Main image of article 12 Rare Soft Skills that Will Set You Apart in Tech

In today's talent market, certain attributes and soft skills like communication, teamwork, and cross-functional collaboration have become "table stakes" for landing a job and achieving success.

To stand out, you need to showcase unique and hard-to-find qualities, attributes or competencies that make you more valuable to a potential employer. But what skills are those, exactly?

Employers are looking for people-focused skills that not only enhance individual performance, but organizational resilience and innovation, according to Steven Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.

Here’s a look at 12 skills that can set you apart in a competitive job market and why they are valuable.

Summary

In fast-moving tech environments, the ability to pivot quickly, embrace ambiguity, and reframe challenges as opportunities is invaluable, Zylstra noted.

Adaptive thinking is the ability to adjust in response to new information and changing circumstances, and is characterized by open-mindedness, flexibility and a growth mindset. Adaptive thinkers aren’t just problem-solvers—they’re solution designers. This quality is especially powerful in innovation-driven roles where the path forward isn’t always clear.

The ability to lead with empathy—listening actively, understanding diverse perspectives, and fostering psychological safety—has become a major differentiator.

Empathetic leaders take a genuine interest in the people around them. As a result, they make better decisions and build stronger teams. Empathetic leadership is not just for managers; individual contributors who bring emotional intelligence to their work often become the “glue” that holds high-performing teams together.

Strategic curiosity is what Dr. Maria Keckler calls a structural skill, the invisible framework that gives form and strength to everything else we do.

Strategic curiosity is the ability to purposefully ask questions that encourage expansive thinking and dialogue about an issue or a potential problem, rather than acting like the expert who has all the answers.

For example, asking "what are we missing?" or “what can go wrong?” can help to identify potential blind spots or areas of weakness that could have a negative impact down the road, noted Keckler, an executive advisor and research scientist at San Diego State University. This type of approach invites diverse perspectives and prevents problems in the future.

In the context of chess, proactive foresight describes the ability to see three moves ahead. For instance, people with proactive foresight recognize the consequences of not fixing software vulnerabilities or bandwidth issues that can lead to significant risks, including security breaches, business disruptions, and financial losses.

But perhaps most importantly, people with this skill have the courage to speak up in a way that compels executives to listen and take action. They effectively explain the consequences and the cost of inaction. “Some people are able to see blind spots, but they don’t do anything to fix the problem,” Keckler said.

Critical thinking has been redefined as problems become more complex and the pace of change accelerates (thanks, AI!). In fact, Duke University says it has become the most essential skill for engineering leaders.

Enhanced critical thinking goes beyond logical reasoning—it’s the ability to evaluate multiple variables, challenge assumptions, and apply structured analysis to make sound, data-informed decisions. Professionals with enhanced critical thinking skills are often trusted with higher-stakes projects and strategic roles because they bring clarity where others see noise, Zylstra noted.

Organizational proficiency describes an individual’s ability to keep work organized within an organizational structure and drive multiple projects to a successful conclusion simultaneously.

It encompasses a wide range of sub-skills—including time management, planning, prioritization, communication, delegation, and problem-solving—that help a worker plan and manage tasks, meet deadlines and achieve their personal goals as well as the organization’s strategic objectives.

Follow-through may sound boring, concedes Benoit Malige.

But the business owner and author of “Unf*ck Your Thinking” says that he’s managed teams where people were brilliant but didn’t always follow through. Then there were the quiet ones who followed through every single time. No reminders. No second-guessing.

“When someone consistently closes loops, they instantly become leadership material,” he noted.

The ability to recognize patterns is a more advanced cognitive skill than being detail oriented.

“I had an employee who was eerily good at seeing the pattern behind the chaos,” Malige explained. He’d catch small issues before they became expensive problems, just by noticing subtle trends in the way data or people behaved. It’s half logic, half intuition.

“To me, it’s gold,” he added.

Knowing when to break the rules can be highly valuable, especially when it’s done thoughtfully and purposefully. “As a boss, I’ve learned that someone who pushes back thoughtfully is way more valuable than a people-pleaser,” Milage noted.

Anyone can crush a project when it’s exciting. But the best employees execute when it’s dull, repetitive, and no one’s watching. It doesn’t sound inspirational, but it’s what gets hard things done.

Everyone talks about time management, but managing your energy in a way that allows you to get more done is even more valuable. Even better, this type of self-awareness is scalable.

Researchers have defined cognitive flexibility as the ability to adjust one's thinking from old situations to new situations. Among other benefits, it allows individuals to grasp new concepts, connect ideas, and apply knowledge in different contexts.

Cognitive flexibility is closely linked to executive functioning skills, so it not only makes someone more effective in their role, but also a more desirable candidate for promotions and other career opportunities.