Soft skills- does it matter more than good grades?
Posted by admin | Under soft skills Tuesday Dec 1, 2009Employers now seek graduates with soft skills instead of just good paper qualifications. The problem is, what exactly are the so called soft skills? And are they more important than good grades? Why?
please help me with this baffling question. do list out the soft skills and why they are more or less impt than grades. THANKS!
Many employers are demanding "life skills" as they are called, as people do not seem to learn these in school any more. These life skills include listening, following directions, being courteous, interviewing skills (such as finding out what customers want), negotiating (a big one), and others. After a basic education, many skills can be taught (depends on the field).
Google "job-readiness certificate" and you will find many articles about this. I work in this area.
You must have read an article somewhere. Likely the article was written by someone who does not actually ever hire people.
Employers look at all the evidence they can get about a candidate. For kids coming out of school, the most reliable objective evidence is grades.
"Soft skills" also known as "a good personality" are harder to define, but let’s take some extremes for examples:
example 1: the nerdy geek who gets straight A’s but is has poor hygiene and is rude to everyone
example 2: the party jock who barely passes but everybody loves him.
As an employer, I wouldn’t want to hire them for the same job. But I might have 2 separate jobs that are perfect for each of them.
My advice: be a good friendly courteous person, and kick butt on your grades.
References :
Many employers are demanding "life skills" as they are called, as people do not seem to learn these in school any more. These life skills include listening, following directions, being courteous, interviewing skills (such as finding out what customers want), negotiating (a big one), and others. After a basic education, many skills can be taught (depends on the field).
Google "job-readiness certificate" and you will find many articles about this. I work in this area.
References :