Employers often value clear communication, teamwork, adaptability, empathy, active listening and problem-solving. The emphasis varies by role and industry, so there is no universal ranking that applies to every job. To make these skills matter on a résumé or in an interview, connect a few that fit the position to specific actions and results.
Which interpersonal skills do employers value?
Interpersonal skills help people communicate and work effectively with others. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) describes interpersonal ability as: “Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others, leading to the development and support of effective relationships.” The particular behaviors that matter most depend on the work.
Communication
Good communication means explaining ideas clearly, listening carefully and checking that others understand. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) identifies oral and written communication among the skills employers seek, and treats listening as an important part of communication. In practice, this can mean giving a concise update, writing instructions others can follow or asking a clarifying question before acting.
Teamwork and collaboration
Teamwork is the ability to work constructively with others toward a shared task. It can show up in sharing information, coordinating responsibilities, considering colleagues’ input and following through on commitments. DOL includes teamwork and collaboration in its employer-facing skills guidance.
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Adaptability
Adaptability is adjusting to changing tasks, priorities or conditions without losing sight of the work that needs to be done. It may involve learning a new process, revising a plan when circumstances change or asking what should take priority when deadlines compete.
Empathy and active listening
Empathy means taking another person’s concerns seriously; active listening means giving attention, clarifying what you heard and responding appropriately. The World Economic Forum (WEF) identifies empathy and active listening as core workforce skills. These behaviors can help people understand colleagues, customers or clients before choosing how to respond.
Problem-solving
Problem-solving involves understanding an issue, considering possible responses and working toward a sound solution. It often relies on communication and collaboration as well as judgment: identifying what is known, asking for missing information and explaining why a particular next step makes sense.
Relationship-building and professional conduct
Courtesy, tact, concern and politeness contribute to effective working relationships, as reflected in the BLS definition of interpersonal ability. These are not merely matters of being agreeable: they help people handle disagreement, give feedback and interact respectfully across different roles.
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What employer surveys and workforce data say
The figures below point to recurring priorities, not a single ranking for every employer. The surveys cover different populations, and the BLS table describes skills across occupations rather than a recruiter poll.
| Source and population | Finding | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| WEF, Future of Jobs Report 2025, based on the Future of Jobs Survey 2024 | 50% of surveyed employers considered empathy and active listening core skills for 2025. | This is a reported employer-survey result about those skills, not a claim that half of all jobs require them equally. |
| Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), Corporate Recruiters Survey 2026 | Among surveyed U.S. recruiters, 93% ranked communication among the leading current skills for business school graduate hiring; 90% did so for interpersonal/teamwork; 89% for adaptability and coachability. | These results concern U.S. recruiters hiring business school graduates, not all employers or occupations. |
| GMAC, announcement dated June 25, 2026 | The 2026 survey covered more than 600 corporate recruiters in 39 countries. GMAC says communication, problem-solving and adaptability were among the capabilities employers considered most when hiring business school graduates. | The announcement describes a global recruiter survey focused on business school graduate hiring. |
| BLS, 2025–35 occupational skills table | Adaptability, detail orientation and interpersonal ability are the three highest skills across all occupations in the cited table. | Leading skills differ among major occupational groups, so the overall list does not determine what a particular role values most. |
Together, these sources support a practical conclusion: communication, collaboration, adaptability and sound interactions recur in employer-facing guidance and workforce data, but their relative importance depends on the job. WEF also notes differences across industries.
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How to choose skills for a résumé or interview
- Start with the target role. Read the job description and note the tasks, working relationships and capabilities it names. A role involving frequent customer contact may call for examples of listening and relationship-building; work across changing priorities may make adaptability more relevant.
- Choose two or three skills to emphasize. Select the ones that best match the stated responsibilities rather than adding a long, generic list of soft skills.
- Pair each skill with observable behavior. Replace a bare claim such as “strong communicator” with what you did: clarified a request, coordinated a handoff, wrote a procedure or raised a concern constructively.
- Explain the situation, action and result. Give enough context to make the example clear, describe your own contribution and state what changed. Use accurate results, and do not claim an outcome you cannot support.
- Keep the example relevant to the conversation. On a résumé, use concise evidence in experience bullets. In an interview, expand the same example to show how you made decisions and worked with other people.
How to compare priorities across jobs
When deciding which interpersonal skills to foreground, compare the role and industry, the kind of work involved, the behaviors that demonstrate a skill and the evidence in the job description or interview context. For example, “communication” could mean concise written updates in one role and careful listening to customers in another. The behavior matters more than using the same skill label everywhere.
The BLS occupational skills table shows that leading skills vary by occupational group, while WEF discusses differences across industries. Use broad survey findings as context, then rely on the actual role requirements to decide what to emphasize.
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