It is evidence that soft skills are as much important, or can even be more essential than hard skills in the workplace.. During their education, students are not well-trained in these es
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In today's recruitment market, large and small businesses both want to recruit the best and best employees that help their companies grow stronger day by day The working environment is becoming more complicated and challenging, demanding employees' ability to adjust and cope with unexpected bad situations The companies are looking for individuals with not only
experience or some specific skills, but also can work productively to stay long-term According
to Tulgan, the most common recruiting mistake that causes employers a great deal of frustration and disappointment is focusing too much on hard skills and not enough on soft skills It is
evidence that soft skills are as much important, or can even be more essential than hard skills in the workplace However, soft skills are often overlooked and underestimated as an insignificant factor in the working environment, especially in schools During their education, students are not well-trained in these essential soft skills that are required for them to work after graduation This essay will discuss some reasons why students nowadays are lacking these essential soft skills, and why more focus on these skills should be implemented in schools Finally, some feasible solutions are suggested to help students overcome the lack of soft skills in higher education
Firstly, it is a fact that most schools, nowadays, focus solely on teaching students to master the compulsory subjects and develop the abilities for learning new knowledge Because many
schools believe that foundational and technical knowledge is critical for students to develop and maintain a healthy and independent lifestyle, both in and out of school However, according to Schulz, soft skills are the essential factor in developing individual personalities, which also help them learn new skills required for the jobs later on Therefore, the education system should place
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of soft skills in students is the fact that students are less likely to be interested in studying and improving their soft skills As they do not recognize the value of soft skills earlier during their school days, which, unfortunately, will become increasingly important later in their future workplace Without a doubt, more and more employers are complaining about hiring new
graduates with a good educational background but lacking essential soft skills, due to the short-sightedness of today's education system Therefore, soft skills increasingly become a vital
requirement for success in many professions (Taylor, 2016) Nevertheless, students must acquire and improve both hard and soft skills before being able to enter the job market There is no denying that the importance of academic knowledge in students' experiences, however, schools should also provide the opportunity for students to gain and develop soft skills during their school years
To increase the chances of success in future careers, soft skills play an important role in helping students Soft skills are skills such as teamwork, communication, or leadership, etc.… showing individual abilities to work effectively in different types of working environments On the other hand, hard skills demonstrate expertise and mastery in specific fields, which can be measured using standardized tests or examinations According to Knasnis et al., soft skills are becoming more and more important in almost every job that enables individuals to work, interact with people in meaningful ways, and progress within an organization Without a doubt, most careers need collaboration, and it is critical for individuals to develop these essential soft skills to boost their employability and land their dream careers Moreover, to advance in careers and to reach more job opportunities, people can try to include soft skills on their resume, introduce and emphasize these skills during the interview and keep improving them when working Individuals
Trang 4with strong soft skills are much more beneficial for companies because those with these skills can help the companies in many ways, such as growing a wide network or developing strong leadership In other words, people with good soft skills acquired an inquisitive mindset, which helps them explore more professional opportunities and quickly gain industry expertise to advance further in their careers Employers are always looking for employees with a strong professional network to assist them in making business connections, providing professional development, and even making smart recruiting choices Furthermore, people with strong soft skills can assess what type of leadership techniques their team needs to succeed and then execute these techniques depending on the real-life situation (Indeed Editorial Team, 2021)
Due to the fact that employers continue to complain about students lack of soft skills, yet there are some reasonable solutions towards this problem Participating in extracurricular activities at school is one of the most efficient ways to gain soft skills Students may rapidly strengthen soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, and so on, by interacting with other students in a variety of activities at these events Another solution is that schools should allow students to choose between learning soft skills and hard skills based on their specialties By doing this, students who are planning to study on jobs which require contacts with customers can prioritize more on studying soft skills and those who are planning to study on jobs that do not need too much communication can focus on studying hard skills As a result, students are able to learn what they want while simultaneously improving skills that they will need in the future For further improvement on soft skills, students need to learn from books, online courses or
volunteer activities For example, according to Ko and Rossen, they define and detail many exercises for boosting student engagement as well as soft skills in their book "Teaching Online:
Trang 5A Practical Guide" Moreover, they recommended using scenarios and case studies to encourage analysis and problem-based learning in response to a specific difficulty Additionally, in
University of Florida course Nutritional Management of Nursery Crops, they give students a description of the problem and its symptoms, as well as any data they need to address it, such as soil or water analysis So that students are more capable to solve problems and adapt to
unpredictable situations In short, not only can schools help students cope with the shortage of soft skills in higher education but also students can enhance soft skills on their own
To put it in a nutshell, it is a fact that the work environment is increasingly competitive and harsher, and soft skills are essential for adapting to this Many schools, however, believe that soft skills are not as important as other subjects and are not worth investing in As a result, to assist students in their future careers, schools must take steps such as making the necessary soft skills a mandatory subject and encouraging students to enroll in extracurricular or volunteer activities Even though soft skills are difficult to define and develop in a short time, schools should provide opportunities for students to learn soft skills early on in order to gain valuable experience for future careers Students will have more opportunities to apply for well-paying jobs and achieve success in the future Last but not least, in some certain jobs people seem to underappreciate the importance of soft skills, however, soft skills are expected to be an indispensable part to the success
Trang 610 Reasons Why Soft Skills are Important to Employers (2021, May 25) Indeed Career Guide
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/why-are-soft-skills-important
Khasnis, Y (2020) “Soft skills are attributes … Engage in meaningful interactions” Introduction
International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, 8(Volume 8, Issue 5), 2320–28820
http://111.93.251.158/jspui/bitstream/123456789/3701/1/7_2020.pdf
Ko, S., & Rossen, S (2017) Teaching online: A practical guide Routledge.
Schulz, B (2008) The Importance of Soft Skills: Education beyond academic knowledge In
NAWA Journal of Language and Communication
https://ir.nust.na/bitstream/10628/39/1/The%20Importance%20of%20Soft
%20%20Skills-Education%20beyond%20academic%20knowledge.pdf
Tulgan, B (2015) Bridging the Soft Skills Gap: How to Teach the Missing Basics to Todays Young
Talent In Google Books John Wiley & Sons
Trang 7https://search.proquest.com/openview/6fe6ca6935b5060d0efd383b23494d0d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47267
Taylor, E (2016) Investigating the perception of stakeholders on soft skills development of
students: Evidence from South Africa Interdisciplinary journal of e-skills and lifelong
learning, 12(1), 1-18.