Apart from the traditional skill-set prescribed in a job description, it is vital for any aspirant to hone up his soft competencies because that is what differentiates one candidate from the other. Ritu Mehrotra tells you what these skills are and how one can put them to use while looking for job opportunities
There are many aspirants who hold a degree from the top university with a very high percentage and have done enough of short term courses to land them a job but fail to grab one during recruitment. Then there are are those students who hold a degree from a recognised university and a not so high percentage but are able to land their dream job in their first attempt. The biggest reason behind this is the lack of soft competencies skills.
Soft skills is a term often associated with 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.
While looking for a job, freshers often stress on traditional skills that are specified in the job description. They feel they can get a job by just acquiring such skills. But it is the soft competencies skills that are given more weightage in any organisation. These skills are a bunch of personal qualities, attitudes, habits and social graces that enhance an individual’s interaction, job performance and career prospects. Thus, it’s important to focus on the development of these skills as you do on your hard skills. Employers seek candidates with both types of skills when hiring for most positions.
Important soft competencies to inculcate
Communication
While scanning through a job advertisement, fluent communication skills is one aspect which every organisation demands of. It’s self explanatory of how important this skill is. The ability to communicate information accurately, clearly and as intended, is something that can’t be undervalued. There are courses which are designed specifically to help people improve their communication skills.
listening
listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages during the communication process. Misunderstandings, confusion, misinterpretation, lack of enough information often occur due to lack of listening skills. This skill is so important, that many organisations are training their staff on the basis of this skill. Having this skill will lead you to a better understanding, greater productivity with a few mistakes and increased sharing of information. Aspirants need to spend some time thinking about and developing their listening skills they are the blocks of success.
Teamwork
Teamwork is one of the essential skills required while working in a big or small company. The reason is, no company runs under one person. They work in a team; whether it’s two people in a group or hundreds.
A person who can work in a team is sought out by the employer. Some people are comfortable working in a group, while others may have a problem and prefer to work individually. For those who don’t prefer working in a group, they should try to inculcate this skill as this will help them sustain in the long run.
Flexibility
The ability to multitask is another skill which can help you climb a ladder of success. When an employee can take on even unanticipated tasks, employers are happy and would like to keep him/her in the company sometimes at any cost.
Time management
Time management is a process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on a specific activity. It is important to develop effective strategies for managing your time to balance the conflicting demands of your job, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency and productivity.
A candidate needs to clear different level of tests while applying for a position in any company. These tests whether written or online requires a lot of time management.
Personal organisation
A person who always gets his things done in a perpetually frantic state is a person who lacks organisation skills. Without this skill, a person tends to waste time, feel stressed and frustrated.“Practice makes a man perfect” as the saying goes, aspirants must instill this skill in them. They must learn how to prepare, plan, priorities and even scheduling their free time.
Problem solving & Decision making
Problem solving and decision-making are the two most essential soft skills. It generally involves decision-making which is especially important for management and leadership. There are process and techniques to improve decision-making and the quality of decisions. It’s comes naturally to some people, so these people should focus more on improving the quality of their decisions. People that are less natural decision-makers are often able to make quality assessments, but then need to be more decisive in acting upon the assessments made.
Personal drive and initiative
Problem solving and decision-making are very important skills. The initiative is that first step toward action. It means doing something on your own, without having to be told to do it. The initiative also means sometimes going above and beyond what is expected from you. Initiative is that which makes a fresher stand out from the crowd and it convinces the employer to take you on board.
When you take the initiative, you are creating an opportunity for yourself within the company. The more initiatives you take, the more opportunities you are creating for yourself. Initiative in a person is usually respected and rewarded.
Most employers observed that they could find workers who have the capability to operate machinery or fulfill other tasks, but many potential hires lack the soft competencies that a company needs.
These skills are important, if not more important, than the traditional skills for an employer looking to hire, regardless of industry or job type. Therefore, aspirants must develop these skills gradually while perfecting their traditional skills required in the job description.
The writer is VP Global HR and Talent Management of Bristlecone, a Mahindra Group Company