Doctoral students need both hard skills (i.e., technical skills) and soft skills (i.e., social skills) to manage their learning journey and to succeed in their program of study. The paper presents findings from a qualitative study conducted with doctoral students enrolled in one of the Canadian U15 universities and studying in diverse doctoral degree programs. The study presents findings from the experiential reflection of doctoral students on the use of soft skills to succeed in their program of study. The participating students suggested a range of “non-academic” skills (i.e., soft skills) that were important in their learning journey such as communication, time management, conflict management, stress management, expectation management, work ethics, self- discipline and motivation, power navigation and others. This research aims to identify a wide range of soft skills that doctoral students need to move successfully in their program of study and contribute to the growing body of literature in the area of soft skills, particularly in the context of doctoral students and their programs.