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. Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person's IQ), which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities.
A person's soft skill 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]
Examples of soft skills
• Teach others
• Coach others
• Motivate others
• Provide services
• Negotiate
• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Active Listening
• Maintain meaningful conversation (discussion/debate)
• Defuse arguments with timing, instructions and polite, concise language
• Foresee situations
• Self-awareness
Proactive Soft skills play a vital role for professional success; they help one to excel in the workplace and their importance cannot be denied in this age of information and knowledge. Good soft skills -- which are in fact scarce -- in the highly competitive corporate world will help you stand out in a milieu of routine job seekers with mediocre skills and talent.
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