Soft Skills: linking education and employment
What are soft skills? How are soft skills different from hard skills? How are they “taught” in education settings? How do they relate to employment? These are just a few of the questions surrounding soft skills but let’s start by trying to define them. Soft skills are a combination of abilities which are related to people and social situations, rather than a person's technical abilities. In other words, they’re the intangibles or the skills that we can sometimes take for granted. Soft skills are the way we “do” things while hard skills are about “doing” particular tasks. The problem is that many people find that although soft skills can be taken for granted, not everyone has a natural inclination or ability and these skills need to be taught. Some common examples of soft skills are relationship-building, teamwork, communication, adaptability, empathy, problem-solving and leadership.
The rise of remote working and the focus on the importance of mental health following the COVID pandemic has contributed to a renewed interest in soft skills, how they contribute to resilience and how they prepare learners for the world of work. For younger learners, good teaching should already encompass the development of soft skills in day-to-day teaching practice and sow the seeds for future development. Some examples include the use of group work when completing tasks, encouraging empathy, setting daily expectations and goals, encourage the development of personal relationships, practice giving and receiving feedback, make use of project-based learning, make time for and develop skills around reflective practice. All of these practices are relatively easy to incorporate and help mold younger minds.
There have, however, been some concerns about the perceived (lack of) explicit focus on soft skills development for learners who are progressing through college and university courses since, for many of them, their next destination will be employment. How are they being prepared (or not) for the workplace? It is probably worth considering the soft skills that employers value most highly. A recent list included:
Empathetic listening
Agility, flexibility and adaptability
Modern communication (think TikTok, YouTube etc)
Emotional intelligence
Creative thinking
Networking skills
Data analysis
Objective self-recognition
Critical thinking
Hybrid/remote teamwork
Public speaking
Vulnerability and authenticity
Remote team management
Enthusiasm
Diversity, equality and inclusion experience
This list is both extensive and interesting from at least two perspectives: how these soft skills build on what learners may have been exposed to earlier in their learning journey and how these soft skills can be assessed by employers as part of the recruitment process. Some skills can still definitely be assessed as part of a normal interview process, however, many employers are now using more sophisticated methods to assess candidates including scenarios, completion of specific tasks and even recorded video presentations in order to assess the soft skills that they believe are most important to the role being offered or to the organisation and its culture as a whole.
Thinking back to college and university education, there still needs to be a consideration and a focus on how soft skills can be appropriately developed so that learners are supported in their journey towards employment. A quick search of college and university websites reveals plenty verbiage on soft skills development and how time as a learner in these establishments will develop learners’ soft skills. The challenge, however, is that such skills are not “taught” skills in these environments and, therefore, this remains the challenge for colleges, universities and employers.
