There’s a certain appeal in working for a startup. You get to dive in and try out many different roles while aiming to achieve something big. There’s a lot of freedom, which can be pretty fun.
One thing that may get overlooked is how important soft skills are in working for a startup. If you’re on the job hunt right now, you probably have a good idea of your hard skills, but you may haven’t paid much attention to your soft skills.
While they’re not something you may outright put on a resume, soft skills are important. Here are six soft skills that are useful in any startup.
Team Player
Being a team player is a skill that many employers ask for, and startups are no different. What does differ is how more valuable being a team player is at a startup.
When you work for a startup, your team is small. You might be working on a team of ten or even two, so you need to be able to work well with your coworkers. If people aren’t carrying their weight, things become awkward extremely fast.
Independent worker
While there needs to be some form of leadership, you will be asked to do a lot of things on your own. Your boss will be busy doing a thousand different things, and you will often have to figure things out on your own.
As mentioned before, this is even more crucial within a small team. For example, if you’re a team of two, you’re going to have to do a lot of work on your own as you really don’t have anyone to delegate work to.
Being decisive
Pondering what you’re supposed to do or what is the right choice will slow you down. Within the startup world, you need to be decisive.
Does this mean you should make rash decisions? Far from it. It means making thoughtful decisions, stick with them as best as possible, and pivot when you need to.
Taking accountability
When things go right, it’s a great feeling. There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to enjoy one’s success.
On the contrary, when things go wrong, it’s something none of us really want to own up to. It’s our fault in some cases, which is more obvious when you’re working in a small team. You need to take accountability for your actions and own up to your successes and failures.
Willing to learn
This is a skill we should all try to practice in our everyday lives. Learning new things helps us continue to grow and expands our capabilities.
When you work for a startup, you’re going to be learning a lot of new things. In fact, you really don’t have a choice at times. Sometimes it will come down to either learning how to do something new or never getting it done.
Determination and grit
For many startups, you ideally don’t want to stay a startup forever. You’re going to want to move up to something more, and you have to have the determination to achieve your goals.
Maybe the goal is to sell your startup to a bigger company. There are going to be many obstacles that will get in your way, and you have to be able to take the punches as they come.
Why it all matters
Soft skills carry a lot of weight. In a way, they are part of our character and share a close relationship with how we go about our everyday life. You shouldn’t underestimate the impact they can make at a startup.
The startup world isn’t easy. There will be many hardships you’ll have to undergo, and it can be a vicious field. Yet, with the right outlook and skill set to match, it can be a rewarding experience.
