Soft skills
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Soft skills is a sociological term relating to a person's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people.[1] Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person's IQ), which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities.
Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which are about a person's skill set and ability to perform a certain type of task or activity, soft skills relate to a person's ability to interact effectively with coworkers and customers and are broadly applicable both in and outside the workplace.
A person's soft skill EQ is an important part of their individual contribution to the success of an organization. Particularly those organizations dealing with customers face-to-face 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.[2] For this reason, soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers in addition to standard qualifications.
It has been suggested that in a number of professions soft skills may be more important over the long term than occupational skills. The legal profession is one example where the ability to deal with people effectively and politely, more than their mere occupational skills, can determine the professional success of a lawyer.[3]
Soft Skills are behavioral competencies. Also known as Interpersonal Skills, or people skills, they include proficiencies such as communication skills, conflict resolution and negotiation, personal effectiveness, creative problem solving, strategic thinking, team building, influencing skills and selling skills, to name a few.
[edit] See also
- Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills
- Critical thinking
- Interpersonal skills
- People skills
- Vishal Jain. "Importance of Soft skills development in education". http://schoolofeducators.com/2009/02/importance-of-soft-skills-development-in-education/. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
[edit] References
Vidya Finishing School, Vidya Knowledge Park, Meerut vfs.vidya.in/
[edit] External links
- Symmonds, A. etc 2009. "Smart English through Success Secrets"[ISBN 978-81-909849-6-6] & other 'Smart English Series'
The People Skills Revolution: A Step-by-Step Approach to Developing Sophisticated People Skills, Pamela Milne, Global Professional Publishing ISBN-13: 978-1906403720
- Career Opportunities News, Career Opportunities News, 2002
- Paajanen, George (1992), Employment Inventory Reports, Technology Based Solutions/Personnel Decisions, Inc.
- Giusti, Giuseppe (2008), Soft Skills for Lawyers, Chelsea Publishing ([3]), ISBN 978-0955892608
- U.S. Department of Labor - Employment & Training Administration
- Carnegie, Dale (1998), How to Win Friends & Influence People, Pocket, ISBN 978-0671027032
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