
- With strong technical skills, lacking the ability to network or lead, or handle pressure, you will be bound to leave your job.
- With an appealing set of ‘soft skills’, having a low ability in ‘hard skills’ will result in being stuck at entry-level positions.
This balance of both is essential for an effective workplace.
According to a survey done in the UK by Hays Recruitment in 2023, 91% of respondents from the survey stated that they value soft skills almost equally to hard skills. Employers are always looking for candidates with the ability to perform the job as well as fit the company culture, hence valuing balance.
Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses
Your very first step into balance is to self-assess and self-reflect. Here’s how to begin:
1. Review Job Descriptions
Using the roles and positions that intrigue you as a base, analyse what is required. Make a collection of recurring skills and check how many you have.
2. Seek Feedback
From former employers, colleagues, or tutors, gather a more tailored approach to your strengths and weaknesses, focusing on your soft skills.
3. Take a Skills Assessment
Tools such as the National Careers Service Skills Health Check (UK) can offer insights into your skills profile.
Developing Professional Skills
Professional skills require a more systematic approach. Here is how to further strengthen them:
✅ 1. Take Online Courses
Job-ready courses are available in multiple disciplines, such as coding, digital marketing, and finance, on TrainingArena.co.uk.
✅ 2. Attend Workshops or CPD Events
CPD courses help you to remain up-to-date and award you with certifications, which upgrade your CV.
✅ 3. Shadow Colleagues or Mentors
Active learning and observing are perhaps the two most effective methods in acquiring specialised skills, which are best learned in real work environments.
✅ 4. Practice With Side Projects
Develop a website, manage a budget, and draft reports. When done in relation to your fields, practice leads to professional mastery.
How to Develop Personal Skills
Personal skills can emerge as a result of our life experiences. They also require reflection and a conscious decision to improve.
1. Participating in Group Activities
Joining clubs, volunteering, or participating in team sports can help develop your communication and cooperation skills, as well as your level of emotional intelligence.
2. Accepting Challenges
Taking on tasks that are beyond your organisational, leadership, or public speaking skills can help stretch your limits.
3. Practising Self-Awareness
Consider reflecting on your responses to stress or conflict. What are your reactions? Is there a routine to them? How can you improve?
4. Learning by Reading
Books, TED talks, and podcasts focused on communication, personal growth, and mindsets can have a life-changing impact.
Finding the Right Balance: Actionable Tips
Now that you understand the reason why both are important, let’s explore how to put them into practice.
1. Set Learning Targets for Yourself in Both Areas
For instance:
- Personal skill objective: Enhance active listening by implementing it in every meeting.
- Professional skill objective: Learn how to use PivotTables in Excel within 30 days.
2. Weave Learning into Daily Structures
Incorporate listening to a technical podcast or reading a self-help book into your daily routine so you blend both areas.
3. Set up Document Progress
Create and maintain a development journal. Document the moments you apply a skill or demonstrate a personal trait under stress.
4. Illustrate Both in Applications
In your CV or during interviews, illustrate how your personal and career skills enhance each other.
“During my internship, I applied my professional attention to detail and personal resilience to meet challenging project deadlines.”
How Employers Assess The Balance
Within candidates, employers seek someone who can complete the work and has the ability to collaborate with others. The following factors will be assessed:
- Technical competence (through your qualifications and experience)
- Communication and professionalism (through your CV, cover letter, and interview)
- Team fit and values (through how you answer behavioural questions)
Focusing solely on one aspect offers the perception that you are either too robotic or too unskilled. Striking a balanced profile shows maturity, a readiness to work, and a credible potential.
Case Study Example: Marketing Graduate
Ella, a recent marketing graduate, applies for a junior content position.
Her professional skills include:
- Competence in using Canva, Mailchimp, and SEO tools.
- Management of a university blog and its associated Instagram account.
Along with professional skills, she also has personal skills:
- Strong written communication is demonstrated in blogging.
- Collaboration is demonstrated through group assignments and student union roles.
- Adaptability through part-time work alongside full-time studies.
In the interview, she outlines how she integrated both of them to successfully execute a student awareness campaign.
Outcome? She lands the position.
Last Thoughts
Having a personal and a professional skill set is not just an advantage; it’s a necessity.
The most effective, highly skilled professionals in any field are not only task-oriented. They excel in managing people, time, communication, stress, and personal growth.
In the case that you are just graduating and entering the job market, or perhaps you are aiming for a higher position in the company, reflect on these questions:
- What specialised skills do I need to acquire?
- What personal qualities do I need to improve?
- Am I developing both aspects simultaneously?
Keep in mind: One aspect, even when perfected, will not take you very far. Combining the two will virtually make you indefatigable.