Soft Skills, also known as People Skills, are non-technical skills that indicate one’s ability to interact with others in the workplace. They are important in relationship building, and are always sought during interview sessions to determine good fit of candidates.
With the unemployment challenge faced in different countries, so many candidates have lost the opportunity to secure their dream job due to the lack of these skills. It is a well known fact that a lot of graduates do not know how to craft a good CV/Resume. Many do not know how to communicate effectively, as well as imbibe good business etiquettes. Hence, it becomes an issue even in the workplace, as some employees who lack these skills, get a series of queries and even laid-off at their workplace.
Soft Skills are diverse and include such skills as Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, Effective Communication, Team Work, Problem-solving, etc. It has been validated that having technical skills alone is not enough. So many employers place emphasis on those who have both Soft Skills and Technical Skills. They want those with a good attitude, who are disciplined, and can manage time effectively.
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An internal study conducted by Google in 2017 found that their best teams were not the ones full of top scientists, but interdisciplinary groups that had employees who brought strong soft skills to the collaborative process. Also, as reported in the LinkedIn Learning 2020 Workplace Learning Report – in which LinkedIn analyzed data from more than 660 million professionals and more than 20 million jobs to identify the 15 most in-demand skills, the top five Soft Skills identified were Creativity, Persuasion, Collaboration, Adaptability, and Emotional Intelligence.
How can one acquire Soft Skills?
There are different training for Soft Skills, in which candidates have to pay to learn them, and get certified for successfully completing them. In Nigeria, this burden has been lifted from jobseekers, as they no longer have to worry about the cost of training. With the Jobberman Soft Skills Training which is in place, job seekers would gain free access to the catalogue of Soft Skills courses. They are tutored by experts , supported on their career journey, as well as accessed. They are also given a certificate upon successful completion of the training. The goal is to improve their chances of securing great jobs, and to reduce the unemployment gap in the country.
