Quick drive about what are soft skills:

Soft skills, aka common skills or core skills, which are skills applicable to all professions. These include critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, professional writing, teamwork, digital literacy, leadership, professional attitude, work ethic, career management and intercultural fluency. Other than this in uncomplicated vocable we can say that skill that does not employ the use of machinery are cited as Soft Skills. Soft skills help you to be supple in this world which fickle.

In reality, are soft skills a prerequisite for higher education? If YES then why?

Rejoinder is a big YES!!!

Because, According to LinkedIn's 2019 Global Talent Trends report, 92% of talent acquisition specialists said that soft skills are more important than hard skills when hiring. This is due to the fact that soft skills, above all, exhibit promise. If you can convey employers, you’re flexible and inclined to learn, especially for entry- or lower-level positions, they are credible to take a chance on you. Soft skills are an all-important part of enhancing one's ability to work with others and can have a positive influence on advancing your career. Soft skills are required in almost all interactions with other people. At a company you might be thrashing out to win a new contract, presenting your imagination to colleagues, networking for a new job, and so on. Soft skills are to be used every day at work and developing these soft skills will help you hasten your career progression. On the contrary, a lack of soft skills can curb your potential, or even be the downfall of your career. Employers today are looking for people that can not only do their jobs well, but also fit into the business culture and engage with their coworkers. Students must develop soft skills in order to be successful in these endeavors.

How can you enhance your soft skills as student?

1.     Practice introspection:

The first you need to think upon your strengths and weaknesses and assess how well your current competencies match the skills mentioned on job descriptions for positions you are targeting. And lastly, what do you need to work on to get that job.

2.     Engage yourselves in conversations:

Unless and until you speak out your thoughts, you will not set foot on confidence and you will always hesitate to express your thoughts in front of crowd. Listen ardently to the points made by your colleagues, ask questions, and contribute your own thoughts. Regular participation in class discussions will not only make you a more confident speaker, but will also improve your listening skills.

3.     Be inquisitive:

Make the most of resources you are surrounded with on campus, you will have the opportunity to learn from visiting faculties, guest speakers, do try to interact with them and develop your leadership skills. This will assist you in building your capability to speak up to strangers with same level of confidence.

4.     Ask for feedback:

Only learning doesn’t help, it needs to be assessed by yourself and request your classmates, your colleagues to monitor your learning regularly. This will help you focus on your areas of improvement which is the next step of advancing yourself.

Thus, developing soft skills help turn hardships into opportunities that further lead to career success. Although goals may be seen harder to achieve in the beginning, through soft skills, one may try to gradually overcome barriers that are responsible for career downfall. Mastering soft skills in this highly competitive world will not only help an employee stand out from the crowd but also build wonders on relationships, job performances, and career advancement. Some of the requisite soft skills one must essentially inculcate are, a positive attitude, good communication skills, strong work ethics, good communication, teamwork and time management skills.

Soft skills are increasingly becoming the hard skills of today's human resources and are playing a crucial role in succeeding one's career. It’s just not enough to be highly trained in technical skills, without developing the softer, interpersonal and relationship-building skills that help people to communicate effectively. Teamwork, leadership, and communication are underpinned by soft skills development. Since each is an essential element for organizational and personal success, developing these skills is very important and does matter a lot.!!!