Soft skills vs. hard skills

To be skilled is to be able to perform something at an okay level and do it freely, repeatedly, and at will. Skill is sometimes seen as knowledge and experience in action. In education there’s bias towards some skills over other skills, where the focus is more on ‘hard skills’: those that are measurable and specific to do a certain job. Whereas ‘soft skills’ – otherwise known as people skills, or non-cognitive skills – are unmeasured and largely discounted unless linked to a career. Take a look at the incomplete list of soft skills below.

Common sense. Awareness. Social skills. Confidence. Empathy. Emotional intelligence. Time management. Communication. Active listening. Organisation. Adaptability. Creativity. Problem-solving. Ethics. Negotiation. Mediation. Facilitation.

Are we not talking here about some of the most essential ingredients for life, for relationships, for our well-being?