Graduating is much more than just attaining good grades
Graduating with good grades is one thing but the ability to apply what you have learnt on the job is totally different. In the increasingly competitive job market, hiring managers typically look for graduates who can offer more than just good grades. Employers seek both technical and soft skills.
Technical skills are learned abilities acquired and enhanced through practice, repetition and learning. These are typically quantifiable skills that can be easily defined and evaluated.
For example, for an IT professional, literacy in computer programming would be referred to as a technical skill while for an accountant this would be generating financial reports.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are interpersonal skills which include communication, listening, teamwork, networking and time management among others.
They are personal attributes that affect your interaction and relationships with others and also enable you to engage in meaningful ways with colleagues and clients. In order to succeed in your career, the modern workplace requires more than just technical skills. Hence why it is important to possess soft skills.
For graduates, these soft skills will enhance employability which paves way to achieving your dream career. It is important for graduates to note that hiring managers not only seek candidates who can perform their jobs well, but also those who are able to fit into the company culture and interact well with various stakeholders. The advantage is that these soft skills are not specific to work environments. They are applicable in social settings too.
Students who are yet to graduate should also take note. It would be advantageous to start developing soft skills on campus through experiential learning, case studies, proactive participation in group discussions and extra-curricular activities. To be ready for the job market and have that extra edge over other qualified professionals, students ought to use a combination of these methods to develop different soft skills that would then be applied at work and also in any social setting. Increasingly, we are seeing curriculums being tailored to provide a holistic learning environment in order for students to develop their soft skills and maximise their potential.
Students should also take advantage of opportunities presented by employers who collaborate with tertiary institutions to offer soft skills training in order to add value to their technical training.
Students need to seek and analyse the feedback employers share with these institutions about changing industry trends and suitability of various soft skills in addressing these evolving market needs. Additionally, they should strive to understand how these employers integrate competency assessments within their recruitment frameworks.
Once students have equipped themselves with soft skills in addition to the technical skills acquired at university or college level, the next challenge is presenting their capabilities as dynamic and versatile professionals to prospective employers. There are several ways to do this. List and describe these skills in the cover letter and resume. Identify and describe them in a clear and confident manner during interviews. Make sure the skills actually relate to you and ensure that your references are aware of them and are willing to verify that you possess these skills in their letters of support. Be bold, be you.
The important thing to note is that soft skills and technical skills go hand in hand. They are important complementary tools used by firms to evaluate the performance of their employees. As they say ‘technical skills will give you an interview but soft skills will give you the job’. The onus is on you.
Jumanne Mpimbi ([email protected]) is an accounting consultant and Junior Shavuna ([email protected]) is a finance officer at KPMG in Tanzania The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinion of KPMG.
