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The Skills Trainer
With Randi Busse
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Randi Busse is President of Workforce Development Group, Inc., a
coaching and training firm located in Amityville, NY. Randi works
with organizations and individuals that want to improve their soft
skills including communication, interpersonal, presentation, team
building and customer service skills. She custom designs programs
that will improve the customer service experience, increase client
retention, enhance soft skills, and develop more effective
networking abilities. Randi brings her passion for people
development to her clients. She partners with both the business
owner and the employees, as well as individuals, leaving them with
valuable skills that they can use over and over again. Using
collaborative coaching and self-discovery techniques, Randi brings
out the full potential in people. |
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ARTICLE
OF THE WEEK
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Author: Randi Busse, Professional Skills Trainer
What are soft skills?
Before we talk about
soft skills, let’s talk for a moment about hard skills. Hard skills
are the technical expertise you need to get the job done. Only 25%
of success on the job depends on technical knowledge. The rest
hinges on the soft skills. The soft skills are really everything
else – competencies that range from self-awareness to one’s attitude
to managing one’s career, to handling critics, not taking things
personally, taking risks, getting along with others and many, many
more. Soft skills are essentially people skills, non-technical,
intangible, personality-specific skills. And they are what employers
are looking for when they interview prospective employees.
Soft skills can include:
Interpersonal skills
Presentation skills
Customer service skills
Problem solving skills
Networking skills
Professional telephone skills
Ability to handle personal matters without them influencing work
performance
Honesty / Integrity
Reliability
Flexibility/ Adaptability
Team player
Cooperation
Positive attitude
Dependability
Ability to work independently
Self-motivated
Willingness to learn
Practical
Analytical
Taking pride in self and work
Attention to detail
Good listener
Willingness to take responsibility
Perseverance / tenacity
Willingness to learn new things
Ability to get along with others
Communication skills
Empathy
Many employers believe that soft skills are an important
indicator of job performance.
They can indicate that you:
Have a winner attitude
Are a team player
Can communicate effectively
Exude confidence
Can accept and learn from constructive feedback
Are able to motivate yourself and lead others
Can multi-task and prioritize
Soft skills are critical to people who wish to become successful in
their careers in the long term.
While technical skills might get you in the door, soft skills are
what are going to keep you there! Whether you are currently
employed, and want to stay that way, looking for a new job, or a
recent graduate, the ability to demonstrate these soft skills will
be critical to your success.
Check back for future articles which will discuss these skills in
greater detail, as well as provide you with the steps to get them
and tips to improve them.
To your continued job
success,
-
Randi Busse
Author, The Skills Trainer
randi@lieconomy.com
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