Is it more important to have soft skills or hard skills? That is, the billion-dollar question. If you want to be successful, soft skills are tremendously beneficial to your career. The Chang School of Continuing Education (n.d.) states, "Soft skills are the complete collection of our social, communication, and self-management behaviours. These are the skills that enable us to work effectively and “fit in” at the workplace" (para. 7). It is more important to have soft skills than hard skills because soft skills relay how individuals communicate, soft skills are required for daily interaction with others as well as complementing hard skills.
First, it is more important to have soft skills than hard, because soft skills relay how individuals communicate. wWhen it comes to wanting a business to run smoothly, communication plays an important role of soft skills. Harkins (2015) states, “Communication is the lifeblood of every organization. Without it, people are islands, isolated from everyone around them” (para. 9). Employees must know how to communicate honestly and effectively, especially if they are working as a team. An employee who does not discuss the progress for their part of a team project with their fellow co-workers, just might not get the promotion that they have been wanting foras team leader due to their lack of communication skills.
Secondly, Soft skills are more important than hards skills, because they required for daily interaction with others. Different typekinds of people can be encountered in all types of environments and situations. For instance, an employee working in a direct customer support type of environment needs to have people skills. They also need to be able to handle day-to-day operations with all sortypes of customers. Negotiation, mediation, clear communication, effective mentoring and active listening are soft skills that will be fairly beneficial when interacting with others.
Lastly, Ssoft skills are important, because they complement hard skills. Harkins (2015) states, “To learn to play an instrument, you must actually play it” (para. 12). Hard skills are abilities that can be learned. They show that a person has the technical training to accomplish a certain task, for instance, accounting. When it comes to the hiring process, those twhato not only have had accounting technical training, but those twhato have actual work experience or Student work and observation experiences will be highly preferred over those twhato justonly have technical training or have none.
In conclusion, the answer to the billion-dollar question is case in point. Soft skills are not only required for daily interaction with others, but relay how individuals communicate as well and complement hard skills. They are useful when dealing with all types of people, embody the very essence of what is communication as well as help to set you apart as a more desirable candidate for an open position as having the “actual know-how” ability...the extra wow factor. The bottom line is, having soft skills areis tremendously beneficial for your career, if you want to be successful. There is always room for soft skill improvement. Learn, hone, and inspire!