B.Tech (AI & DS, CSE-AI, CSE-DS): Soft Skills

Soft Skills Employers Want In You

It is critical for young professionals to acknowledge the importance of soft skills as much as other traits that are required for landing a good job and progressing in the chosen career. Soft skills include many factors such as interpersonal (people), communication, listening, time management, and empathy.

17 most critical skills that are often preferred by hiring managers:

Integrity: Simply put, integrity refers to the moral soundness of a person. For example for a tech professional, the ability to work on systems (and not just knowledge of them), manage client confidentiality and learn and have cordial and ethical behaviour towards the organisation, clients, and co-employees is a critical soft skill.
Creativity: There would not have been life-changing inventions and developments in different sectors if the engineers did not dare to be creative. Creativity is how an engineer could challenge existing norms and processes. This helps in making the workflows more accessible and faster. In addition, creativity helps in understanding the requirements (of the clients) and accordingly coming up with solutions that address issues. In engineering, creativity is about finding new ways of looking at things. This can help resolve problems and develop the ability to deal with unprecedented situations.
Communication skills: Most often, communication skills are correlated and used synonymously with the knowledge of a particular language. Even though understanding more than one language often helps, you should be aware of the meaning of communication skills that are critical in attaining workplace objectives. Communication includes active listening, writing, comprehension, presentation, and non-verbal communication skills. A few hiring managers even emphasise the importance of having empathy and patience as part of good communication skills in an individual. Communicating complex technical solutions in a way that clients understand is becoming increasingly important in tech professionals.
Interpersonal skills: Interpersonal skill is not a single trait but covers a wide range of skill sets that are critical for engineers to attain career progression goals. These sub-skills include active listening, social perceptiveness, and being able to handle feedback. All these factors are related to the emotional intelligence of an individual. Interpersonal skills are essential because you will need to communicate with colleagues and different levels of management workers. It is important for you to have a cordial relationship with all; hence, emotional intelligence and empathy play a critical role in improving interpersonal skills.
Critical thinking and problem solving: There might be several instances where traditional and problem-solving approaches would not work. Every professional needs to bring a fresh perspective to the table, which could be possible only when they have a critical thinking mind. In addition to this, workplace disputes are pretty common, and irrespective of the nature and size of an organisation, there might be confrontations between people based on deadlines, quality of work, and other numerous factors. You are expected to have a problem-solving approach toward such disputes so that the eventual result is not affected.
Enthusiasm, commitment and motivation: Employee stress levels have rapidly increased with the increased complications in the work processes. Apart from different stress-management activities, it is of utmost importance that a professional is committed and motivated toward the job at hand. Without enthusiasm, it would be difficult for an individual to attain the allocated positions, and overall professional growth can be critically hampered. With a good attitude, professionals can create a good impression before the hirers.
Organisation and time management: If you are an engineer or a tech professional you might be required to work on multiple projects simultaneously. In addition, the professional might also be necessary to carry out routine jobs. It is often difficult to prioritise tasks in an organisational structure that deals with multiple clients and customers. Hence, each task has its critical importance from the perspective of the business. Therefore, self-organisation and time management are two crucial soft skills without which an engineer might not be able to survive in the current business environment. Different pieces of training and tools can learn and improve organisation and time management.
Self-learning: Even though organisations help their employees learn new skills and impart critical knowledge that makes them attain work-related targets, it is even more important to have a self-learning attitude. Whether it relates to professional traits or soft skills, an individual with a self-learning attitude is critical to surviving and growing in a competitive environment. Technology and the environment are dynamic. A professional should be urged to improve existing skills by constantly trying to upskill with existing tools and techniques. This might require using soft skills such as time management, organisation, and being highly motivated. However, self-learning abilities are critical for career growth and development. You can pick from a wide range of online and offline training institutions to facilitate learning along with the job.
Adaptability: As mentioned in the previous point, the external environment and technologies in which professionals work today are quite dynamic. Having traits such as resistance to change can be catastrophic for the overall career progression of a person. You must be able to adapt to the changing requirements of the business and industry. Recruiters value this skill as it is critical for survival in the business environment. Adaptability is an essential soft skill to improve with rapidly advancing technologies, the reality of clients' changing requirements, the increasing use of agile development techniques, and other factors. Soft skills can be enhanced by embracing feedback and constant communication with peers. Building strong relationships and getting outside of the comfort zone to develop and polish such skills is essential. The ability to be flexible and adapt to the changing needs of the work environment is critical. In addition, a company's leadership is responsible for creating a learning environment that must include soft-skill development. Having a continuous improvement mindset and making the best of the available training and development tools can be vital for every professional to develop these skills.
Teamwork: Team management is a manager or organization's ability to lead a group of people in accomplishing a task or common goal. Effective team management involves supporting, communicating with and uplifting team members so they perform to the best of their abilities and continue to grow as professionals.
Decision-making: Decision making is the ability to select between two or more alternatives to reach the best outcome in the shortest time. A good decision-maker chooses actions that give the best outcome for themselves and others. They enter into the decision-making process with an open mind and do not let their own biases sway them. They make decisions rationally, after researching alternatives and understanding the consequences.
Stress management : Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body's reaction to a challenge or demand. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline. But when stress lasts for a long time, it may harm your health. Learning how to manage your stress takes practice, but you can -- and need to -- do it. Here are 10 ways to make it easier.

Exercise: Working out regularly is one of the best ways to relax your body and mind. Plus, exercise will improve your mood. But you have to do it often for it to pay off.
Relax Your Muscles: When you’re stressed, your muscles get tense. You can help loosen them up on your own and refresh your body by Stretching, Enjoying a massage, Taking a hot bath or shower and Getting a good night’s sleep.
Deep Breathing: Stopping and taking a few deep breaths can take the pressure off you right away. You’ll be surprised how much better you feel once you get good at it.
Eat Well: Eating a regular, well-balanced diet will help you feel better in general. It may also help control your moods. Your meals should be full of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and lean protein for energy. And don’t skip any. It’s not good for you and can put you in a bad mood, which can actually increase your stress.
Slow Down: Modern life is so busy, and sometimes we just need to slow down and chill out. Look at your life and find small ways you can do that. For example: Set your watch 5 to 10 minutes ahead. That way you’ll get places a little early and avoid the stress of being late. When you’re driving on the highway, switch to the slow lane so you can avoid road rage. Break down big jobs into smaller ones. For example, don’t try to answer all 100 emails if you don’t have to -- just answer a few of them.
Take a Break: You need to plan on some real downtime to give your mind time off from stress. If you’re a person who likes to set goals, this may be hard for you at first. But stick with it and you’ll look forward to these moments. Restful things you can do include Meditation, Yoga, Tai chi, Prayer, Listening to your favorite music, Spending time in nature.
Make Time for Hobbies: You need to set aside time for things you enjoy. Try to do something every day that makes you feel good, and it will help relieve your stress. It doesn’t have to be a ton of time -- even 15 to 20 minutes will do. Relaxing hobbies include things like: Reading, Knitting, Doing an art project, Playing golf, Watching a movie, Doing puzzles, Playing cards and board games etc.
Talk About Your Problems: If things are bothering you, talking about them can help lower your stress. You can talk to family members, friends, a trusted clergyman, your doctor, or a therapist. And you can also talk to yourself. It’s called self-talk and we all do it. But in order for self-talk to help reduce stress you need to make sure it’s positive and not negative. So listen closely to what you’re thinking or saying when you’re stressed out. If you’re giving yourself a negative message, change it to a positive one. For example, don’t tell yourself “I can’t do this.” Tell yourself instead: “I can do this,” or “I’m doing the best I can.”
Go Easy On Yourself: Accept that you can’t do things perfectly no matter how hard you try. You also can’t control everything in your life. So do yourself a favor and stop thinking you can do so much. And don’t forget to keep up your sense of humor. Laughter goes a long way towards making you feel relaxed.
Eliminate Your Triggers: Figure out what are the biggest causes of stress in your life. Is it your job, your commute, your schoolwork? If you’re able to identify what they are, see if you’re able to eliminate them from your life, or at least reduce them. If you can’t identify the main causes of your stress, try keeping a stress journal. Make note of when you become most anxious and see if you can determine a pattern, then find ways to remove or lessen those triggers.

Conflict management: Conflict management is the practice of being able to identify and handle conflicts sensibly, fairly, and efficiently. It is the process of dealing with (perceived) incompatibilities or disagreements arising from, for example, diverging opinions, objectives, and needs. Since conflicts in a business are a natural part of the workplace, it is important that there are people who understand conflicts and know how to resolve them. This is important in today's market more than ever. Everyone is striving to show how valuable they are to the company they work for and at times, this can lead to disputes with other members of the team. Following are 5 commonly used conflict management styles:

Collaborating: This conflict management style produces the best long-term results, but it is frequently the most difficult and time-consuming to achieve.The needs and desires of each party are considered, and a win-win solution is found so that everyone is satisfied. This frequently entails all parties sitting down together, discussing the conflict, and negotiating a solution together. The collaborating conflict management style is used when it is critical to maintain all parties' relationships or when the solution itself will have a significant impact.
Competing: The competing conflict management style rejects compromise and does not give in to the opinions or desires of others. One party is adamant about how they believe a situation should be handled and will not back down until they get their way. This can be in situations where morals require a specific course of action, when there isn't time to try a different solution, or when an unpopular decision must be made. It can quickly resolve disputes, but it has a high risk of lowering morale and productivity.
Avoiding: This conflict management style seeks to reduce conflict by ignoring it, removing the conflicting parties, or evading it in some way. Team members who are in disagreement can be removed from the project, deadlines pushed, or people reassigned to other departments. If a cool-down period would be beneficial or if you need more time to consider your stance on the conflict itself, this can be an effective conflict resolution style. However, avoidance should not be used in place of proper conflict resolution; putting off conflict indefinitely can and will lead to more (and larger) conflicts down the road.
Accommodating: The accommodating conflict management style is all about putting the needs of the other party ahead of one's own. You let them 'win' and have their way. Accommodation is used when you don't care as much about the issue as the other person, if prolonging the conflict isn't worth your time, or if you believe you're wrong. This option is about keeping the peace, not putting in more effort than is necessary, and knowing when to pick your battles. While it may appear to be a weak option, accommodation can be the best way to resolve a minor conflict and move on to more important issues. This style is highly cooperative on the resolver's part, but it can lead to resentment.
Compromising: This conflict management style seeks a middle ground by asking both parties to give up some aspects of their desires in order to reach an agreement. This style is sometimes referred to as "lose-lose," because both parties will have to give up a few things in order to reach an agreement on the larger issue. When there is a time constraint or when a solution simply needs to happen rather than be perfect, this is used. Compromise can breed resentment, especially when used excessively as a conflict resolution tactic, so use it sparingly.

Leadership: Leadership skills are the abilities people have to lead and deliver projects, encourage initiatives, build a sense of common purpose, and empower others. Leadership skills also include the abilities people have to steer employees toward the achievement of the business goals, inspire them, drive change, and deliver results.
Resourcefulness: Resourcefulness is about getting things done in the face of obstacles and constraints. This means approaching what’s in front of you and optimizing what you have, whether you’re making something new or just thinking about how to do something better. Resourceful leaders are imaginative and persistent. They embody the growth mindset by staying positive and always pushing themselves to improve.
Persuasion: Persuasion skills meaning, in simple words, is the ability to make intentional and successful efforts in influencing someone either through written or verbal communication. Simply put, persuasion skills refer to the skill of changing or influencing the behaviors, beliefs or attitudes of someone or a group towards another idea, person or event. The art of persuasion usually involves reasoning, sharing feelings, and cleverly conveying information. Imagine trying to get a friend to watch the web-series you’ve recently binge-watched. You’ll try to highlight the most exciting takeaways from the show and the impact it had on you or the way it made you feel. This is a classic example of persuasion where people try to get others to develop similar interests. Now imagine taking this art of persuasion and effectively using it to influence your coworkers. It’ll not only help you get excited about similar ideas; it’ll also help you motivate each other to achieve common goals. This is the power of persuasion.
Openness to criticism: Most employees in a professional setting work hard and give their best efforts when performing their jobs. Having the end result of their work critiqued and criticized, therefore, can be damaging to their psyche. At the same time, being open to receiving and learning from constructive criticism is essential to employee training, growth, and development. No employee is perfect, and everyone has areas for improvement. But, without openness to this type of input, it’s impossible for employees to improve. The most obvious benefit of criticism for the organization is that it facilitates improvements in individuals and their work. If a customer service employee isn’t energetic enough when talking to customers, the company benefits by letting that employee know so that individual and his or her manager can help him or her become more engaging.

References:

B.Tech (AI & DS, CSE-AI, CSE-DS)

Soft Skills

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