In today’s intensively competitive world, separating yourself from the competition requires “soft skills”. What is a “soft skill?” Soft skills are non-technical skills we need in our careers, as well as in daily life.

More specifically, skills such as public speaking, effective communication, phoning etiquette, the art of listening, teamwork and problem solving are all categorized as soft skills–they are the critical skills we need for succeeding in our career. The term is used interchangeably with “employability skill” or “human skill.”

The antithesis of a “soft skill” is a “hard skill”.  “Hard skills” are namely those technical skills we learned in formal education and trainings. But, are the knowledge and skills covered at school enough? If they are, then the more education we receive, the higher the position we would hold in the workplace. Right?

In reality, however, this is not always the case.

According to Sarah Boland, coordinator of the Career & Employment Services, “Many employers will promote employees based on their soft skills. In fact, many jobs on the DVC online job board only require employability skills”.

Unlike hard skills, soft skills are elastic and transferable. If you have trained as an engineer, your technical skills will not be applicable if you alter your career from an engineer to a salesperson. However, you will probably benefit from a public speaking course regardless of your chosen profession. Therefore, while it is considerably critical to learn hard skills, it is also smart to invest some of our time in developing soft skills.

IT expert Margaret Rouse also agrees, “Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual’s interactions, job performance, and career prospects.” Statistics confirm Rouse’s opinion. According to the Canadian Center of Science and Education, college graduates’ mastery of soft skills is positively related to their marketability in the workplace. In other words, as we develop soft skills we leverage ourselves in workplace.

Unfortunately, our education system pays very limited attention to cultivating students’ soft skills. The courses we take in DVC, with a few exceptions such as Speech-120 and Counseling-120, are mostly about hard skills.

Then where can we learn soft skills? Soft skills can be accumulated from job experiences, volunteer activities, internships, and many other aspects of our lives. As Sarah Boland explains, “Soft skills can be developed through athletics, school and extracurricular activities. We even learn soft skills from our families.”

In order to assist DVC students develop soft skills, we have created a “DVC Softskill” page in Facebook. We are happy to share with you a practical toolkit that could be immediately useful in your career, as well as in your daily life.

“DVC Softskill” is also a place for open discussion about soft skills; better still, we have well-read advisers to answer your questions, concerns, and anything soft-skill-related!

Like us in Facebook, search for “DVC Softskill” or go directly to
https://www.facebook.com/dvcsoftskill