Soft Skills More Important Than Ever For Success in the Workplace

A college degree provides the basic skills necessary to perform work associated with your major, but it does not directly translate to success in the workplace. The basic tenets of hard work and dedication never hurt, but as Josh Tolan points out in his article “5 Skills Gaps Employers Need to Address” (click here to read the full article), there are other contributing factors. According to Josh, the five skills gaps fall under the categories of digital media skills, soft skills, marketing skills, skilled trades and retiring Baby Boomers, and STEM skills.

Feel free to read about the other skills gaps through the link above, but I want to address soft skills in this post as they are most applicable to the mission of 1stGig. Josh describes the problem as follows:

Despite the importance of soft skills, 44 percent of senior executives believe this is a weakness for employees. Many employees lack strong skills in communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

While it would be nice if all employers offered workshops and seminars for employees to hone their soft skills, this is usually not the case. However, it may be in your best interest to work on improving soft skills on your own. They can go a long way toward increasing your marketability and chances of being successful in the workplace. Being able to clearly and effectively express ideas, think independently, and ... click here to finish reading the article.