You must have heard the phrase ‘New Year New Me’, well, the time has come to implement this in your life. With the advancement of technology, the new-age era would be of smart machines and automation. If you reckon that your job isn’t in jeopardy owing to automatism, you’re wrong. Thus, to ensure security in your career life, you need to learn and continue to learn.

To quote another quote, ‘skills pay the bills’, No doubt experience has its role to play, but, when it comes to choosing between someone with relative skills and someone with relative experience, the former would overpower the latter at any time. Moreover, in 2022, everyone is expected to make quick and significant decisions. This is true even if we don't have access to the same degree of knowledge or the same amount of planning time as we did pre-Covid.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills, sometimes known as "people skills," are personality attributes that affect how successfully someone will connect and collaborate with other individuals. They are, in the end, abilities that one would require to thrive at the job and in their personal life.

Soft skills may be thought of as a subset, with communication being a major component of that superset. Soft skills are the numerous emotional and cognitive patterns and signals that are shown and communicated openly or covertly throughout social or professional contexts, as well as the way one interacts with other people (as an individual or as a group). 

Soft skills refer to how a person observes the environment around them and inside themselves, processes it, and then acts/ reacts accordingly. The 'How' an individual process any stimuli are given a lot of attention since it dictates a lot of the 'What' the reaction will be.

In the long run, as phrased by WeForum.org, the following would need to be reskilled by the employees:

• Critical thinking and analysis
• Creativity, originality and initiative
• Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
• Analytical thinking and innovation
• Active learning and learning strategies
• Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation
• Complex problem-solving
• Leadership and social influence

Students must engage in the development of what are known as soft skills in order to stand out as attractive assets to global corporations. These talents, which are tied to personality traits, include a slew of interpersonal skills that will aid today's students in becoming excellent corporate assets.

Types of soft skills

Soft skills are an important aspect of a person's personality since they define their attitude and conduct. Soft talents are difficult to quantify and assess, yet they are essential for a happy personal and professional life. Soft skills are also known as "People Skills" since they are the foundation of interpersonal relationships and the quality of such relationships between two people. Some of the types of soft skills are given below:

Personal skills

• Resilience
• Responsibility
• Engagement
• Motivation
• Inquisitiveness
• Self-discipline
• Self-reflection
• Confidence

Social skills

• Empathy
• Integrability
• Ability to communicate well
• Ability to receive criticism
• Knowledge of human nature
• Team player
• Interaction ability

Methodical skills

• Analytical skills
• Organizational talent
• Presentation skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Stress resistance
• Dealing with new media

Do students' soft skills really matter? Let's look at the top five personality enhancers that answer the question as to why soft skills are important:

Communication

Effective communication, both verbal and written, are critical for successful, productive, and constructive engagements with others. A person with strong communication skills can effectively communicate their thoughts, opinions, ideas, proposals, demands, disputes, and emotions. All of these aspects are required for successful interpersonal connections, both in school and in the workplace.

Furthermore, the brainstorming strategy can be very impactful for combating certain study or corporate hurdles, in which each team member participates in the discussion, articulates their opinion, and thus contributes to the discovery of the best idea or solution, and to do so, one needs to have developed communication skills.

Leadership

Leadership is about recognizing people's latent potential and showing them how to use it for their own benefit. A leader inspires, motivates, and empowers others. On every team, proactive leaders are viewed as a valuable asset. Leaders gain greater knowledge, do more, and see more than managers or delegators. Leadership isn't just about getting things done; it's about having the appropriate type of desire and independence to take charge of making great changes.

Soft skills such as leadership are vital in the college admission process, in addition to adjusting to 21st-century career chances. When applying to college in a crowded field, it's critical to differentiate yourself from more than just your academics. Adding to your leadership portfolio is a terrific approach to set yourself apart from the competition. Because there isn't a single great application, it's up to you to tell your own tale.

Problem-solving

21st-century challenges need both theoretical and practical understanding. To develop appropriate answers to current and forthcoming difficulties, students must think beyond the box.

Problem-solving is a systematic process that involves critical reasoning and thinking in order to discover a viable solution to difficulties in order to meet desired goals.

You are a problem solver if you can readily analyze prospective challenges and devise inventive strategies to overcome them. These individuals are inquisitive, decisive, and eager to ask questions. You must be a problem solver in order to:

• Examine how a problem impacts the team and its production
• Discuss a problem objectively
• Come up with feasible solutions
• Make plans to put the solutions into action.

Adaptability

Adaptability skills are characteristics that enable you to adapt to changes in your surroundings. At work, being flexible is being able to adjust rapidly to new ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other procedures. Soft skills such as interpersonal, communication, creative thinking, and problem-solving are also required to be adaptive.

When working on projects, formulating strategies, and applying multiple ways to reach goals, it's crucial to be adaptive. You may demonstrate your willingness to attempt new things and gain new talents by demonstrating adaptability skills. Adaptability is a valuable trait as it allows us to be more versatile in our everyday routines. Being able to adjust to change in a rapidly evolving society makes one continually willing to thrive and survive no matter the situation they face. 

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize and control one's own emotions as well as comprehend the emotions of others. A high EQ aids in the development of connections, the reduction of team tension, the resolution of conflict, and the enhancement of job satisfaction. Finally, having a high EI implies being able to boost team productivity and employee retention. That's why, when it comes to managerial positions, businesses prefer to choose and promote people who have a high EQ (emotional quotient) above those who have a high IQ (intelligence quotient).

This skill allows students to empathize with others and themselves, as well as deal calmly with stressful situations. It has an impact on relationships, academic achievement, and even how kids deal with stress.

This is a characteristic of growth that is becoming increasingly challenging in a society where academic success is the exclusive goal. These days, more and more study is being done on how emotions impact learning. In fact, a study of medical students in Iran discovered that those with stronger emotional intelligence performed better academically.