Employers Value Soft Skills
by Laurie Wilhelm
Many have the talent, but lack important attributes
I came across an interesting career article in The Province, Employers Value Social Skills, which was written by Wendy Mclellan.
It’s a report on Adi Rosin, a former CEO of a high-tech company, who was looking to hire engineers for the firm. He choose the best and brightest to interview but upon meeting them, he saw there was something missing in their ability and stated that, “Something was failing these guys. They were brilliant people, and they could write phenomenal code. But if I had asked them to interact with other team members, or write an e-mail to obtain a response, it would have been a disaster.”
While the interviewees were more than qualified on paper, they “rarely made eye contact during the interview. Their posture lacked confidence. The handshakes were limp.”
Uh-oh. Those traits aren’t promising in the career world.
In the article, Rosin continues by saying, “You can be really smart, but still be unsuccessful if you’re missing the social skills.”
Rosin, a software engineer himself, has since founded an after-school program, Intelligent for Life (located in Vancouver, BC), for elementary and high school kids to help them learn essential social skills which are not taught in the regular school system.
Social Skills, Soft Skills, People Skills
Social skills, soft skills, people skills – call them what you want, but know they’re becoming deciding factors for employers when selecting candidates from dozens, scores, or hundreds of applicants. In other words, they’re really important for job seekers when looking for work opportunities, career advancement and professional growth. Smarts aren’t everything.
Having good people skills has many benefits including:
- making a good first impression
- performing well in a job interview
- working more effectively as part of a team
- building camaraderie and partnerships
- networking and making contacts more easily
- creating a cooperative working environment
So does this mean that those with less than ideal social skills are history? Toast? Without hope? Is the climb up the career ladder a no-go?
No, not to worry; it’s never too late.
Social skills can be learned at any stage of our lives with only a bit of effort. It’s a matter of paying attention and giving some thought to how we interact with others.
