Five Human Skills to Help Early Talent Build a Solid Foundation

Pearson Futures

When it comes to finding your dream job or getting a job at your ideal company, what do you wish you knew?

That’s the question we asked students in a survey conducted in August 2023. The overwhelming need-to-know item wasn’t college advice or career options, but skills. What skills should I develop? What skills are employers looking for? What abilities, knowledge, and experience do businesses want to hire?

According to another study conducted by Pearson, the top five skills desired by businesses are human skills (aka soft skills)—relational skills that help us forge connections with colleagues and customers. LinkedIn reported similar findings in their 2024 Most In-Demand Skills list, where the majority of the top 10 skills of today are human skills.

Employees with strong human skills tend to understand others’ needs and problems, communicate excellently, adapt and innovate well, and make good team players. So it is no wonder businesses want to hire people with such strengths.

What about hard skills? Aren’t they still important? While hard (or technical) skills remain vital, it is classic skills such as communication, leadership, and collaboration that form the necessary foundation for technical skills to rest upon. If a software developer can write code in five languages but can’t communicate well with management or collaborate with others, they are of considerably less value to their company. And in recent times, it appears that human skills are the commodity in short supply. Thus the demand is skyrocketing.

In this article, we will look at the top five desired skills and discuss how students and jobseekers can develop them early in the game—before they go off to college or land a “real” job, or even before they leave the house. We will also look at some of the fastest-growing, high-demand technical skills that can be added on top of the foundation of human skills.

The Five Human Skills Early Talent Should Pursue

Communication

If you can talk and write intelligently, logically, and clearly, then employers want you. But communication isn’t just speaking. It is also listening to others and then responding in a way that shows you understand (and care). Strong communicators possess a lot of wisdom because they not only know the right words to use, they can also understand the setting, read the room, and respond in a way that truly helps other people. Think of people you greatly admire. Chances are they are great communicators. If you are just getting started in the labor market or are wondering which skills to focus on while you are still in school—we cannot underestimate the importance of basic communication in the labor market.

Customer Service

Similar to communication, customer service revolves around possessing a great deal of understanding about how to deal with and treat people in a professional setting. Call to mind the best barista, teacher, mechanic, banker, doctor, or coworker you’ve interacted with. Chances are they treat people in an exceptional way, putting others before themselves. 

Examples include providing great service before, during, and after a purchase, showing care in how they interact with customers (or students), looking out for the best interest of people they do business with, and being ready to troubleshoot problems and not getting frazzled when problems occur.

Leadership

When we think of leadership we most likely think of the person at the top: the CEO, the manager, a political representative, or maybe even your parents (if you haven’t had a job yet). What makes them good leaders? Do they just boss people around and tell everyone what to do? 

In some cases, that may be a primary task, but at the heart, a good leader is someone who can take responsibility in tough situations, without making excuses. A good leader can also bring a lot of other people along with them. They inspire, teach, help, and drive projects, people, or institutions forward. 

To be a leader, you don’t necessarily need to be in charge of everyone and everything you see. You need to show that you are accountable to others, are willing to do the hard things (with a good attitude), and you have the ability to draw others to yourself as you do it. 

People who are good leaders in the small things tend to get promoted into leadership positions (CEO, mayor, manager, etc.) because they manifest solid leadership skills. If you assume responsibility, you will be able to guide and influence other individuals, teams, even entire organizations. This is the kind of refreshing greatness that businesses are looking for.

Attention To Detail

Attention to detail might not seem like a skill, but it is—very much so, and business leaders are looking for it. And what’s great about it, is that you can start to perfect it right now as you go about your day.

While leadership tends to focus on the big picture, attention to detail is all about perfecting the finer details. This is that person who nails the deadline, double checks their spelling before they hand in an important paper, and listens closely to the instruction from mom, the teacher, or the boss. People who care enough to zero in on the details (and then deliver on them) are a breath of fresh air.

Collaboration

Attention to detail might not seem like a skill, but it is—very much so, and business leaders are looking for it. And what’s great about it, is that you can start to perfect it right now as you go about your day. 

While leadership tends to focus on the big picture, attention to detail is all about perfecting the finer details. This is that person who nails the deadline, double checks their spelling before they hand in an important paper, and listens closely to the instruction from mom, the teacher, or the boss. People who care enough to zero in on the details (and then deliver on them) are a breath of fresh air.

Young Jobseekers Can Gain In-Demand Human Skills at Entry-Level Jobs

The surprising thing about these human skills? They might seem basic for a reason: these are the very skills that you pick up when you help your parents with chores, when you diligently work on school assignments, and—yes, even when you land your first job at Starbucks, McDonald’s, or Home Depot. 

Now, many first jobs can seem trivial or pointless. Who aspires to flip burgers or make sure people can find light bulbs on aisle five? Thus, many high school students are opting out of these roles. According to Pew Research, teen employment has been at record lows since the early 2020s with only 30% of teens maintaining jobs throughout the year. Back in the 90s, teen employment was as high as 43%. Yet these early jobs remain highly valuable because they give young people that foundation of human skills that all employers want, and so many can’t easily find. 

So as you study hard at school and help out around the house and get hired as a barista, just know that you have a golden opportunity to become irreplaceable in the workforce. Tough group history project? You make sure it gets done while everyone gets along. Big mess in the kitchen while your parents are at work? You rally the troops, get your younger brother to help out, and make sure it’s all clean. Irate customers? You stay calm while providing great service. She requested almond milk? If you’re great at paying attention to details, you’ll remember. 

Crush these top five human skills now, and you’ll quickly find yourself climbing to new heights and being sought after by pretty much every company out there.

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