“Build your skills, not your resume.”

                                                              Sheryl Sandberg

Since our childhood we are told to finish high school, undertake a bachelor’s degree of a major of your choice all to fill up your future resumes in order to find a self sustaining job. While a bachelor’s degree will provide you with specific technical abilities that aid in increasing your hard skills, individuals will not have enough soft skills. In this day and age where the majority of applicants applying for jobs already have attained a bachelor’s, it is imperative to gain soft skills. 

Soft skills can be said to be the most important asset in contemporary times, as individuals in the workforce are expected to be exceptional in all of their assigned tasks. Oddly enough, even though soft skills are deemed to be quite important in the workforce, Deloitte finds that “data from LinkedIn profiles reveals that less than 1% of Australians report having any soft skills on their profiles”. This statistic showcases that future employees are not listing their skills, as the wider society has not yet comprehended the importance of soft skills. Businesses may recognise the importance, but if more of the wider public understands the necessity of these skills the better current and future workforces will become  Listed below are some of the reason why soft skills are imperative in our current workforce;

  1. Without soft skills, hard skills are worthless

In the vast majority of jobs, focusing solely upon hard (technical) skills is not enough in this contemporary and current workforce. To be an excellent, or even just a good, employee one must intertwine both hard and soft skills to achieve the best outcomes possible.  For example, a team leader needs to be able to advocate and showcase excellent teamwork skills, as well as be able to resolve conflict, continuously execute and encourage creative thinking all of which enrichen and strengthen the work that has been assigned. 

  1. Soft skills are more sought out, because they take more time to attain

Soft skills are harder to learn, in comparison to hard skills as they can be perfected over time, as they are more so connected with an individual’s personality. In order to properly and successfully learn and master soft skills an individual must be committed to make, as said by Oxbridge Academy, a “conscious effort, ongoing practice, and a commitment to self-development”. 

  1. The current workforce NEEDS you to be social

Long gone are the days where you would come to work your 9-5 with your head down, not acknowledging your neighbouring cubicles and reaching out solely to your higher ups. In the contemporary world, being interpersonal is a necessity to succeed both as a team and individually. Individuals need to be able to communicate with others, successfully exchange and receive ideas, in order to ensure a positive and healthy work atmosphere. Working in a collaborative, positive and happy work environment guarantees better standards of work. 

  1. Soft Skills make the sale

With the millions of products that are present in our capitalistic world, what ensures that a sale is made? Customer service is what makes consumers buy the product, which is a skill that is said to be provided by all stores but I’m sure you’ve seen how it vastly differs from person to person. This is because the manner in which the individual in the company is trained is unique to each organisation, and it is up to each person how the present soft skills are learnt. In our modern world, solely focusing upon the price and convenience of a product or service will not end in a sale being finalised. 

  1. The future is dependent upon soft skills

We’ve all seen enough sci-fi films, read enough dystopian novels and have seen how technology has progressed in our society. Jobs that rely solely upon hard skills are declining in opportunities due to the fact that more organisations are focusing upon automation and artificial intelligence to do the hard labour. This leaves individuals to secure and improve their soft skills as this will become the defining factor in finding and securing a job, as predicted by Deloitte who state that “jobs in soft skill intensive occupations is expected to grow at 2.5 times the rate of jobs in less soft skill intensive occupations. And by 2030, we predict that soft skill intensive occupations will make up almost two thirds of the workforce by 2030.” (As visually depicted below)

Now that you’ve seen 5 reasons as to why soft skills are imperative for the current and future workforces, how can you train your future employees? The best way to do this is through VR, which is being provided by YesVR. VR enables the entire training process to be streamlined – ensuring efficiency and productivity (view the image below). Please feel free to check out YesVR to find out more.

Written by Belinda Saha

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