Introduction to
Soft Skills
Dr Tinu Anand
Associate Professor
GIBS
• Introduction to Soft Skills
• Understanding the Importance of Soft Skills
• Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
Agenda
Introduction to soft skills
• Overview of Essential Soft Skills
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Understanding
Soft Skills
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Introduction
• Soft skills are personal attributes and
interpersonal abilities that enhance your
job performance, relationships, and
career prospects
• Examples: Communication, teamwork,
adaptability, problem-solving, emotional
intelligence.
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Significance
Soft Skills refer to a cluster of personal
qualities, habits, attributes, and social
graces that make someone a good
employee and compatible to work with
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Soft skills showcase an individual’s work ethic and ability to collaborate with
others. Employees can utilize their soft skills to make a positive impact on their
organization and improve company culture.
It’s important to note that some jobs emphasize soft skills over hard skills,
especially within people management roles. This is because soft skills are more
difficult to acquire, while hard skills can be learned in a class or through an
instructional video
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How to measure Soft Skills
Measuring soft skills is more complicated than measuring hard skills, but it’s not
impossible.
One way to know how your soft skills measure up is to ask for feedback from
managers, colleagues, direct reports, or even friends and family. As the people who
spend the most time with you, they may provide insights into areas where you excel
and what soft skills you need to improve.
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Tools of measuring soft Skills
Some of these include:
•Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
•The DiSC Assessment
•The Caliper Test
•Big Five Personality Test
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Hard Skills
• Hard skills are teachable abilities that
are job-specific and can be measured
and evaluated. These are skills that one
has to acquire through training
programs, formal education, coaching,
apprenticeships, online courses, and
certification programs.
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Some Examples
4 Other Important Hard Skills
1. Computer technology 2. Data Analysis
•
Pivot tables
•
•
Data mining
Analytics
•
Data engineering
•
HTML
•
Data presentation
•
Social media
•
Database management
•
Microsoft Office Suite •
Resource management
Introduction to soft skills
•
Automotive
•
Banking
Content
Management
Systems like WordPress
•
Administrative
•
Accounting
•
Google Analytics
•
Construction
•
•
Marketing
management
Editing
•
Hardware
•
Electrical
•
Healthcare
•
Mechanical
•
Legal
3. Marketing
•
campaign
•
Search Engine Marketing
•
Search
Optimization
Engine
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How to measure Hard skills
Assessing these skills can be a simple yes or no question: does an employee
have this skill or not?
People should highlight hard skills on resumes and cover letters when
applying for a new role that is skill-specific. As an employer, ensuring your
team is equipped with the tools they need to consistently learn or refresh
their expertise can go a long way in their personal development and help the
business grow and scale long-term.
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Good Soft Skills
“will help you to STAND OUT in a crowd of Mediocrity”
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What happens when
you don’t have soft
skills?
• Lack of Satisfaction
• Less or no respect in society
• Poor Influence in Groups
• Lack of appreciation &
Recognition
• Criticism in all levels of life
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Personal Attributes
which people look for
• Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Integrity
• Dedication
• Manners & Etiquettes
• Ethics
• Good Listener
• And many more…….
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Benefits of Soft Skills to
Individuals
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Recognition from Industry, Employer, and
peers
New Employment opportunities
Promotions and advanced opportunities
Increase ability to perform the job
Increased Responsibility
Benefits
Introduction to soft skills
Professional accomplishment
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How to highlight your skills
throughout the interview process
Once you make it to the interview phase, you will have an opportunity to
display your soft skills and elaborate more on your hard skills.
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You can highlight key soft skills
by:
•Showing up on time or early to the interview (punctuality or
dependability)
•Maintaining eye contact (active listening)
•Speaking clearly when prompted (effective communication)
•Answering questions about your resume and experience honestly
(integrity)
•Asking follow-up questions (active listening)
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You can highlight your hard
skills by:
•Elaborating on your experience and training
•Providing a portfolio (digital or physical)
•Effectively answering technical questions related to the work
•Asking follow-up questions related to the work
•Effectively working through skills tests (if required at the interview)
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Overview of
Soft Skills to be
Covered….
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Self Assessment
SWOT
Netiquette
Time Management
SMART GOALS
To be
Covered
Introduction to soft skills
Teamwork
Leadership
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Communication
Adaptability,
The best employers need leaders
that can exercise care in their
ability to listen and respond to
customers and fellow employees.
Adaptability in the workplace means
being flexible and able to change in
order to become successful.
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Time Management:
Managing time means working
efficiently and effectively. Employers
in every industry look for staff that
can make optimal use of their time on
the job.
Introduction to soft skills
Leadership, candidates who show
selflessness, versatility, trust,
confidence, and strong interpersonal
skills build strong teams within the
workplace which increases
productivity and employee morale.
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•Work ethic:
Work ethic relates to valuing work and putting
in the effort to yield results. It’s a soft skill
that employers in literally every job you’ll ever
apply for will appreciate.
Introduction to soft skills
•Problem-solving skills:
The ability to solve problems quickly and
innovatively is what the majority of hiring
managers seek in potential employees.
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Right Mix
Though hard skills are what are normally advertised and focused on, soft skills are
slowly gaining importance throughout businesses. It is important to emphasize both
during the entire hiring process. After acknowledging hard skills that are job specific,
list soft skills that correlate. This proves to employers that a candidate not only has the
knowledge to get the job done, but the confidence to outperform.
While addressing hard skills is easy since it lays in experience and education and is
easily definable in a resume, addressing soft skills can be tricky. A sure-fire way to
address them is a candidate could use examples of times they have communicated
effectively, collaborated to reach goals, demonstrated outstanding leadership
examples, or efficiently problem solved.
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Dr Tinu Anand
Associate
Professor
GiBs
Tinu.anand@gi
tarattan.edu.in
Thank you
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