Don’t underestimate the power of soft skills. That’s the message that students and parents need to take to heart. With all the talk in the media about which majors are the most desirable, it’s easy to lose sight of what employers think matters when they’re looking to add new grads to their team (hint, it’s not the student’s major).

“When you look at the most listed skills, both hard and soft ones, almost all are soft skills,” said Sara Johnson, employer and alumni relations manager at Concordia College. “These are really people skills. Employers are looking for a good quality candidate with problem solving abilities who can be creative, who can be analytical and who can take that information and articulate it.”

Using a big-data tool that pulls together and analyzes job postings, Johnson identified more than 390,000 postings from the last two years for new bachelor’s degree holders in our five-state area. She looked specifically at the skills required. The top sought skill? Oral and written communication.

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