Soft Skills to Prepare Students for the Workplace

Did you know that 85 percent of career success comes from highly developed soft skills? According to research from Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford University, only 15 percent of career success is attributed to hard skills or technical skills learned through education. With this in mind, teaching our students soft skills is critical in setting them up for success as future professionals. Although academic excellence is crucial, incorporating soft skill development through extracurricular activities and practice at home can significantly benefit your student.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills are personal qualities that enable an employee to interact harmoniously with others. 

Examples of soft skills include, but are not limited to:

• Time Management

  Properly managing time can set an employee apart as a considerate person, who turns in projects on time, avoids distractions at work, and prioritizes important work. 

• Adaptability

  Having a flexible mindset is essential in the workplace. Rather than getting frazzled when plans change, adaptability is key to maneuvering constant changes in projects in a calm manner.

• Networking

  It’s time to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Few people enjoy talking to strangers, but it is a vital skill needed to build relationships. 

• Enthusiasm

  A good attitude makes a difference. Excitement for work will not only motivate the employee but will also spill over to coworkers.

• Professionalism

  Dressing appropriately, arriving on time, focusing during working hours, speaking/writing respectfully, and avoiding gossip are all ways to be professional.

• Communication Skills

  The ability to discern the right words and the right time to bring up a conversation (like wanting a promotion) are two components of communication skills. In addition, listening is one of the most vital yet overlooked communication skills lacking in the workplace. Employers report that the average entry-level candidate struggles with listening carefully. To become a better listener, TED Talk speaker Julian Treasure teaches the acronym RASA: Receive, Appreciate, Summarize, and Ask. 

• Teamwork

  Being a team player, aiming to do the best work for the project at hand, means learning to work well with all types of people, including difficult people.

• Leadership

  Hand in hand with being a team player, the ability to influence your peers is equally as important. 

• Problem Solving

  An employee who brings solutions to the table will add value and be considered as proactive. Instead of complaining about the issues in a current project, consider bringing up potential ideas to solve the issues.

How can we teach our students soft skills?

Two forms of teaching soft skills are through participation in extracurriculars and through practice at home.

• Join extracurricular activities.

• Group sports can help sharpen teamwork skills.

• Individual sports, like golf, rely heavily on adaptability. If you make mistakes in the first holes, you will need to adapt the remaining holes to offset the errors.

• Debate clubs can help with listening skills to counter your opponent’s stance.

• Writing clubs can help garner communication skills.

• Taking on a leadership role in sports or clubs can help strengthen leadership skills.

• Practice communication skills in your daily life.

• Call to make your next doctor’s appointment as a way to practice communication skills and professionalism, by greeting the receptionist nicely and defining a time/date for the appointment.

• When telling your friends a story, find ways to make it concise.

• When doing chores or unpleasant household tasks, practice an enthusiastic attitude. Search for ways to make it more genuinely pleasant, like listening to music while you wash dishes.

• Whenever someone walks through the door, use that as a trigger to give them your full attention and put away your cell phone. This is a way to practice consideration and respectfulness.

• Pause and review any texts or emails before you hit send. This will help avoid errors and build up critical thinking skills.

Teaching our students soft skills is fundamental, not only for future professional success, but also for relationships in general. The good news is that these skills can be learned and sharpened with practice. Although academic excellence is significant, developing soft skills through extracurricular activities and practice at home will give your student an edge in the competitive workplace.