Importance of Soft Skills

While hard skills are specific to individual professions, soft skills include common
professional and life skills such as communication skills, problem solving, public speaking,
professional writing, collaboration, etc. Among these, the United Nations emphasizes three
skills required to succeed in the 21st century, commonly known as 3Cs of 21st century. They
include communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. This course aims at
enhancing these skills among the learners.

1. Personal Ethics/Values

Possessing the required professional and personal values becomes a cornerstone of a

successful or fulfilling life. The three important ethics that will be discussed here are:

Politeness:
Politeness has its roots in the word “polish”. It used to mean elegant or polished behaviour.
Later, it gained its today’s meaning of valuing and considering others.
Cambridge Dictionary defines Politeness as follows:
Politeness is about keeping good relations with your listener or reader. There are two types of
politeness:
– showing the listener or reader that you value and respect them.
– changing or softening what you say so as not to be too direct or forceful.

Politeness must be reflected in words, actions, and behaviour. In Indian culture, these words
are not used frequently since many Indians consider politeness is considered implicit in tone,
behaviour and action rather than words. However, in English, frequent use of words like
thank you, please, sorry to express gratitude, request, and regret is considered polite.

In western culture, it is quite common to find people say “thank you” to express gratitude
people who provide services to them. They thank bus drivers, waiters, delivery personnels,
people who hold doors for them at stores, salespersons etc. After a flight lands, people clap
their hands to express gratitude to the cabin crew. In India too, such habits are getting
popular. Words for politeness will only make our actions and behaviour more pleasing to
others.

Explore and verify:

Describe in your words as to how your actions, behaviour, and words are polite and how can
you be more polite in the following places:

Home, Classrooms, Restaurants, Roads, and Offices.

2. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it
would be like to be in that person's situation (Cambridge Dictionary)
Though sympathy and empathy have similar meanings, sympathy involves patronizing
people or looking down upon people/nonhuman animals from a superior position. Empathy
on the other hand entails justice and equity.

Empathy is an important quality in workplaces as well. Understanding the customers from

their positions and situations is key to provide services and products to them. Also, in the
changing world, diversity in workplaces is increasingly seen as a path to success (diversity
nurtures new ideas and solutions). Corporates employ people from diverse physical, cultural,
biological or psychological characteristics (such as race, colour, nationality, caste, class, age,
gender, sex, sexual orientation, people with physical and cognitive disabilities, language,
height, geography, etc.).

Explore and verify:

Describe in your words as to how as a society and individuals are empathetic (or
unempathetic) we are to the following differences among people/nature:

Caste, Class, Race and nationality, Disability, Age, Gender, Sexual orientation, Species, and
Nature

Honesty

Honesty is the quality of being truthful, sincere, and fair in one’s words and actions. Honesty
is important for many reasons, such as:

Honesty builds trust and respect. When people are honest, they can establish a strong bond of
trust and respect with others. Trust and respect are essential for any healthy and lasting
relationship, whether it is personal, professional, or social.

Honesty promotes self-esteem and confidence. When people are honest, they can feel good
about themselves and their choices. Honesty also helps people to overcome their fears and
insecurities, and to face the challenges and opportunities in life with courage and optimism.

Honesty fosters learning and growth. When people are honest, they can admit their mistakes
and learn from them. Honesty also encourages people to seek feedback and constructive
criticism, and to improve themselves continuously.

Honesty is not always easy or comfortable, but it is always worthwhile. Honesty is a virtue
that can benefit oneself and others in many ways.

2. Assertiveness:

Assertiveness means “confident and persuasive behaviour”. It is a social skill that involves
communicating one’s wants, needs, opinions, and boundaries in a clear and respectful way,
without being aggressive or passive. Assertiveness can help people to build trust and respect,
improve self-esteem and confidence, foster learning and growth, and enhance happiness and
peace of mind.
The following image differentiating passive, assertive, and aggressive behaviours may
highlight how an assertive person behaves.

Personal Strengths:
Writing personal strengths can help you showcase your abilities and achievements in various
contexts, such as resumes, cover letters, interviews, or personal statements. Here are some
tips on how to write personal strengths:
Identify your personal strengths. You can define personal strengths as the attributes, activities,
or tasks you excel in. For example, think about characteristic traits, like being sociable,
charismatic, or open-minded.
Use specific examples. To demonstrate your personal strengths, you should provide concrete
and relevant examples of how you have used them in the past. It could be your achievements
in your last place of work, goals you have smashed, or areas in your life you have excelled in.
Make sure that the examples you choose are not only required for the context but also
adaptable.
Quantify your results. If possible, use numbers or metrics to measure the impact of your
personal strengths. For example, instead of saying “I have good leadership skills”, you could
say “I led a team of 10 people and increased their productivity by 25%”. This way, you can
show the value and effectiveness of your personal strengths.
Use positive language. When writing about your personal strengths, you should use confident
and assertive words that highlight your abilities and accomplishments. Avoid using words
that diminish or doubt your personal strengths, such as “sometimes”, “maybe”, or “I think”.
Instead, use words that emphasize and affirm your personal strengths, such as “always”,
“definitely”, or "I know".
Be honest and realistic. While it is important to showcase your personal strengths, you should
also be honest and realistic about them. Do not exaggerate or lie about your personal
strengths, as this may backfire and damage your credibility. Instead, be truthful and modest
about your personal strengths, and acknowledge that you also have areas for improvement.
Here are some examples of personal strengths to list on your resume:
Leadership
Self-motivated
Active listening
Communicating
Honesty
Strong work ethic
What is my USP?
Your USP is your unique selling proposition, which is a feature or characteristic of yourself
that makes you different from and better than others. Your USP can help you stand out from
the crowd and showcase your value and potential. To find your USP, you need to ask yourself
some questions, such as:
What are your strengths and skills?
What are your passions and interests?
What are your achievements and accomplishments?
What are your values and principles?
What are your goals and aspirations?
Then, you need to compare yourself with others who have similar backgrounds,
qualifications, or ambitions, and identify what makes you unique and special. You can also
ask for feedback from others who know you well, such as your friends, family, or colleagues,
and find out what they think are your USP. Once you have your USP, you can use it to market
yourself in various situations, such as applying for a job, starting a business, or pursuing a
hobby. You can also use it to motivate yourself and improve yourself continuously.
Activity:
Think about various projects, events, and sports and define your unique personal strengths
with many examples.
Weaknesses:
Activity:
Try to identify five life skill/ technical skills where you need improvement. Describe why
consider them as your weakness and list the steps you have taken to overcome the
weaknesses.

Self-introduction:
• Most common error: “Myself ________”
• Not only easy but also EESI
o E - Education
o E – Experience (projects and internships)
o S - Skills
o I – Interests

• Good fit
• Do not give personal information
The following is my self-introduction I had prepared before joining MITS

Sample from the internet:

Hello Sir/Ma'am.
My name is Tanavi More. I'm from Osmanabad. I have Completed my BE in Information
Technology from SPPU. I have also completed my diploma in Computer Engineering from
GRWPL.
I have worked on a project of Personality Prediction System Using Big 5 five personality
traits. I have also worked on a project for the Tour Management System. I have completed
my training from TNSIndia Foundation in Java Full Stack Development.
Throughout my academic journey, I have studied programming languages such as C, C++,
Java, HTML, CSS, JS, Python, etc. My short-term goal is to get a job in a reputed company.
My long-term goal is to achieve a good position where I can build my career and help an
organization too.