Every student fresh out of college comes with a set of skills and knowledge they once never had. Depending on your major or the course, you learn new tools, skills, techniques and other complex skills necessary to possess when you enter a workplace. Many freshers don’t know that no job/workplace expects you to know everything about your work- your job is here to mould you, teach you and make you a better professional as you rise through the ranks. No one expects you to have all the industry-related hard skills and to know all the trade tricks.
What your job expects you to possess are soft skills. Your soft skills set you apart from the rest; they’re what give you the edge and make your candidacy unique. The emphasis on soft skills has become more vital than ever, and rightfully so, as the industry is striving to become more human-centric.
This article touches upon five critical soft skills that every career-ready student should have.
Communication and Interpersonal skills
Good communication skills help people succeed in the workplace, and they will never go out of style. Effective communication skills span verbal communication, body language, and digital communication (through emails). By understanding your workplace culture, you can develop these skills that will set a base for your colleagues to know how you work and how you would like to be perceived. People in Indian workplaces are inherently known for multicultural environments. Communication and interpersonal skills are needed to generate business, have a good rapport with your partners and colleagues, and increase productivity.
For example, when you study in a city like Australia, you come across many diverse groups of people and places in different parts of the town, on your university campus and in your student housing in Australia. This allows you to build on your communication skills by talking to new people and experiencing different cultures.
Ways you can work on your communication skills are:
- Improving vocabulary through reading
- Practise speaking in front of a mirror
- Developing presentation skills
Time Management
Time is money, and the clock will always tick whether or not you sync with it. Understanding how to prioritise work and divide your tasks during work hours is a crucial skill every employer looks for while hiring. Time management is a sign of commitment to a workplace, and it would help if you incorporated it into your personal and professional life. With Indians, time management is a rather much-appreciated skill, given the lack of it! Indian employers are always looking for people who would be on time and can juggle work, meetings, and presentation deadlines and still have time for themselves, which is what an organisation encourages. After all, maintaining a work-life balance comes down to managing time.
Ways you can manage your time are:
- Maintaining a dairy/calendar with clear-cut deadlines
- Prioritising tasks
- Communicating your priorities to your managers
- Avoiding overburdening yourself
Ability to Adapt
When you transition from a student to a working professional, you will eventually encounter many unfamiliar instances of which you will be a part. These instances may not just be at your workplace but also at your place of accommodation and in situations with your new colleagues. In such a case, you must have the skills to navigate the new environment and adapt accordingly. Indians are known for their ability to adjust, almost to a fault, but it is definitely a skill you can use to good use. You will often not be familiar with specific tools and techniques or ways of working, but adjusting is key to growing professionally. Don’t hesitate to ask for help, as that would help you adapt better.
Yet, if there is something that you disagree with or something that does not feel right, always communicate it to the concerned people.
Ways you can learn to adapt are:
- Keeping an open mind
- Finding positivity in change
- Asking questions
Teamwork
Teamwork does make the dream work. The key to a fruitful career is understanding strengths and weaknesses, collaborating, delegating, and cooperating with your team. Every team has a diverse blend of qualities- talent, thoughts, skills, and ideas that you can use at your disposal. Collaborative efforts of a group of people to achieve a common goal drive productivity, creativity and positive relationship building. Your ability to be a part of a team and contribute through your skills shows initiative and collective spirit.
Ways you can build teamwork skills are:
- Being approachable to your team
- Communicating your ideas and thoughts
- Helping your teammates
Desire to Learn
As a fresher in your field, upskilling is key to doing recognisable work and rising through the ranks. To understand all the nuances and aspects of your new job, it would be helpful to be willing to learn new things. Indians are involved in many extracurricular activities, as the education system promotes it from the beginning. This desire to learn and involves learning new hard skills, tricks, work ethics and company history. This shows initiative and responsibility, two essential skills to have. When you approach a manager or a colleague to learn new skills, it helps your overall development and promotes a positive attitude towards work.
Ways you can express your desire to learn are:
- Asking questions from time to time
- Taking the initiative in group activities
- Being present at upskilling events and opportunities
Having soft skills is helpful in all aspects of your life. It is not limited to your workplace but every stepping stone in your personal and professional journey.
For Example, when an international student moves to Australia or New Zealand for their education, there is a big transition that they go through. Having the knack for navigating your new city, new course, and student accommodation in Australia requires the student to have a blend of soft skills to settle in a new environment. Every soft skill is integrated, and none of them is mutually exclusive.
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Author’s Bio
Madhura Ballal plays many roles- a cat person, a food lover, an avid marketer, and a postgraduate from the National University of Singapore. You can find her painting, doing yoga, and spending time with her friends when she’s not playing one of the most critical roles that she has taken on- writing.
