Are you musically inclined? It might be time to brush off your guitar and get some voice lessons because your musical ability could make you a very valuable employee. With the way the economy is shifting these days, it is a good idea to make yourself as hard to replace as possible at your job.
Adding on to your skill set is always a good idea and could lead to assuring that your job stays stable or giving you more options where promotions and better positions are involved. Recruiters and employers are now looking to the soft skills of their employees to determine their suitability for the workplace. So brushing up on your abilities can only be a good thing. Being a musician means that you already possess quite a number of very transferable soft skills.
1. Confidence
This is the number one soft skill that can carry you through any situation with success, whether it be in the workplace or your personal life. No matter how many qualifications your resume boasts or how many other skills you may possess, if you lack the confidence to present yourself and your abilities to others, then you will go unnoticed and underappreciated.
A healthy sense of accomplishment is vital in drawing attention to yourself and how well you apply your skills and abilities. Musicians are taught how to project confidence; they are trained to always carry a bearing of pride and a quiet assurance about themselves. Whether you are faced with a job interview or a presentation, the confidence you project can allow you to successfully put your best foot forward. Musicians, for example, can receive formal training in overcoming any fear of public speaking and know how to express themselves confidently.
2. Communication
In order to express yourself well, you must be an effective communicator as well. Good communication skills are a highly prized soft skill, and many recruiters are placing great emphasis on finding people who are able to communicate successfully. Musicians learn to communicate both verbally and non-verbally, ensuring that their meaning gets through to the audience with eloquence. Quite often, in workplace negotiations, these subtleties of communication can ensure success or failure.
Musicians can adapt on the fly to visual cues and use this to become worthwhile team members. The same way that musicians have to work as one player in a quartet or band is how they will need to work with different people during projects that require teamwork. People have differing personalities and characters that will require a person who is capable of adapting their communication skills to the situation. Musicians are uniquely able to make themselves understood and aid in group communication to take place effectively.
3. Responsibility
Are you aware that responsibility is a soft skill? You may take your innate sense of personal responsibility for granted, but this is a skill that few possess. Responsibility and discipline go hand in hand, and they are a valuable set of skills that can show your employer whether you have leadership potential or not.
Trained musicians learn early how to respect their practice schedules and how to make time for the different responsibilities that rest on their shoulders. This self-discipline is something that stays with a person and transfers to other areas of their life and profession. Employers will place a high value on personnel who can be trusted to complete a task in not just a timely fashion but also with excellence.
This same skill goes hand in hand with punctuality, and employers always place great regard on time management skills. Someone who knows how to motivate themselves and complete a task without close supervision and guidance is going to be held in more esteem than an employee who must be spoon-fed.
When people pursue formal training in music, they are rarely just learning to sing and dance. They are learning valuable, transferable, and useful skills, which will aid and guide them throughout their life. Whether you choose to pick up an instrument or learn to sing, there are instant benefits to pursuing this course of self-improvement.
The very fact of having to schedule classes is already engendering soft skills that will improve with practice. If any of the above skills sound like something you have, then it is definitely time to update your resume. If not, then there are so many resources available for you to work on yourself and become a better employee and a more self-assured individual.
