If you’re looking to kickstart your career in the public sector, you’re probably aware that you’ll be spoilt for choice with all the different ministries available – from education and manpower, to defence and foreign affairs. As a result, the public sector is on the lookout for talents from diverse backgrounds, and are generally open to all degrees.

However, because there’s no restrictions based on backgrounds, the sector is competitive and the job can be demanding. The way to get ahead is to adopt the right soft skills for the job that can make the difference between just getting things done and making an impact in both professional and personal settings.

While different roles may prioritise different specific skills, there are a few that you’ll likely need in any career in the public sector.

Communication and interpersonal skills

With serving the public as its primary purpose, it comes as no surprise that jobs in the public sector tend to be people-oriented. As such, recruiters look for candidates who are able to demonstrate a strong grasp at communicating with others.

For starters, much of your work responsibilities are collaborative, and you’ll be dealing with a variety of people from different positions and backgrounds, along with their own reasons and agendas. From explaining a brand new teaching approach to a concerned parent at a meeting, to liaising with vendors and clients to produce a new tourism campaign, you’ll need to communicate in a way that is informative yet understandable to the other party.

Even if you pick a more administrative role that’s less people-facing, keep in mind that in the public sector, no man truly works alone. Having good communication skills also means being good at other forms of communication beyond just verbal – such as preparing reports as a foreign service officer or emailing a written proposal while liaising with important stakeholders. Not to mention being a good listener and knowing how to manage your body language. Being aware of all this can mean the difference between a smooth correspondence or an unwarranted misunderstanding that can lead to scandal.

Problem-solving and creativity

Problems in the public sector, in truth, can be much more complicated to resolve than you’d think. There are a lot of factors that must be taken into consideration, such as ensuring that said solutions are cost-effective. The issue that the existing regulations and bureaucracy put in place can also make it harder to implement change easily.

Moreover, these solutions have to be extremely well thought-out by ensuring that it can be implemented in the long run (meaning that it has to be adaptable), and that they are favourably perceived by the public. After all, these issues often have a significant impact on the nation as a whole and cannot be taken lightly.

This is why recruiters in this sector highly value candidates with high problem-solving and creative thinking skills – you’ll need to think out of the box for the best solutions that will benefit everyone as a whole.

Organisational skills

Within the public sector, you’ll find yourself working in an environment that requires you to multitask, such as concurrently working on major projects and minor ad-hoc tasks. These often come with a range of deadlines, which means you’ll need to make the right decisions on what to prioritise first. On top of that, these tasks are likely requested by a variety of stakeholders, meaning that you’ll also need to keep track of who you have to report to, especially as you gain more responsibilities in your job role.

For example, as a teacher you’ll likely need to juggle multiple priorities (from lesson planning to dealing with administrative matters), some may be equally as important as the other. On a larger scale, it will be very rare for you to only face one large task at a time. As such, knowing how to organise and manage your time will be a life-saver when things get busy, lest you get swamped with tasks and end up with nothing done.

Resilience and passion

The goal of the public sector is to provide a service to all and thus, acts in the public interest. In an environment which is driven by quality of service rather than profit, having a strong, vested passion for helping others will do you well here, and can truly make the difference between just doing your job and making an impact.

Keep in mind though that government bodies change and shift strategies to adjust to the needs of the public, such as implementing new technologies and policies. As a result, you’ll also need to stay adaptable to this fast-moving environment, and be open to change and know how to deal with the pressure that comes with it.

Moreover, while it may be uncommon depending on the job role, there will be times where you’ll have to work beyond what’s expected of you, like having to work off the clock. Being committed can also mean being aware of the current trends of your job, like in foreign affairs if you’re operating as a foreign service officer or looking into new teaching methods as a teacher.

This is all just scratching the surface, however – depending on your role, you’ll likely need plenty of other soft skills, or have to master a few if you want to succeed. But the great thing about soft skills is that they can be developed over time, and as long as you’re sincere in your efforts, and remain open to constructive feedback and guidance, you can eventually work your way through and wield these skills with relative ease.