Introduction. The article is devoted to soft skills, which are necessary for young engineers starting their professional careers. The objectives of the study were to determine the optimal composition of soft skills most demanded by employers; to assess the importance of soft skills for the successful start of the professional career of young engineers; to identify the main problems of soft skills formation in the educational process of an engineering bachelor’s degree at a university. A review of studies devoted to the analysis and assessment of soft skills in the work of engineers in various fields of activity is made. Methodology. The study used methods of expert assessment, written survey, oral interview, content analysis, statistical, systemic and structural-logical analysis. The experts were the heads and engineers of design and technological departments of large industrial enterprises, teachers of the engineering disciplines of the university and senior students of the engineering bachelor’s degree. Results. The results of the empirical study showed which soft skills are estimated by young engineers and heads of industrial enterprises as the most necessary and more significant for a successful career start for university graduates in comparison with many professional competencies. Based on these, a grouping of the most popular soft skills has been compiled. The results of a comparative analysis of the identified soft skills are presented, based on rankings of their significance made by different categories of research participants. An explanation of the research results is proposed, including the differences in the obtained rankings of the significance of soft skills. A number of reasons have been identified that prevent their formation in higher education. Conclusions. The article highlights soft skills that can be considered as priority ones for a successful start of a professional career for young engineers. Contradictions and shortcomings in the assessments of the importance of soft skills by experts representing universities and industrial enterprises are indicated. Conclusions are formulated that can be used to improve the university training of engineering personnel.