Young adults without ‘soft skills’ in the workplace will face hard landing in life
I just read a great editorial in the News and Observer about the importance of young adults learning “soft skills.”
A few quotes from the article:
“Imagine that, Mom was right. Listen more, talk less, be polite, consider others, work hard, team play, show up on time, shine your shoes and don’t slouch. Think before you speak.”
“But many recent graduates cannot communicate or play well with others. They lack critical “soft skills” such as basic office etiquette, communication, leadership and team skills. In a business setting, where customers, sales and the company’s reputation are on the line, employers are increasingly unhappy with the graduates available for hire.”
“Our graduates have technical skills, more computer aptitude than ever before. But without the soft skills to honor others and themselves, they have little chance of successful long-term careers.”
“In a 2006 survey of 400 employers, three quarters of respondents said that high school grads lack interpersonal skills.”
Chris’ Thoughts:
Students need to know that showing up on time to class will be like showing up to work on time. Completing homework assignments will be like completing work assignments.
We teach soft skills in our Career and Technical Education classes. We also teach them in our school athletics programs. How about in the core subjects? What can we do to get a common soft skills program to cross curricular lines?
Hopefully, students in an internship or apprenticeship will quickly learn what soft skills they are lacking. Or at least they might start to connect the reality between coming to class on time prepared to learn and showing up to a job on time ready to work.
The next time you have a career fair, or any other event where the students interact with members of the business community, let the business people know that soft skills is a better discussion topic than the usual “How much do you make?”.
Well, at least that’s the way that I see it. Let me know what you are thinking, and stop by again soon for more of my ramblings.
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Chris Droessler |
School-to-Career Blog 
I couldn’t agree more! Soft skills tell a story
more than an academic transcript. I’ve often thoughtthat an “employability transcript” would be good information for employers and colleges. An employability transcript would show number of tardies, absences, participation in activities, participation in job shadowing, etc Do you think we could get employers to ask for an employability transcript much like colleges ask for an academic transcript?
Elaine Metcalf
May 27, 2008
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.
sandrar
September 10, 2009
Hi! I found your comments on soft skills quite interesting. As a professor, I find that most students need training in soft skills and prepare them for the corporate world.
Rama Gautam
February 2, 2010