Good soft skills:your ticket to success!

In today's world, for a student, who just graduated, it is very difficult to find a job, based purely on his/her's technical knowledge. Everyone who passes out of a reputed engineering college is bound to have a very strong knowledge base in their respective fields. But what really companies look for is the soft skills that prospective employee possess. It is a now established fact that, having good soft skills will give one the edge needed over his/her peers at the workplace.

Soft skills are basically the skills that are required by one for their personal development. These include team work, attitude, grooming, listening skills, time management, communication skills. First and foremost, communication skills are very important. It is very necessary for one to know how to talk fluently, and effectively. Your peers and your superiors must understand you clearly. Another skill that you need to develop, which is essential at the work place is listening skills. Listening to others, their ideas, is needed at the office, to develop good relations with your colleagues. While on this topic, another skill that comes up is team work. At the workplace, it’s all about team effort, and not individual effort.
Interpersonal skills are skills which keep a healthy relationship between a person and his team mates in the office. With these skills the leader can resolve personal conflicts and personality clashes.
Presentation skills are necessary for people in the corporate side. This may include showing new ideas, products, and reports. In each of these cases, good presentation is necessary. The audience should be able to grasp the idea, or understand the nature of the product.
It is imperative that you should have etiquette at the workplace. You should be well mannered and well behaved. It also includes eating etiquette and the ability to follow procedures in different situations. Being kind and nice is also equally important.
Grooming is one other important skill. You have to make yourself presentable to others. Wearing pressed clothes, a suit, clean polished shoes are signs of good grooming. Having an unshaven face, or unkempt hair, are a big no. People with good grooming are appreciated in all organisations.
Having the right attitude can take you a long way in the organisation. Doing the give task on time, without delays, is appreciated. Having a positive outlook, and good attitude, pushes your chances of being hired.
Time management is also important for a manager. A manager should be a good example to others by setting a high standard on time management. If things are not planned or completed on time, it will have adverse effect on the organisation. In today’s competitive age, everyone is running behind time. It has become a necessity for all companies to work on timely schedules to meet and surpass the competitors.
Another very important skill needed is learning from one's mistakes. It is not possible for an individual to never commit a mistake. He would have done so at one point of his life or another. But the important thing is that he learns from it. He should realise what happened and how he can avoid making such a mistake in the future. Such an individual, will have the edge over his peers at the workplace.

The main question on everybody’s mind is that, ‘can these soft skills, thought to be developed by the individual, be taught to him?’ The answer to that is yes, it can.
Out of the skills listed above, the most difficult to correct are ethics and attitude. Studies show that it takes six to nine months of motivation, extended practice and constant feedback, for ones attitude to change.
Grooming and confidence, on the other hand, are the easiest to alter. Steady practice in small batches of 15-20 students, with people of similar ability carefully chosen and teamed up, giving every individual a chance to speak for 5 to 7 minutes every day brought about tremendous improvement in their confidence. Special workshops conducted by trained grooming instructors, worked too.
Communication skills are not all that easy to change. It takes time, and some special methods have to be followed. In most of the colleges, they employ certain modules of teaching grammar and English. This improved the students’ English, and also sharpened their communication skills.
Also, an everyday reading the newspaper or any other activity like that, could improve the students’ general awareness, and also develop reading habits in them, which is a prerequisite for good communication skills.
Before the students can start working, it is best if they can get a beforehand experience of what their job will be like, probably on a smaller scale. This is where internships come into play. Internships give students firsthand experience of the industry. Colleges also bring in experienced industry experts, who can give advice to students on their careers.

For further information, go to:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/78203/develop-soft-skills-face-career.html

Further to this, after a informative chat with a senior friend of mine from college, these are the few things that I learnt, on developing better skills and also be successful in placements.
-It is very important that I take charge and be proactive. The college, other than imparting education and training me for placements, will not guide me in any other way. Hence, the extra learning, I will have to do on my own.
-Marks are very important. They decide which tests I can write. For a good number of choices in companies, I have to constantly do well in exams.
-Internships are also good exposure. Since the college does not do anything to encourage us to get internships, it is up to me to get one on my own.
-Three skills that were mentioned over and over again were mathematical aptitude, verbal aptitude and also technical skills. These have to be improved on a regular basis, to ensure placement at the end of my college.
-The cut off, normally for any company, is 60% aggregate up to the end of 6th semester. It is necessary for me keep up that score.
-Technical skills can be improved by reading up on topics which are of interest to me. Giving paper presentations will also help (follow up in detail). Taking aptitude tests regularly will help in improving my aptitude. The college also provides training in this regard.
-High salary should not be expected. Given the present situation, I will be lucky if I land a job.
-I have to keep constantly updating myself with the latest information. This can happen through constant reading. Hence developing reading habits is very important.