Soft Skills are Real Skills


I believe that no matter what career you may have, being personable will always play an important role – regardless of if you work alone or on a team. Even if your interactions with people are far and in between, you must know how to handle them.

You may have all the technical skills that an employer is looking for, but if you can’t make it through an interview, phone call, or even an email, how much will those skills matter? David Deming, a professor of education and economics at the Graduate School of Education and a professor of education and public policy and the Kennedy School stated, “Engineers and computer programmers are still needed, but positions in which they might do the bulk of their work alone in a cubicle are giving way to more team-based, project-based approaches.”

Alexander Lyon talks about the difference between verbal and nonverbal communication. Verbal communication includes, “your ability to communicate clearly and concisely”. Nonverbal communication includes, “the vibe that you give off”.

          Working in healthcare, I have gained the ability to be personable and emphasize with others. Although I am no longer patient-facing, I still speak with families over the phone. They may not be able to see my face, but they can pick up how I feel based on my tone of voice and how I handle the conversations. It’s important to be friendly, even when I’m working from home!

          In five years, I still see myself working in healthcare. I may not be working directly with patients at all anymore, but I will still have a team to work with who are just as important and deserve respectful communication.

Citation:

Deming, David. Powell, Alvin. “Social Skills Increasingly Valuable to Employers, Harvard Economist Finds.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 30 Aug. 2018, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/10/social-skills-increasingly-valuable-to-employers-harvard-economist-finds/.

         Communications Coach Alexander Lyon. (2021, April 22). What Are Soft Skills? Top 8? YouTube. Retrieved December 06, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZSARM4VaVs&t=3s

Comments

  1. Amy ThaoDecember 10, 2022 at 2:05 AM

    Fantastic post, Christine! I know that feeling when I used to work from home and make phone calls non-stop; you sure have your moments because some people can be rude and disrespectful. But people can tell on the phone if you are having a bad day, so talking with a smile does help, and working in the healthcare field can be challenging and takes a special kind of people to handle it.

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  2. JonalynDecember 11, 2022 at 1:51 AM

    Hi Christine, working in Healthcare Industry is very challenging. Healthcare work often involves intense, stressful, and emotional situations in caring for sick people. But if you love your job and have these soft skills qualities, it won't bother you.No matter what kind of job. It's good to have.

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  3. Aeysha AkkadDecember 12, 2022 at 3:49 PM

    Hi Christine, Great job I like your post. It's very challenging that feeling when working in the healthcare field.

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  4. SharmaineDecember 13, 2022 at 1:12 PM

    Yes, I agree! You can know everything about IT health but how will you be able to implement those skills through a team? Soft skills are essential in healthcare and even though you may not be working with patients directly, it is crucial to have these skills to communicate well with colleagues. 

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