Interesting article from the Ottawa Business Journal titled The hard facts about soft skills. The premise:
“The things that students are missing out on when the certificates are handed out are lessons in soft skills that actually make a business person who they are. The technological skills are relatively easy to learn, but the soft skills are what make you a business leader,” said Barry Gander, vice president of CATA and author of Success.
Gander makes an excellent point especially in regards to recent business school grads. Technical skills are difficult to differentiate since they appear to be a commodity. Soft skills are certainly the more elusive traits to locate (and measure) and therefore the better differentiator.
“There are five things employers will pay for. They include leadership skills, project management skills, people skills, communication skills and sales skills. Notice they’re all soft skills. Everything else (like technical skills) everyone else has too!”
He’s right. I would take it a step further and say that companies will measure these 5 skills and we at Select Metrix will look at how those different skills interact. This interaction is an important part of the equation. One example: strong communication skills but weak sales skills often reveals a schmoozer. Schmoozers are dangerous because they are often smooth enough to look strong in interviews but their weakness is exposed once they are on your payroll.