Aim/Purpose: This paper presents a study about changes in computer science and software engineering students’ perceptions of their soft skills during their progress through the Computer Science Soft Skills course. Background: Soft skills are often associated with a person’s social, emotional and cognitive capabilities. Soft skills are increasingly sought out and are well recognized by employers alongside standard qualifications. Therefore, high importance is attributed to soft skills in computer science and software engineering education. Methodology: Content analysis was applied to interpret, categorize and code statements from students’ course assignment answers. Data analysis was performed gradually at the three main stages of the course and by the two students’ study populations. Contribution: The paper highlights the variety of (a) soft skills that can be learnt in one course, both on the individual level and on the team level and (b) assignments that can be given to students to increase their awareness and motivation to practice and learn soft skills. Findings: Data analysis revealed the following: (a) five individual soft skills categories, with 95 skills, and five team-related soft skills categories, with 52 skills (in total, the students mentioned 147 soft skills); (b) course assignments and particularly team-based activities elicited student awareness of their individual soft skills, both as strengths and weaknesses; (c) students developed their reflection skills, particularly with respect to team-related soft skills; and (d) significant differences exist between the two groups of students in several categories. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is important to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to integrate soft skills during their training. Establishing a meaningful learning process, such as project-based learning, enables students to apply and develop soft skills when accompanied by reflective thought processes. Recommendation for Researchers: A similar course can be taught and be accompanied by similar analysis of students’ learning outcomes, to examine the influence of local culture on the characteristics of soft skills. Impact on Society: Increased awareness of soft skills in scientists and engineers’ undergraduate education. University graduates who will strengthen their variety of soft skills in their academic training process and will be more meaningful employees in the workplace and in society. Future Research: Our future research aims (a) to explore additional innovative ways to increase students’ learning processes, awareness and practices in relation to soft skills and (b) to research how students’ soft skills are developed during the entire undergraduate studies both on the individual level and the team level.

Aim/Purpose: This research investigates the influence of soft skills on graduates’ employability in the technology industry, using the technology industry sector in Malaysia as a case. Background: Organizations are looking for appropriate mechanisms to hire qualified employees with strong soft skills and hard skills. This requires that job candidates possess a set of qualifications and skills which impact their employability. Methodology: Fuzzy Delphi analysis was conducted as preliminary study to identify the critical soft skills required by technology industry sector. The preliminary study produced ten critical soft skills to form a conceptual model of their influence on employability. Then, an online questionnaire survey was distributed in two industry companies in Malaysia to collect research data, and regression analysis was conducted to validate the conceptual model. Contribution: This research focuses on the influence of soft skills on graduate employability in the technology industry sector, since the selection of the best candidate in the industry will improve employee performance and lead to business success. Findings: The results of regression analysis confirmed that Communication skills, Attitude, Integrity, Learnability, Motivation, and Teamwork are significantly correlated with employability, which means that these soft skills are the critical factors for employability in Malaysian technology companies. Recommendations for Practitioners: The model proposed in this article can be used by employers to give better assessment of candidates’ compatibility with the jobs available. Impact on Society: This research highlights the critical soft skills required by technology industry sector, which will reduce the unemployment percentages among graduates. Future Research: More studies are required to examine the soft skills found in the literature and to define the most important skills from a general perspective of the industry. Future research should assess the moderating role of other variables, such as skills gap, employee performance, and employee knowledge. Furthermore, it is recommended to conduct similar studies of soft skills for employability in other countries.

Soft skills are becoming increasingly important and will be critical for success in the Information Systems profession. Employers complain about a lack in soft skills among graduates from tertiary education institutions. No agreement exists about what these skills actually are, which are of importance, and how acquiring these soft skills should be approached in higher education. The aim of this paper is to research the perceptions of lecturers, industry, and students on soft skills development of students and to identify important soft skills that need to be developed. The paper starts with a problem statement emphasizing the importance of soft skills and the possible lack thereof. This is followed by a literature review, a description of the methodology followed for this research, the results, conclusion, and the references. The research was done at a university in South Africa. Questionnaires consisting of open questions were distributed to lecturers, industry, and students respectively, and qualitative analysis was done on the results. Results show that stakeholders feel that soft skills of students are not developed adequately, that there is some uncertainty about who should be responsible for developing soft skills, and that the development of soft skills is seen as a difficult task. A list is compiled of the most important soft skills according to literature, lecturers, industry, and students. This list can be used in further research on the soft skills of IT-students. Recommendations are made for the teaching and learning of soft skills.

No matter how they’re defined, soft skills are vital to a safety professional’s career growth and development. “Technical knowledge will only get you so far,” one expert says.

Kushal Karwa, a thought leader in design education, emphasizes the need for integrating soft skills training into career preparation programs to help young designers thrive in real-world environments.

Why headhunters go for traits like leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence

Tips for undergraduate students to develop their employability skills

The demand for soft skills is increasing, and recent evidence suggests that the supply does not seem to keep up. The benefits from further development of these skills go beyond better labour market outcomes, as soft skills have been shown to contribute to overall well-being.

Online Resource

Online Resource

Guided by the recent Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are scrambling to incorporate nonacademic skills into school measurement systems, raising the question: “What measures should schools use and for which purpose?”

Check out ReactRally: A community React conference in Salt Lake City, UT from August 24th-25th!

03:36 - John Sonmez Introduction

• Twitter
• GitHub
• Simple Programmer
• The Entreprogrammers Podcast
• Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual by John Sonmez
• How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer Course

04:29 - Mastermind Groups

• Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller - Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century by Napoleon Hill

05:53 - “Soft Skills”

• Why Care About Soft Skills?
  • People Skills
  • Finances
  • Fitness

11:53 - Learned vs Innate

• Lifting Limited Beliefs
• Practice

14:14 - Promotion (Managerial) Paths

• The Peter Principle

17:52 - “Marketing”

• Value: Give Away 90% / Charge For 10%
• Seeming “Spammy” (Resistance to Sell)
• Neil Patel's Blog
• Documentation for Yourself
  • AJ O'Neal: How to Tweet from NodeJS

29:53 - Get Up and CODE!

• #086: Figure Skating and Software Development with Aimee Knight
• #067: Weight Loss Plan for Charles (Max Wood)

33:47 - Burnout

• Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
• Systems and Habits (Routines)
  • Methods of Execution

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The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz (Chuck)
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Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition by Robert B. Cialdini (John)
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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield (John)

Meor Osman, Wan Sofiah, author