Soft Skills: Education beyond Academics

Abstract

Soft skills is a sociological term relating to a person's Emotional Intelligence Quotient, the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills complement hard skills, which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities. A person's soft skill is an important part of their individual contribution to the success of an organization. Particularly those organizations dealing with customers face-toface are generally more successful if they train their staff to use these skills. Screening or training for personal habits or traits such as dependability and conscientiousness can yield significant return on investment for an organization. For this reason, soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers in addition to standard qualifications. Soft skills play a critical role in the career growth of individuals. The expectations begin with the basic foundation of ethics, integrity, and value. Equally non negotiable criteria are a strong work ethic and a professional and positive attitude. In today’s job market, employers are not necessarily looking at the most skilled person. If a perfectly skilled job candidate were to come in for an interview and had absolutely no soft skills, the employer may consider looking for some one else. It is completely personal. Soft skills are those nuances that make a person individually unique and stand out. These skills are all about how a person works with others, maintains a positive attitude under pressure, solves a personal or work crisis and communicates both ethically and effectively.