The Growing Importance of Soft Skills in the Corporate World

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Introduction

Having a university degree is great but unfortunately, it is not a guarantee to land a job! Here is why. As the world is rapidly developing, there have been more demands than before to satisfy the needs of the job market. So, it became inevitable for one to be equipped with something greater than just holding a university degree.


Once you graduate you will find millions of other graduates as qualified and educated as you. But guess what would make you stand out from them? What would make you the ideal candidate for that position? The academic qualifications are not the answer anymore! Academic qualifications still hold an important role, but something which also hold great importance in determining our selection for a job, or our success at our workplace, are the soft skills which we possess. 


Why Are Soft Skills so Important?

Soft skills have a lot to say about your personality, attitude, how you interact with people around you, how you face and handle your life or professional situations, how you manage yourself under different circumstances and furthermore how aware you are of yourself. Subject knowledge and technical knowledge are necessary parameters but not sufficient ones. 


Technical skills will make you eligible for an opportunity, but soft skills will make sure that you grab the opportunity with both hands. Through decent soft skills, you can grab the attention of the employer during an interview or meeting and make him listen to you more attentively. Soft skills will also help you in building a good repertoire with your fellow colleagues and maintaining a healthy and safe work environment. Developing your soft skills from the very beginning therefore, becomes really important for building a successful career, and therefore, soft skills development has started taking place at a very formal level in schools and colleges. 


Soft Skills Development in Schools and Colleges

Being limited to the curriculum has not been the only way to ensure your maturity, that is why schools and universities have been investing into the extra-curricular activities because they believe that there are much more things one should experience other than just learning in the classroom.


For example, most universities now offer very attractive scholarships for students from all over the world that are based on voluntary work, social presence, interpersonal skills and leadership! 

Such scholarships are very competitive because students now are more aware of that importance of soft skills. Those who are lucky to get such a scholarship know how much they would miss if they would not have that chance. Getting such scholarships is a life-turning event. 

This is strong evidence that the world is now more into what is beyond you and your university degree. 


Now as you know how these skills would improve your career, let us discuss how to gain them. 


How to develop soft skills?

Some people have that belief that "a leader was born a leader", "a social person was born a social person" and so many other examples, you name them. But this is completely wrong! 

Yes, we were born with some qualities and acquire others but these particular soft skills have both. You would be born with a little tendency to be a leader but if you did not work on it and improve it, it will eventually fade away. This is how things work, everything


This is your time to participate, develop yourself and grow as an individual. Whenever you have the chance to do volunteer work, go for it. 


  • Participate in student chapters and get involved in different activities. One student community platform which you can join to develop your soft skills and grow as a person is Eat My News


  • Be open to meeting new people and make friends, and be ready for any new life challenge. 


  • Do internships, attend workshops, organize events, develop new skills, learn languages, participate in contests, socialize and have fun. 


  • Be courageous to step out of your comfort zone, the magic happens there! 
  • Join different training programs to work on your weak areas and strengthen areas which you are comfortable in. 


Conclusion

Soft skills are really important in today’s world where technical knowledge is no more sufficient to differentiate people. A person who has the required soft skills coupled with the basic hard skills is more likely to succeed at different junctions of his/her career as compared to someone who is a genius but doesn’t have good enough soft skills. 


As you embark on the path of developing soft skills, you will be surprised by what you will learn, the friends you will make and the experiences you will have. There is a real-life outside your classroom. Never miss it. This is how you can gain precious experiences and polish your edges to set yourself apart from others and be the real you. And do not forget that there is always something to learn. 

- Asmaa Shaheen


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