Soft Skills for Employability: A Practical Guide for Business Students

Today’s graduates face more aggressive competition than ever before when they enter the job market. Whilst the technical skills learnt at university are very important, graduates need an ＂edge＂ in this new environment. The conceptual and creative careers of the future require the ’soft skills’ needed for us to succeed together. We must communicate, collaborate and create, co-working in social environments to set ourselves apart from skills that can be automated.

This book is a practical guide to harnessing these ’soft’ or ’enterprise’ skills. There is scientific proof that such skills can be learned. By embracing them you can set yourself apart from the pack and succeed on the career path of your choosing. Through a combination of useful theory and applied practical exercises this book helps you navigate these skills. Each section is explained briefly as follows:

* Consider the workplace and workplace culture, how it is changing, and what skills are required to work successfully within it

* Practical tools to build confidence and personal authenticity, to help you build relationships with potential colleagues

* Empathy and ＂reading＂ others as a tool for working collaboratively and communicating effectively with peers, listening to ideas, and synthesising complex creative knowledge

* How to hold the attention of a group in presentations, meetings and elsewhere in working life

* How to develop a practical and personal action plan to put these skills into practice

Like exercise or learning another language, these skills can only be mastered through regular use and are unique to you personally.

This textbook is an ideal companion on undergraduate employability courses, particularly in business schools.

Jon Hopwood regularly runs and facilitates soft skills workshops for corporate clients such as Westpac and Renault and for agencies supplying services to major brands such as Swisse, Virgin Mobile, Nike, JP Morgan and Qatar Airlines. He holds a PhD from Deakin University, Melbourne exploring Strategic Thinking and the Creative Process. He is also Adjunct Lecturer in Organisational Communications at Southern Cross University in Melbourne.