Top SOFT SKILLS essential for EMPLOYABILITY for MANAGEMENT STUDENTS
In any business school that deserves its name, one of the main characteristics of a management course would be to provide students with skills that are highly valued by employers. While a large part of this is basic management skills such as finance, marketing, strategy and leadership, which are the essential building blocks of business education, the growing importance of “soft” skills to ensure employability and success must also be remembered. success. A QS study, conducted in 2008, clearly shows that these soft skills have become increasingly important among recruiters and employers. In this Recruiters Survey, 489 of the world’s largest international MBA recruiters – companies like Boeing, Goldman Sachs, and Motorola – have ranked communication and people skills above traditional business skill sets in importance.
And yet such a key area is also one that business school students tend to ignore, as it is often not available at their preferred institution or included as a non-core part and therefore not scoring of the curriculum. More and more MBAs and business school graduates are falling far short of this extremely important skill set. Most students believe that training in these is a waste of time, and a significant percentage of previous MBAs had the attitude that they did not see the value of spending time on communication or people management skills. They feel that they prefer to spend a little more time on difficult core subjects.
The recruiters disagree. Particularly in a world that is still dealing with the global recession, multiplied by the increase in the year of the pandemic, and for the perceivable future, soft skills are and will continue to be essential. Employers tend to focus less on academic or technical skills and put much more emphasis on communication, interpersonal skills, leadership traits, etc. Poor economic development has affected employment opportunities along with outsourcing, downsizing, plant closings, mergers, acquisitions, and other global cost-cutting measures. The situation is unlikely to improve dramatically in the next few years, and even after that, the new shape of the corporate world is likely to emerge as something quite different from what we are used to. Consequently, possessing only traditional technical and business skills is no longer enough to get hired and get ahead in the new global market. More and more studies confirm that possessing soft skills is crucial for high achievers to maintain a competitive advantage within their organizations. They also define entry-level success.
However, according to most recruiters, sadly too many business school graduates are entering the job market without these essential skills. Soft skills such as a winning attitude, teamwork, effective communication, confidence, creativity, accepting criticism gracefully, motivation, leadership, multitasking, prioritization, time management, the ability to see the big picture, etc. they are as essential as technical qualifications. These are necessary not only to get hired in the first place, but to have a good track record of professional growth. Honing your soft skills is imperative for business school graduates to differentiate themselves within the recruiting and promotion process.
Some of the most important soft skills employers and recruiters look for are:
Leadership: Employers want the people they hire to have the potential to take on leadership roles in the future. They want to hire people who are positive, motivated and self-aware, capable of leading by example.
Communication: Whatever the role, technical or customer-facing, the reality is that one has to work with people and therefore must be able to interact effectively.
Interpersonal skills: Likeability, the simple ability to get along with people, is especially important in a global world of work. Being able to build positive relationships, not only with colleagues but also with other contacts, helps to strengthen internal and external networks. It also brings greater collaboration between teams.
Presentation skills– The ability to present your case effectively, share your efforts, and deliver actionable solutions – all concisely, professionally, and persuasively is important in the business world. People are less and less likely to take the time and strain to read lengthy documents. Sharp presentation skills and spoken communication are the way to convey information.
Effective communication skills: To land a new client, finalize a deal or start a project, motivate your team or show off your achievements, communication skills decide the success of most business processes. MBA graduates and business diploma holders must hone interpersonal and group communication skills to work well with others.
Strategic thinking: Strategic thinking skills decide your ability to solve problems and think quickly.
It makes sense to keep in mind that employers increasingly place a very high importance on these soft skills. Strong grades and good job results will only get you so far if you don’t have them. People who do not learn and practice these social skills are increasingly at risk of being marginalized and pushed into niche roles, rather than obtaining highly sought after profiles. Your career progression is also likely to be slower and limited, which can also lead to eventual dismissal.