In the business world when things go wrong it’s usually a failure of soft skills. In this article we will discuss the key attributes that should be used when evaluating business soft skills / Job Readiness training programs. It is intended to assist instructors, educators, administrators and training personnel. It takes in consideration both instructor and student goals to learn and use soft skill and to prepare the students to be job ready. Just so we are all on the same page, let’s define soft skills. Soft skills are those personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people in business. Soft skills are also known as job readiness, being career ready, or having interpersonal skills. The following statistics will gives a good insight into why soft skills are important to the employer. These are just a few of the studies that support how important soft skills are in business. These studies show how being “job Ready” can improve a person’s career. - 90% of employers said recent graduates lack necessary oral & written communication skills - 81% of employers said prospective employees lack critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills - Out of 760 employers 69% of respondents stated that soft skills such as communication, collaboration and problem solving are equally important as technical skills for career success In another study, people who received job readiness training reported the following: - 94% improved their job interviewing skills - 93% improved their job-search skills - 91% improved their résumé-writing skills Employers have requested that the soft skills they are looking for in their employees are verbal communication, workplace relationships and written communications. Make sure these subjects are covered in any soft skills program. Here are some of the things to look for when purchasing a soft skills program: - To keep the attention of your students the videos should be entertaining, informative and have real people explain the lessons verses a PowerPoint course. It is very important that the audio and video should be good quality. - Creators of the program should be experienced in business and academia. In this format you will get the best of both worlds. - Video presentation should be student friendly. It should never speak “down” to the students or pretend to be superior. - The lessons should use qualified instructors not just PowerPoint’s. The student will be able to learn more when they see the instructors and their body language. In part 2, we will continue to explore what to look for in a soft skills curriculum. Jim Stedt is a partner at The Business SoftSkills Company (GetSoftSkillsNow.Com) located in Santa Ana, California. They provide job readiness and workforce success videos for education, business, prisons and individual use. Training is available online, on DVD, or through an affiliate program. These products are the most complete and concise soft skills training packages now available for the price of an average college textbook.
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