LoyalistLibrary: Student Success: Soft Skills

Soft Skills

What are soft skills?

"Soft skills or human skills refer to the qualities and behaviours that help us connect and communicate well with others. These skills play a crucial role in both personal and professional contexts. [They] include being effective communicators, ability to work well in teams, self-awareness, and empathy." (Seneca College Library, 2024)

We use soft skills in all parts of our lives, including at school, at work, and at home and in our personal lives.

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
"Hard skills describe what you do, while soft skills describe how you do it. Your hard skills are your technical skills, relating to the types of tasks you know how to do. Some examples of technical skills are data analysis, computer programming, writing, and UX design. When you complete a task, you often use a combination of hard and soft skills—technical skills to guide your process and workplace skills to encourage effective outcomes." (Coursera, 2023)

Building and improving our soft skills is an important part of post-secondary education. These skills help us to succeed academically, and they help us to find employment and to be successful in the workplace.

What kinds of skills are considered "soft skills"?

Examples of soft skills include:

active listening
adaptability
communication
creativity
critical thinking
digital literacy
empathy
intercultural fluency
leadership
organization
problem solving
public speaking
professional attitude
professional writing
teamwork
time management
work ethic

This page contains resources that can be used to help you build these skills.

Sources

Coursera Staff. (2023, Nov. 29). What are soft skills? Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/ca/articles/soft-skills

Seneca College Library. (2024). "What are soft skills?" Technical communication: Soft skills. https://library.senecapolytechnic.ca/technical/softskills

More resources coming soon!

Student Success: Soft Skills

Soft Skills

Keep Us Current!