Whatever
you chose to do for your Award, no doubt you had fun, challenged yourself, and
experienced adventure and growth. All those experiences have equipped you with
additional skills that will help you throughout your personal and professional
life – you developed soft skills. Soft skills are crucial to success in
everyday life, they are also extremely attractive to employers.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are the personal attributes
that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with others. Examples
of soft skills are a positive attitude, self-confidence, ability to accept and
learn from criticism. You may be surprised at what a huge difference these soft
skills can make in your professional life – more employers than ever are
looking for employees that can demonstrate these effective soft skills, because
it leads to a more productive and harmonious work environment.
Soft skills are important in all
elements of life, from building strong friendships to managing personal
finances. However, they’re especially important in the world of work. As soft
skills has a huge impact on how well you integrate into a company’s culture and
how well you get along with coworkers, soft skills influence how successful you
will be.
"Due
to increased competitive pressure, employers across sectors have identified a
strong need for non-technical skills, including problem solving skills,
teamwork skills, communication skills, time management, and cultural
adaptability.1 Interpersonal
and communication skills, including listening skills, are particularly
highlighted with respect to the hiring and promotion of employees in a variety
of industries, suggesting that these skills are highly valued by employers.2 "
- Soft
Skills Are Hard, Report from Ryerson University, November 2015
- (Bailey, 2014; Grieve, 2013; Gillard, 2009;
Moss and Tilly, 1996)
- (Gillard,
2009; Reinsch and Gardner, 2014; Grieve, 2013)
Examples:
Some examples of the soft skills you
have developed that employers are very interested in:
- Communicating with others
- Working in a team
- Taking the lead when required
- Managing your time
- Showing initiative and drive
- Commitment to projects and follow through
- Taking responsibility
- Being resilient despite setbacks
- Keeping focused and positive
- Problem-solving, decision making
Many jobs, especially post-secondary,
will have essential academic and technical criteria, but soft skills are
becoming equally as important; when applying for a job alongside candidates
with similar academic results or technical skills, being able to demonstrate
that you have soft skills will give you the edge.
Each
section of your Award nurtures a different combination of soft skills: