Soft Skills For Hard Times - College & Professional Success Starts Here....

College Success Starts With Soft Skills

Have you heard the saying....

"Hard skills get you the job, soft skills keep you in the job?"

This is so true both personally and professionally.  As college students it is important to build formidable relationships that afford you the opportunity to both grow and learn. In  recent articles from the Harvard Business Review and several scholarly publications below is a list of skills that cannot be automated by technology or machines that would help you stand out at school, work, and play. Below is a list of soft skills educators and professionals say students should develop before graduation.  

1.  Interpersonal Communication. 

According to neuroscience theorists, and social psychologists effective communication allows us to connect with individuals, projects, and programs more intentionally and collectively.  Although more than 80% of our communication is nonverbal, communication is the one thing we do to share information, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and responses to stimuli.  In a PEW Study conducted a couple of years ago, the one thing that 90% of graduates wanted to know about was communication.  How do we have good communication?  How do we level the distractions that often block our ability to communicate effectively? With the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with technology, this terrain is imperative as more organizations and schools are choosing virtual models to both learn and work.

2. Critical Thinking Skills.

Your ability to resolve issues and address the needs of those around you on and off the job is essential to your success as a student and emerging leader.  It is imperative to analyze the facts before making judgments and decisions.  As you begin or continue your professional and/or educational journey, ask yourself questions that will test your assumptions and focus on the possibilities outside of what you normally think or hear.  It not only challenges those around you, it shows that you are able to draw from new experiences and observations to create new outcomes.  This is critical in our society today whether you choose education, a traditional nine to five, or entrepreneurship as a career path.

3.  Innovation.

Innovation is touted as one of the most difficult soft skills to master because most people must learn how to be innovative through experiences or home life.  There is evidence based research stating innovation although very important often takes a back seat to hard skills in most spaces. There is a gap for innovation at the college level because many feel that what is being taught in theory limits the “why” and “how” beyond the books so it is important as practitioners to elevate our work by testing the “what was” and “what used to be” in our respective fields of study.  Keep a diary (physical or electronic) to build chronicles for the changes you make personally and professionally.

4.  Creativity.

According to the American Management Association, innovation starts with creativity or your ability to uncover and/or discover new or different ways to do things and realize outcomes.  These skills are transferable which affords us the opportunity to port them everywhere we go.  Whether we are in class learning a new theory or at the University Center taking pictures of friends, creativity allows you to travel through new areas of our brains to discover new truths, ideals, and ways of being.  College and professional development online cultivates creativity well. Explore learning that ignites your passion and elevate you to new levels of learning.

5.  Technical Expertise.  

You need to know your stuff….bottom line.  If you are spending time, energy, and money on a degree here...make it your duty to learn your craft.  This is one of the most simplistic areas of soft skills training but also one that sometimes gets forgotten.  In order to be the best and become a SME or subject matter expert, we must do our work.  This includes going to class and/or meetings, asking questions, doing the work, asking more questions, and finding ways to connect your knowledge to practice daily.   Set goals for yourself and hold yourself accountable. One idea involves creating a life group with your friends or a mastermind group with your professional circle.  Once a commitment is made to yourself and the work or group, stay engaged for the long-term benefit.  

I have given you my top five soft skills based on the research I found for traditional career fields and nontraditional career fields like higher education and entrepreneurship.  My suggestion is to develop all of the aforementioned skills and consistently work on them during your time in college and beyond.  After all, these skills enhance your life personally and professionally at any level and can be a contributing factor in your ability to be promoted.  

So what about the time after college or in my current role seeking promotion?

College students and emerging leaders are asked to "reskill" for the future by connecting to their soft (power) skills intentionally.  An article by Marc Zao-Sanders and Kelly Palmer tells readers to “think about the skills that you have now and the job you want 18 months from now, and then:

• Identify the key soft skills (power skills) you have and need. You can then see where you have gaps and put learning goals in place to fill them. Examples of important power skills include critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and learning agility. Learning agility is your most important skill because it means you have the curiosity and motivation to continuously learn new skills throughout your career.
• Consider core technical skills you have that are likely to stay in high demand, such as digital literacy, data science, and data analytics. And then build upon those skills.
• Focus on skills that are portable and that will be critical regardless of what field you enter. Highlighting your transferable skills will showcase your abilities in unique ways. For example, the data analytics skills you developed in your marketing job may be just as valuable — or even more valuable — in e-commerce or product development.
• Keep a permanent, personal list of past and future learning. This will help you have better conversations about your skills in interviews and on the job.
• Discover, filter, and apply your learning. There are many resources available at low or no cost. Utilize technology.”

These measures help students and young professionals focus on their STRENGTHS instead of opportunities and to intentionally market skills that easily transferred to any job in any career including higher education and entrepreneurship.  I love the idea of the personal list because it is what I have done for nearly thirty years.  Archiving your accomplishments in the community, at school, and at work are key to knowing what drives you and what things you value in life.  Corporations, organizations, and institutions desire workers and volunteers who are life learners with skills designed to help and grow a community and/or profitability.  

Source:  https://hbr.org/2019/09/are-you-developing-skills-that-wont-be-automated 

Source:  https://hbr.org/2019/09/why-even-new-grads-need-to-reskill-for-the-future

 Soft skills enhance your life personally and professionally when it comes to college and career.  According to the National Association for Soft Skills Association their 2019 soft skills report outlines the top ten soft skills employers seek in college graduates and employees in the workplace.  I want to leave you with these ten tips we can use daily to make us a better student, employee, sibling, leader, etc.  No matter what role you use below, these skills below make you a better fit in every situation.

So what are the top ten soft skills for success?

1. Dependability – Being dependable means that you do what you say you will, when you say you will. You can be trusted to complete any task, and you will do it well. 
2. Motivation – You should be able to motivate yourself to get tasks done, and take the initiative to find new ways to improve upon not only yourself and your work, but also your organization.
3. Communication – This is one of those skills you hear about all the time, and that’s for a reason. Communication is the key to any human interaction, especially in the workplace.
4. Commitment – Employers want to know that you’re not only committed to the company and your job, but to turning out the best work you can, every time.
5. Creativity – Can you think about problems in a new and interesting way? Show your employer how.
6. Problem Solving – If you’re confronted with a problem, employers want to know that you will do everything you can to fix it. Your creative skills will come in handy here.
7. Flexibility – Sometimes, your job is going to be a little like a roller coaster. Can you adjust to the chaos?
8. Teamwork – You’re not done with group work after graduate school. Working in a team is an essential part of almost every job.
9. Leadership – You may not be a natural born leader, but can you step up and guide either a group of people or a process if necessary?
10. Time Management – Life gets busy, both in and out of the workplace. You need to be able to balance your workload and prioritize what gets done.

Source:  https://www.nationalsoftskills.org/top-10-soft-skills-for-success/

“A lack of soft skills teaches you a hard lesson in life personally and professionally.  Make soft skills a priority now and forever.” ~ Dawn Stone