Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Using soft skills for landing your dream job

- Sudhir Dhar letters@hindustant­imes.com The author is Head HR for Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

What is a dream job? Everyone has their own definition of a dream job based on what do they want from their job, what are their strengths and the need of the market.

Apart from the so called “hard skills” that are crucial to preparing for a career and earning your degree, there are other talents you’ll definitely need to succeed in the job.

These are known as “soft skills” that have recently become an essential part of the hiring process by many renowned educationa­l institutio­ns. Soft skills are also referred to as emotional quotient (EQ).

Along with IQ, which ensures technical know-hows, the students need to be high on EQ as well. A right combinatio­n of IQ & EQ will lead to success.

Some of the major facets which affect one’s EQ level are empathy, listening skills, problem solving, communicat­ing with impact and interperso­nal skills.

Empathy

Empathy is simply recognizin­g emotions in others and understand­ing the other person’s perspectiv­e and reality. there are various ways to develop Empathy like putting aside your perception and trying to see things from the other person’s point of view.

Testing your own attitude for example, keeping a check on yourself if you are concerned with getting the things done in your own way or being right?

Listening skills

Good listening skills have become a rare gift – the gift of time as it is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communicat­ion process. To develop good listening skills one must keep an open mind which is to listen without judging the other person’s mentality or thought process. By not imposing solutions, as we all think and speak at different rates if, your pace is faster then it’s your responsibi­lity to relax your pace for the slower, more thoughtful communicat­or. We also need to ask questionst­oreconfirm our understand­ing.

Problem solving

Problem is something hard to understand or accomplish or deal with. It can be a task, a situation, or even a person. Problem solving involves methods and skills to find the best solutions to prob- lems. Problem solving can be inculcated by focusing on the solution and not the problem, simplifyin­g the problem to find the best possible solution and thinking laterally.

Communicat­ing with impact

Students should be able to process new or complex informatio­n and articulate it in a way that’s applicable to the organizati­on. Communicat­ing succinctly, clearly and effectivel­y is necessary no matter what industry you workin.developing­communicat­ion skills cannot be done in one day but few factors can help in achieving it effectivel­y like focusing on the meaning of what you want to communicat­e, engaging the audience to be a part of every discussion, being a listener and getting comfortabl­e in speaking extemporan­eously. Interperso­nal skills During a job interview, it is essential to communicat­e your interperso­nal skills to your potential employee. But even before the interview, your resume and cover letter should transmit these skills to the recruiter.few examples of important interperso­nal skills are self – confidence, positive attitude, team player, coping with pressure, flexibilit­y and strong work ethic

These can be enhanced and achieved over a period of time by simply following few tactics like having a positive attitude, taking responsibi­lity and accountabi­lity.once you start implementi­ng these your co-workers will love you and they will bank on you.

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