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[title]We’re living in a moment where the job market is shaped by technology, automation, and artificial intelligence. Companies have begun paying closer attention to something that doesn’t appear on a diploma: soft skills.
What are soft skills and what are they for?
These are human abilities—such as communication, empathy, adaptability, resilience, or critical thinking—that have become decisive in differentiating candidates who may have the same technical knowledge. In this context, organizations need people who can work with others, solve complex problems, manage emotions, and adapt to changing environments.
For those studying at university, this scenario presents an advantage: many of these soft skills can be trained academically, even before gaining formal work experience. Student life is full of situations where these competencies come into play—from group projects to internships or interdisciplinary programs. At UCES (enrollment info here), the development of soft skills is as integral to the training process as the technical content itself.
In job postings, “Excel proficiency” and “advanced English” are no longer enough. Increasingly, companies list teamwork, adaptability, or emotional intelligence. And this is not a passing trend: as technology automates tasks, human abilities gain ground.
Various global employment reports show that soft skills will be decisive from now until 2030. But the key question for anyone who is studying is different: can these skills be trained in college? And how does college influence that process?
Soft skills companies value most heading toward 2030
On the recruitment side, the change is already evident. Mg. Liliana Guarnaccia, director of the Human Resources program at UCES, says that companies today look beyond the technical resume. “There is still a strong focus on clear and assertive communication, the ability to ask for help in time, and managing frustration and uncertainty. Critical thinking has become even more relevant with the rise of artificial intelligence, which requires a great deal of supervised, criteria-based interpretation of its responses.”
“Critical thinking has become even more relevant with the rise of artificial intelligence, which requires a great deal of supervised, criteria-based interpretation of its responses”
This is complemented by skills tied to emotional management and working with others. According to Guarnaccia, “Recognizing and regulating emotional states and ego—emotional intelligence—is also emphasized. Teamwork is no longer just ‘cooperating’: today it means coordinating tasks in hybrid environments with people you often don’t know in person. In this context, adaptability and continuous learning are key.”
Digital responsibility as a new key competency
She notes that certain phrases heard in hiring processes are very telling today. According to Guarnaccia, this is where companies say: “I don’t care if they don’t know how to do it; I want someone who learns fast and without problems.” Here, the ability to learn stands out—alongside a new core competency: digital ethics and responsibility. “These competencies have always been needed, but the speed of technological change, automation, AI, and the emergence of new job profiles make adaptability and continuous learning essential.”
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Based on this, the expert explains that the selection process has also changed. It’s no longer just a technical filter; it now evaluates the “how” of each experience (how you did it, how you learned it, etc.).
“Hiring is no longer just a technical filter; it now also looks closely at the ‘how’ behind each experience”
While soft skills don’t replace technical knowledge, they often tip the balance. “Soft skills today determine tie-breakers or continuity. A company may be willing to sacrifice a degree of technical expertise if they don’t find the ideal candidate, but it will almost never move forward if the applicant lacks the soft skills required for the role,” she concludes.
How soft skills are trained at university
Many of the skills now appearing in job postings begin to develop long before sending out the first résumé. Often, in the classroom. Lic. Ezequiel Domínguez, clinical and work psychologist and faculty member at UCES, explains that much of his teaching work involves creating situations similar to those of the workplace.
In his courses, group assignments, role-playing activities, team presentations, and collaborative case resolutions are common. At first, students often resist: it’s hard to organize themselves, agree on decisions, or handle conflict. But behind that “noise” lies a goal: to simulate the experiences they’ll face later, where coordination, negotiation, and agreements with diverse people are essential.
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These practices aim to strengthen empathy, resilience, and effective communication—competencies Domínguez considers “fundamental for productivity, good performance, and employability, understood as the ability to adapt and stay relevant at work.” And he highlights that it’s not just about learning content, but about benefiting from collaborative learning: in class you learn from the syllabus, but also from interacting with others.
Teamwork and effective communication: competencies that make a difference
In today’s constantly changing work environment, all of this becomes even more important. Domínguez says resilience is crucial because it helps people overcome challenges, adapt to change, and learn even from negative experiences. Many workers, he notes, arrive at their jobs coping with mental health issues, grief, separation, or illness—emotional burdens that often manifest physically. A team with empathy and emotional intelligence can provide essential social support among colleagues.
“When a team has empathy and emotional intelligence, it can provide essential social support among coworkers”
Communication plays a central role in all of this. It’s not just speaking—it’s listening actively and picking up gestures, posture, and eye contact. In class and workshops, Domínguez often reminds students: “Words have the power to destroy or build,” and without these competencies, there is no teamwork or cooperation.
The university as a laboratory for soft skills
Beyond classroom work, UCES has been designing specific spaces for students to practice these competencies in real contexts. Sebastián Foglia, Institutional Relations representative, explains that the idea is to develop leadership, teamwork, and communication from multiple angles. “At UCES, we promote academic, institutional, and extracurricular experiences oriented toward developing key soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, and effective communication,” he summarizes.
In practice, this translates to workshops, certificate programs, and professional seminars; internships and professional placements in companies and institutions; simulations; and different types of contests, fairs, and institutional activities. This entire ecosystem works as a kind of parallel training ground, where academic content intersects with real challenges, tight deadlines, and new ways of engaging with others.
The University also strongly promotes interaction between faculties and contact with the social and productive environment. Institutional Relations highlights community outreach activities, school visits, prevention campaigns, community wellness initiatives, and educational fairs, as well as participation in business rounds, regional events, and activities at campuses outside the capital. According to Foglia, “these efforts broaden the student’s professional profile, integrating theory and practice, and strengthening essential competencies for today’s job market.”
All together, he emphasizes, these experiences allow UCES students to graduate with a more comprehensive, hands-on education—aligned not only with what the job market demands today but also with what teams need to function more humanely.
Creativity, strategy, and organization: the combination companies want
Beyond reports and analyses, the experience of students nearing graduation shows how soft skills work in real life. For Oriana Patanchon, a Social Communication student at UCES, the skills that helped her most were her “natural creativity, proactivity, and learning to organize myself strategically.” She had always seen herself as “the ideas person,” but in her first internship at an agency she understood something crucial: “creativity without strategy falls short.” Her biggest learning was knowing when to pause—listening first and pitching ideas after analyzing the context and understanding the client.
UCES, she says, was a strong testing ground for this. Patanchon recalls especially the emphasis on “doing”: radio and TV workshops, held in real professional studios, pushed her to handle pressure, make mistakes in a safe environment, and solve problems on the fly. She also values working with instructors who bring field experience into the classroom and the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant, which helped her strengthen her analytical skills and sense of responsibility.
If she had to give advice to someone just starting out, she’d say that the degree will be “a constant process of trial and error—and that’s a good thing.” For Oriana, “technical skills (like using Photoshop or CapCut) change every six months and can be learned through a tutorial. But soft skills—leading, empathizing, communicating—are developed through practice and reflection.”
“The degree will be a constant process of trial and error, and that’s a good thing”
How to start training the soft skills you’ll need in 2030
If anything becomes clear from the UCES community, it’s that soft skills are not decorative extras on a résumé but the heart of the professional world to come. And they don’t appear suddenly at your first job—they are built slowly, through every group assignment, every professor’s feedback, every moment where asking for help is necessary.
Training empathy can be as simple as truly listening when someone on your team speaks. Building resilience is closely tied to accepting mistakes, asking for feedback, and trying again. Improving communication involves writing more clearly, daring to present, and embracing constructive criticism as part of the learning process.
2030 may seem far away, but the skills needed for that world are likely already being developed today—in classroom hallways, midterms, internships, and shared projects. Or, as Oriana puts it: “Technical skills make you competent, but soft skills make you indispensable—they allow you to create your own added value and help you stand out.”