No matter how difficult the academic program, many do not emphasize the need for students to develop their soft skills. These employability skills, which emphasize social and character traits, are necessary compliments to academic knowledge and training. As businesses focus more on customer service and consumer perception they are seeking employees who can add to the overall perception that the business values human needs.
What are Soft Skills?
Soft skills are also referred to as Emotional Intelligence, social skills or character traits. These skills involve the ability to communicate, problem solving skills, work habits and social graces that make up each persons personality, perceived friendliness and professionalism.
Soft skills are skills that are not taught in a specific course or tested on a standardized exam or professional certification. They are developed throughout school, learned from parents and friends and individually modified through unique experiences. Group work, presentations and other non-tested parts of school work help develop these skills. Though there is a growing movement to assess these skills, many people currently involved in career planning need to identify and self-assess their own employability skills.
Examples of Employability Skills
According to the SCANS report released by the US Department of Labor, at its foundation employability skills require basic academic and nonacademic skills. Most employers expect their employees to be able to read and write, speak and listen, and solve simple math problems. In addition to any specific academic knowledge a position might require, employees should be able to reason through a problem, make decisions and be able to learn new skills and information. Finally, soft skills are based on personality qualities such as self-management and individual responsibility, integrity and being sociable.
On this foundation are built several pieces that employees are expected to be able to use. The first is the management of resources such as time, money, materials and even workspace. Next is the ability to work well with others, whether on a team or communicating with customers. Being able to work with information is also very important, especially acquiring and evaluating information whether it is numerical data, information research or verbally communicating with others. Another is the ability to work with the social, organizational or technological systems within the business; whether that is being polite to coworkers, using a chain of command or basic computer skills.
Soft skills are recognized as necessary for many industries. Though schools recognize the need to teach these skills, they still do not receive a similar focus as do academic work. It is up to individuals to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and focus on what they can do to improve their employability.
Reference: Nicolaides, C. Focus On Soft Skills: A Leadership Wake-up Call. (2002)
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