Soft skills refer to the personal traits or qualities such as communication, personal habits, empathy, presentation skills which define our behaviour in the work place. Soft skills could also be called as the personal traits or attributes which enhance the performance at the work place, interactions with colleagues, boss or client, and career prospects.
Soft skills are very important as they help you to stand out in the crowd. We see that all the people appearing for the particular job interview have the same technical base but what counts is your way of presentation and communication skills. But as we could see that the soft skills are often undervalued and very less training is given in this field. These skills are inculcated in students to fine-tune their attitude and personality as well as the eagerness to learn.
Soft Skills have two parts. One part involves developing attitudes and attributes, and the other part involves fine-tuning communication skills to express attitudes, ideas and thoughts well. Crucial point for successful work is the perfect integration of ideas and attitudes, with appropriate communication skills.
Some of the important soft skills are:
- Communication Skills–
Communication skills are very important in job in any field. Strong communication skills help to build strong relationships with the colleagues, boss or clients. People with good communication skills have the ability to convey information to others by speaking.
- Decision making skills–
By decision making skills we mean the skill of problem solving and critically analysing the situation and taking any action or decision accordingly. This skill is very crucial to work in the competitive global market.
- Leadership quality–
Sometimes we need to work with a team and you need to have the leadership quality to be a good leader of the team. You have to keep yourself and your team motivated and believe in each other or the things would fall apart.
- Team work–
In the work place we need to be a part of the team. So, it is important to have the team spirit. This skill helps you to be an essential part of the team. It teaches you the values of unity, team spirit, how to work efficiently and the behaviour with the team members.
- Time management and ability to work under pressure–
This skill is very important. Time management is very important in any job of any discipline. Moreover the ability to work under pressure and critical situation is appreciated very much.
These were just some of the many soft skills. Now if you are thinking how to get these skills, then the answer is these skills are not taught they are inculcated from the inside. You just need to focus and work to improve them.
Here are some reasons stating the importance of soft skills in your career:
- This makes you an effective communicator–
The communication skills would establish you as an effective communicator. If you hold a senior position in the firm then you need to guide and motivate your staff and by having good communication skills you would be able to share your ideas and point of views properly with the people in the office. You would be able to communicate the thought process to the employees properly and guide them to complete the task in hand.
- Helps to emerge as a good leader–
If your strongest soft skill is leadership then this would help you to emerge as a good leader in your work place. You would be given tasks to expand your arena of thoughts and actions. You would be assigned leadership positions. There you need to motivate your juniors and lead the team properly.
- Development of critical thinking–
Your ability to think critical and analyse problem is developed even more. You get experience of dealing with various problems and make accurate decisions accordingly.
Furthermore, most of work done depends on how well you can network with other, how well you can get the work done from others. In the corporate world, or even in personal life, the people who cannot gel well with others often lag behind others.
Now-a-days companies are looking for candidates who are smart and can present themselves well. Soft skills play a crucial role in making students employable as it enables them to be flexible, positive to change, handle ever-increasing expectations of employers and to stay globally competitive. In today’s world, most of the people have almost the same knowledge base, but, what differentiates one person from another is how well they can effectively utilise their skills and knowledge to make things work in the work place.
These skills help you in having a major influence in the organisation in a short span of time. The management would actually listen to your problems and help to solve them by various ways, they also give you the challenging task knowing your ability and this would let you to push your boundaries further to bring out the best in you. This would also help in the growth of your career graph.
The position you gain in a Society will depend on your social skills that will facilitate interpersonal behaviour. Your qualification or status will not help you if you do not interact positively with others. A person who has a smile on his face and is helpful will always gain more respect than a person who is withdrawn and harsh.
Many high scoring graduates do not get jobs as they lack the soft skills. Soft skills may be undervalued but it is very important to have soft skills to improve yourself and grow in your career.
Grooming of the students with soft skills would enable them to successfully take part in various selection procedures, and handle the situations they are likely to come across in their professional careers and make them ready to get a head start in the corporate world.
Soft skills are essential in career. If you possess them then the path of your career would be smooth and would lead you to your ultimate goal in business.
Author’s Bio: Priyanshi is a passionate blogger who writes mainly on soft skills which are useful for both students and business people. She also conducts seminars and workshops for bringing awareness in students for improving their skills. She is right now working at company which helps students choose MBA courses.