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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11What soft skills do employers value? For college graduates entering the workforce, the clearest current employer survey points to communication, teamwork, professionalism, and critical thinking. In the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2026 Job Outlook Spring Update, at least 93.5% of surveyed employers rated each of those four competencies very or extremely important. The figures describe employers’ views of college graduates—not a universal ranking for every job or career stage.
Which soft skills do employers value most?
NACE’s 2026 Job Outlook Spring Update surveyed employers from February 12 to March 17, 2026. Among 153 respondents to the importance questions, these shares rated each competency very or extremely important for college graduates entering the workforce:
| Competency | Rated very or extremely important |
|---|---|
| Communication | 98.7% |
| Teamwork | 96.1% |
| Professionalism | 94.1% |
| Critical thinking | 93.5% |
| Technology | 75.2% |
| Career and self-development | 48.7% |
| Leadership | 41.8% |
| AI skills | 18.4% |
These are the shares of surveyed employers selecting the top two importance ratings, not the share of jobs requiring a skill or a measure of how proficient graduates are. NACE’s 2026 Job Outlook Spring Update is specifically about employer expectations for college graduates.
The order was similar in NACE’s 2025 Job Outlook: employers rated communication and critical thinking 96.1% important, teamwork 93.9%, and professionalism 89.4%. Those are 2025 figures and should not be combined with the 2026 results. NACE also reported notable differences between employers’ and students’ views of the importance of leadership and career and self-development in that earlier survey. See NACE’s 2025 discussion of competency importance and proficiency.
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What employers mean by these skills
Soft skills are not just personality traits. O*NET describes them broadly as interpersonal and thinking skills that help people interact successfully and work efficiently and effectively. The useful way to present one is through a specific action, not a label such as “great communicator.” The examples below are illustrations, not quoted employer scenarios.
Communication
Communication includes listening, clarifying, and sharing information so others can act on it. For example: “A teammate raised a concern about a handoff, so I asked what information was missing and sent a written summary of the next steps.” That demonstrates more than simply saying you communicate well.
Teamwork and coordination
Coordination means adjusting your actions in relation to other people’s work. For example: “I checked what the next person needed to complete their part, then changed the schedule so the handoff included the required details.” Teamwork is visible in how you help a group make progress, not only in whether you were part of one.
Rank #2
Critical thinking and problem solving
Critical thinking can involve examining a problem, weighing options, and explaining a decision. For example: “I tracked a recurring error to a step in the process, compared two possible fixes, and recommended the one that addressed the cause.” O*NET also includes complex problem solving and judgment and decision making among relevant thinking skills.
Professionalism and dependability
Show professionalism through reliable conduct: follow through on an agreed deadline, flag a delay early, and keep the people affected informed. This is an illustrative workplace example rather than a quoted definition from NACE.
Adaptability and active learning
Active learning means understanding how new information affects current and future problem solving and decisions. For example: “After receiving feedback that my instructions were hard to follow, I revised the format and used it for the next handoff.” The evidence is the change you made in response to what you learned.
Rank #3
Time management
O*NET identifies time management as a relevant thinking skill. A concrete example might explain how you prioritized competing tasks, set milestones, and managed your own time to meet a deadline.
Leadership
Leadership can mean taking responsibility for clarifying a shared goal or helping a group work through a decision; it does not require a formal manager title. NACE includes leadership in its career-readiness framework, even though its 2026 survey rated it below the four leading competencies for college graduates.
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Why importance and proficiency are different
NACE also asked employers how proficient recent graduates were in each competency. These results answer a different question from the importance ratings: they describe employers’ assessments of graduates’ proficiency, not demand for the skills.
| Competency | Graduates rated very or extremely proficient |
|---|---|
| Communication | 55.4% |
| Teamwork | 75.0% |
| Professionalism | 54.7% |
| Critical thinking | 50.0% |
| Technology | 65.5% |
| Career and self-development | 37.2% |
| Leadership | 31.1% |
| AI skills | 25.3% |
The comparison can help a graduate decide which skills to demonstrate especially clearly, but it does not prove that an individual lacks a competency or predict the result of a hiring decision. The figures are employer survey ratings for recent graduates in NACE’s 2026 report.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Use a framework without treating it as a ranking
NACE groups career readiness into eight competencies: Career + Self-Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity + Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, and Technology. Its framework offers sample behaviors and recognizes that competencies can be demonstrated in different ways. It is an organizing framework, not a claim that these are the only useful soft skills or that all are equally important in every role.
O*NET’s examples broaden the picture: social skills include negotiation, service orientation, and social perceptiveness, while thinking skills include active listening, complex problem solving, judgment and decision making, and time management. A skill’s relevance depends on the work. For instance, negotiation may matter especially in a role that reconciles competing needs; time management may be central when work involves independent deadlines.
Best Value
For the full competency descriptions and sample behaviors, see NACE’s career-readiness competency framework and O*NET’s Soft Skills Custom List.
How to show soft skills in a resume or interview
NACE advises applicants to provide evidence of skills on resumes and be ready to explain their proficiency in interviews and other recruiter interactions. Coursework, extracurricular activities, internships, experiential learning, and paid work can all supply examples. NACE president and CEO Shawn VanDerziel said applicants should reflect on those experiences, identify the skills they have developed, and connect them to the jobs they are pursuing. The guidance appears in NACE’s April 23, 2026 article, The High-Impact Skills College Students Should Showcase on Their Resumes.
- Choose a relevant situation. Pick an experience that resembles a task or challenge in the role, whether it came from a class, activity, internship, or job.
- Describe your action. Say what you did personally: clarified a handoff, organized competing tasks, investigated an error, or incorporated feedback.
- Give the outcome. State what changed or what the action helped the group accomplish. Be specific and accurate; do not claim results you cannot support.
- Connect it to the role. Explain why the behavior matters for the responsibilities in the job description.
On a resume, translate the example into a concise accomplishment rather than listing a bare trait. In an interview, add enough context for the listener to understand the situation, your contribution, and the result. A skill is more credible when the reader or interviewer can see what you did.
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