News and Articles
Essential People Skills
21st September 2008
With our world constantly being immersed further into a technology dominated environment, where we converse and form social groups via email and internet forums; is it a surprise that we are seeing a decrease in those essential interpersonal skills? It is far simpler to converse via email or phone rather than taking the time to meet and interact with our colleagues and peers. This demise of face to face interaction with other people is having an effect on candidate’s “soft skills”. Soft skills are defined as "the cluster of personality traits, social graces, language skills, friendliness, and optimism that mark each one of us to varying degrees" 1.
In business our people skills are key…. communication, articulation, confidence to present yourself and information, ability to interact and form relationships, ability to listen, ability to question, probe, debate and negotiate and that all important body language and presentation.
Even if you are highly skilled technically or highly educated without these people skills you are not considered to be a full package to prospecting employers. Technical skills can be trained or learnt but people skills are much harder to teach and there is no manual to learn from.
First impressions are vital and are formed in the first 3 seconds of meeting. An employer will always be judging you on your personality as well as your knowledge and experience, team fit is often a priority and in client facing roles the right personality type is of upmost importance.
So are you prepared to be assessed on your people skills?
Prepared by Sarah Ali
Ref: 1. Tech Directors. "Career Directions," 10, 2003, pp. 22-23