Soft Skills
Very important that students know what is expected when pursuing employment.
Hi Carol:
Absolutely - in fact, it ight become imperative to have "mock professionalism" activities that demonstrate the value of these skills in how it influences the reputation of the student.
Regards, Barry
Hi Ma:
Some employers may even feel that soft skills are EQUALLY important as hard skills. Without soft skills, we might potentially have a very disorganized work force.
Regards, Barry
Hi Eric:
Preofessionalism includes attendance; we tell students the importance of timeliness and maintaining regular, consistent attentance and being on time. I think they hear it but just don't know how valuable their attendance record is (until it's too late).
Regards, Barry
Being on time...
I am asked this about my students all the time in phone conversations when asked to be a reference.
Students of today do not see the importance of the "little things" that employers are looking for in an employee.
Students often wonder why we take attendance and mark them late if it is less than five minutes. Class starts on time and so does your job.
Here, here! I am a Clinical (Externship) Coordinator who instructs the students' final "in school course." I am constantly emphasizing the soft skills (finishing school) they need to function and be accepted in the work/externship environment. The more mature students "get it," but the younger students have to have it reviewed over and over. I feel that we instructors are oftentimes the only role models these young adults have. It is therefore incumbent upon us to be a positive, professional role model.
When we prepare students for their externship, we invite speakers over to share their work experiences with students. When students hear it straight from the speakers that although grades are important, employers base their employee evaluations on performance and work ethics.
We always emphasize that soft skills are equally important as all their other skills.
Soft skills are important for the adult learner since the hiring managers want/need/select those who show up on time, are prepared to accept their assignment and intent on completing the assignment properly & completely with appropriate documentation.
My program helps foster professional soft skills with strict adherence to professional behavior in the classrooms & on campus, plus these behaviors are modeled by the instructor staff so the students have appropriate role models on which to base their developing work habits.
Knowing how to talk to customers and interact with co-workers is just as important as the technical requirements of the job!
Hi David!
I agree. It is very important for students to be able to interact with people.
Soft skills are important, and many students are lacking them, I agree. But they can also be fun to practice in the classroom if presented to students the right way. My students are required to do mock interviews at the end of every course, which of course they dread. Instead of waiting until the end of the course, I have them practice a few times throughout, so that by the end they are used to looking for certain behaviors. If you have the students actually do role playing interviews with humor, it really illustrates the purpose of having good soft skills for them. For instance, I will play the "invading your space" interviewer, or the disinterested and cell phone checking interviewee. We also go over the most common interview questions and the purpose behind them (Why should I hire you? Tell me about a time you made a mistake on the job, etc) and then try to give both the best and worst answers.
I have to agree with you, Soft Skills are just as important as knowing the skills of what is suppose to be done to complete that tasks of the job description and then some.
Soft Skills of reporting to work on time, knowing how and when to speak with co-workers, knowing how to conversate with patients and how to smoothy bring in the professional aspects into the conversation without seeming to be cutting the friendly conversation short and some on are skills that have to be introduced to some people surprisingly. Not accepting personal calls, cell phone buzzing in the pocket of the medical assistant even in front of co-workers can and will be a huge thing in your after-thought/impression of the staff and the general operation of the medical office that you were just in.
Also in the classroom with my student's, I HAVE to inform them not to react or suggest that something that the patient has, in regards to a condition/injury/illness, is amusing, embarrassing or unsightly to the medical assistant. Medical professional do consider this as un-professioanl behavior and/or reactions. This I also consider as a Soft Skill.
I wish my school had a similar course. We get the same comments from externship sites, and I try to impress on my students how important it is to begin practicing these skills while at school. However, many still persist in drawing a definitive line between work and school and often claim they know how to act professionally and will begin doing so in, and only in, the workplace. Obviously from the site comments, they don't, and a class would help them realize that practice is critical to success.
I agree, Jennifer. I sit on the Advisory Board for my department and have the opportunity to meet with local employers who hire our school's graduates. Overwhelmingly, the employers feel that our graduates are highly-trained and capable of performing the technical aspects of their jobs, but also feel our graduates are lacking basic soft skills.
According to the employers, many graduates have unrealistic expectations about entry-level pay and benefits; many others do not seem to know how to interact appropriately with supervisors, co-workers, or customers.
I agree with this! We have courses at our school where we teach our students soft skills. They usually ask "why" and once the teaching begins they actually learn a lot about the topic and themselves.
It is very important that students learn soft skills. Employers are not as concerned with a student's grades, but things like attendence, leadership, accountability, and getting along with others. For some student's they excel at these qualities and for others it is a struggle.
