ANSWER – Soft skills should concern anyone looking for a job – young or old. Without exception, every recruiting manager we spoke with re. areas that young Kenyan graduates need to improve on, has told us soft skills is an area that requires urgent attention. No matter how high your grades, if you are lacking in soft skills, then you will find yourself, time and time again, losing out to others who posses these skills. To put it simply, hard/technical skills would be your IQ – KCPE, KCSE, degree, computer skills, engineering skills, mechanical skills or other occupational skills whilst soft skills relate to personality traits, social graces, communication skills, language, personal habits, friendliness, attitude, how you get on with other people etc These traits are important because they relate to how you interact with not only colleagues but people outside of the organisation including customers. It is not enough these days to only have technical or hard skills. There is a lot of competition out there and often products are homogenous but what may close that sale could be your personality, your ability to relate to the customer, your power of persuasion etc. More examples of soft skills would include: Being on time, being conscientious, reporting to work every day, following instructions, communication skills, presentation skills, dress code, how to address potential clients/boss etc
