Soft Skills: How They Can Get You Ahead In a

Competitive WorldCat CoodeElectrical & Computer Engineering 2001

Friday June 22, 2007

What are Soft Skills?

From Wikipedia

“Soft Skills refer to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, facility with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft Skills compliment hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job”

My Career Path

April 2001 - Graduated UW Engineering with a Major in Electrical Engineering and a Minor in Computer Engineering

April 2001 – Started work at a Software Gaming Company in Waterloo

July 2001 – Caught in company layoffs August 2001 - Took a job at Research In Motion as a

C++ Software Developer on the Handheld Device Team

My Career Path cont.

August 2003 – Sought out other opportunities in a leadership role

March 2004 – Moved to the Enterprise Server team to help with a new team (Customer Response Team) with the intention of taking over as Team Lead in a year or so

September 2004 – Became Team lead of the CRT, ran development maintenance software and a team of 10

My Career Path cont.

June 2006 – Was promoted to Manager of Development Support Team.

– manage the relationship between the technical support organization and the development organization, the teams who do the support work as well a development team writing tools, I manage irate customers and lastly I continue to manage the direction of maintenance releases I had started with several years prior.

– This team has 25 people June 2007 – Moved to a director-level role of Senior Manager,

Development Support and SV&V– Team now consists of 58 full time employees plus co-op students– Continue with the same role but also now includes the Enterprise

Server Testing Team– Managing people, customers, schedules and resourcing

Soft Skills Employers Want

Top 25 Soft Skills employers look for from Monster.com

1. Oral/spoken communication skills2. Written communication skills3. Honesty4. Teamwork/collaboration skills5. Self-motivation/initiative6. Work ethic/dependability7. Critical thinking8. Risk-taking skills

Soft Skills Employers Want, cont.

9. Flexibility/adaptability 10. Leadership skills11. Interpersonal skills12. Working under pressure13. Questioning skills14. Creativity15. Influencing skills16. Research skills17. Organization skills

Soft Skills Employers Want, cont.

18. Problem-solving skills

19. Multicultural skills

20. Computer skills

21. Academic/learning skills

22. Detail orientation

23. Quantitative skills

24. Teaching/training skills

25. Time management skills

What Do Interviewers Look For?

Technical skills Experience Fit with team Preparation for the Interview A desire to learn Passion Motivation Good attitude Potential to grow

Working Effectively with a Team

Listen to others objectively If you don’t get along with someone, find a

level where you can connect and stick to that Don’t take criticism personally Help people falling behind; the success of a

project reflects on everyone

Cat’s Top Ten Tips to Succeed

1. Build political capital with everyone• Take opportunities to do good work for everyone, they will

remember

2. Get yourself out there and known• Look for opportunities to meet people outside your team • Represent your team at cross functional meetings or

volunteer on a committee

3. Develop a great work ethic• Be diligent and passionate about your work• Don’t be the one who’s always late

Cat’s Top Ten Tips to Succeed, cont.

4. Over deliver• Take initiative go do more than what’s asked• Get things done on time and done well

5. Become someone people think of as reliable• Be honest about what you can complete so you are

always able to deliver it

6. Always be professional• Dress and act as though you take your job seriously

7. Take Responsibility• Be accountable for your assignments• Look for leadership opportunities

Cat’s Top Ten Tips to Succeed, cont.

8. Be organized• Stay on top on your own schedule and priorities

9. Seek out your own opportunities• If you are interested in other tasks or jobs, tell someone

or look for those positions• A good manager will help you develop your career

10. Be yourself• Not matter how you present yourself to the public, be

sure to stay true to who you are • Be genuine

The CLM and How to Avoid it

Career Limiting Moves: Fighting with others in meetings Off-Colour jokes Bad mouthing – projects or people Unwillingness to listen to others Disrespect for authority Negative Attitude

How Can You Improve Your Soft Skills?

Look for opportunities to interact with others Volunteer

– This will expose you to people with different backgrounds and experience

Teaching– Learn to adapt the way you explain things to people of

different ability levels Select different people to work with

– With group projects, find a new group Courses

– Toastmaster is one example for speaking skills

Questions?

Thank You