We are living through a period of remarkable change, both in the field of taxation, which is becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, and in the field of labour law, where new ways of working and new tools are emerging. This forces us to be in a continuous process of learning and acquiring new skills. Generally speaking, the skills of any professional can be divided into two categories: technical skills and soft skills. The technical skills, or hard skills, of a tax adviser are mainly the knowledge of the rules, their possible interpretations, the mastery of a language, etc. And because of the constant regulatory, doctrinal and jurisprudential changes that we face, we must continue to develop our technical skills practically throughout our professional lives. Soft skills include other types of skills such as empathy, teamwork, conflict resolution, communication, public speaking, commercial skills, etc. When analysing the professional life of an adviser, it could be concluded that in the early years a large part of their time is spent on technical tasks, and as their career progresses, less time is spent on these technical tasks and other types of tasks are encouraged (e.g. team management, client acquisition, negotiation, etc.). This means that more hard skills are required in the beginning, while soft skills are valued more over the years. This evolution is not only imposed by the organisations themselves, but it is the market itself that demands this professional evolution of the adviser. This leads us to recognise that, in the long term, the development of soft skills is fundamental to proper professional development and success. So much so that one could even conclude that soft skills are hard skills in the long run, in the sense that they are ultimately vital to our careers.
But how do you learn soft skills?
There is a false myth that you are born with certain skills, but the reality is that most skills, both technical and soft, can be learned and developed through the application of a certain methodology and routine. It is therefore important to start developing soft skills early in your career, as failure to do so can lead to stress and frustration in the workplace. Ideally, our educational institutions, organisations and professional associations should include in their curricula courses that encourage the development of these soft skills. And the earlier these skills are acquired, the better prepared the adviser will be to face new challenges and greater responsibilities. Recognising the need to develop soft skills from an early stage will help us to produce tax advisers who are not only technically competent, but also able to communicate their knowledge effectively, lead teams, negotiate and resolve complex situations and generate greater business opportunities. In short, it is about providing development for advisers that will help us acquire a set of skills that will make us more complete professionals.
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