Soft Skills : A Must in today’s job market

With rapidly advancing technology, almost all the job related activities are becoming automated but still there is one such skill which cannot be replicated by any technology, and that is SOFT SKILLS. People with strong soft skills are in a huge demand now-a-days in the job market. Possessing these skills ensure success in life.

Soft Skills, commonly known as Common skills/Core Skills are essential skills in almost all the professions. There is nothing soft about these skills. It’s a undercover term for those skills that are difficult to measure or quantify.

No doubt degrees and credentials are important but the development of soft skills is a crucial part of fostering a dynamic workforce. These essential non- technical skills are related to how you work, how you behave in different situations. Importance of these common skills covers every arena of our life. Interpersonal skills, communication skills, listening skills, time management, empathy are some of the important soft skills that are sought by the employers in the prospective employees. These soft skills have the capability to transform one’ s career from rock bottom to zenith.

You may be good or excellent with technical skills but if you are not able to manage your time or work, you may prove to be unsuccessful or even failure in your workplace. These transferable skills are important especially with customer- based jobs where one needs to deal the customer with utmost patience. It also characterize how you interact in your personal relationships.

Soft skills are difficult to learn, to measure and evaluate, unlike the hard skills. But you can improve your soft skills with constant practice. Most of these skills are just a matter of routine. Strong soft skills help to ensure positive relations between the client and the organization which in turn develops trust among the client leading to increase the productivity of the organization. Studies indicate that soft skills are expected to become extremely desirable in the near- future as they are difficult to automate.

Most in-demand soft skills today are:

1. Communication
2. Critical thinking
3. Ability to work in a team
4. Creativity
5. Adaptability
6. Social Skill

Not everyone has all the required soft skills. We need to develop these skills. We need to sharpen our soft skills so as to achieve success in professional as well as personal life. Building soft skills in our personality has its own sets of advantages like enhancing the productivity, leading the company to achieve its goals, team work, high retention of employees, customer as well as employee satisfaction, building relationship with colleagues, boosting one’s self confidence, acclimatization.
Remember acquiring technical skills only is not sufficient to excel in the career. If you want to enhance your effectiveness in personal and professional life, develop your soft skills by prioritizing the important skills, taking feedback from colleagues and friends, moving out of your comfort zone, self- reflection, being an active listener. Job opportunities galore with soft skills.

Remember “Every skill you acquire doubles your odds of success.”

-Ms. Shreshtha Bohra
Assistant Professor,
Department of Applied Sciences
GNIOT, Greater Noida