By Mykel Jones/reporter
Students often look for guidance and resources at campus career centers when they want to develop skills that will help them get jobs after graduation, but students can also build soft skills in the classroom that will help them in their careers.
SE student services coordinator Kecia Baker said if students are not sure what they want to do after graduation, they can still start the career planning process.
“Start searching the internet for what may interest you as a career,” she said.
If students get ideas about careers that might interest them, they can take basic classes to explore some of those options because basic classes also allow students to begin to develop soft skills, Baker said.
SE career and employee services coordinator Gina Maloy said TCC focuses on helping students build communication, teamwork, leadership, adaptability and conflict resolution.
“These five building skills are important because they are most likely to occur and recur in any job environment,” she said.
Maloy said students need to develop strong written and verbal communication skills because communication sets the tone for how people are perceived in the workplace and good communication improves students’ ability to build relationships. While English and speech classes are designed to help students communicate effectively, students can practice communication skills in any class they take.
Teamwork is a necessary soft skill because it is rare for a person to do a job alone without interacting with others, Maloy said. Success occurs when people work together toward a goal.
Adaptability allows students to adjust and dig deep to find alternative solutions when things do not go as planned.
“When problems arise, successful people are those who can be flexible to adapting to change,” South career and employee services coordinator Monica Miranda said.
Leadership means people have the confidence to influence co-workers.
“In my classes, my professors push hard on building soft skills, especially on communication and leadership because jobs see those two first in a person,” South student Morgan Cropp said.
People with strong conflict resolution skills can resolve issues with co-workers and maintain strong relationships, Maloy said.
“Everyone needs soft skills,” South student development services coordinator Jana Moody said. “Regardless of what it may be, they come a long way with great benefits.”
