1- Introduction: Skills for the Working World
Due to the technological advances and increasing automation of industrial processes, the working world has drastically changed over the last decade. For that reason, recruiters and other professionals agree upon some personal skills employees need to acquire and develop in order to be eligible candidates for the jobs of the future.
‘Personal skills’, ‘soft skills’, or ‘skills for the working world’ refer to the personal qualities an employee has in order to deal with situations at work. Those qualities enhance employees’ potential and makes them suitable for different job positions.
Do you know which skills are the most relevant for the next decade? Let’s find out!
a) Learnability
As technology advances really fast, it is important to be adaptable to those changes. Hence, our willingness to learn and learning capacity are not only necessary, but also mandatory if you want to succeed in a job position and, eventually, be promoted. Are you always willing to learn about, for instance, software, social strategies, new methods, more languages? Then you are on the right track.
b) Resilience
Our capacity to overcome situations and learn from them to move on is also known as resilience. Resilient people can experience problems, face challenges, and learn from mistakes without losing a positive attitude. How well do you deal with disappointment?
c) Collaboration
Do you feel comfortable working as part of a team? If the answer to that question is “Yes!”, then you are probably good at sharing ideas with your peers (classmates, co-workers, etc.), listening to suggestions, and work with others to finally accomplish a goal.
d) Communication
Either if we are referring to oral or written, we have to acknowledge that communication is one of the most important tools we have at our disposal when it comes to the working world. Communication refers to the ability to transmit and receive messages effectively. In this sense, when we enhance our communicative skills we feel comfortable speaking in public, sharing ideas with our peers, taking into account suggestions, reaching a decision, and so on.
e) Empathy
Have you ever heard the expression “walk on someone else’s shoes”? That expression refers to empathizing with others. Empathy can be defined as the ability to see things from another person’s perspective. In a deep sense, empathy allows us to understand other person’s emotions, arguments, beliefs, etc. Thus, real communication can be fully reached if you empathize with your counterpart.
f) Creativity
Good employees are those who do not only ask a lot of questions, but also try to answer them in unexpected ways. This way, they can find new ideas or solutions for the daily challenges in their jobs. Being creative means, in a practical sense, that you use all the resources you have at your disposal to improve the quality of a product or a service.
g) Problem-solving
Solving problems is an essential skill because employers value people who can work through challenges on their own or as an effective member of a team by defining the issues, brainstorming alternatives, sharing thoughts to finally make good decisions.
h) Leadership
Leadership can be defined as the ability to inspire, motivate, and accompany others during a process in order to achieve a particular goal.
Decades ago, people tend to use the concepts ‘leader’ and ‘boss’ interchangeably because back then it was not really important to be a ‘good leader’. Nowadays, however, a leader is not only the person in charge, but also it refers to the person who can lead a work team into a better future.
i) Negotiation
Being a good negotiator implies more than discussing a topic with someone to win the argument. In fact, negotiation entails being able to reach an agreement, so that all the people in different sides of the argument can compromise.
j) Technology use
With the advent of new technology (5G connectivity, IoT- The Internet of Things, and so on), more technological tools have been developed over the last years. Therefore, in order to keep a job, be promoted inside a company, or simply obtain a much better job in a different company, we need to be able to use technological tools with ease for different purposes, such as: video meeting apps (for example: Zoom, BigBlueButton, Teams, Meet); word processing apps and/or software (for instance: Word, WPS, Google Docs), and so on.
Although having experience or qualifications in different apps and software (or in other words ‘being an expert on something’) would look impressive in your resumé, what really matters is how capable you are of keeping up with technology.
In summary, skills for the working world (also known as ‘soft skills’) are as important as your education and previous work experience. Therefore, remember to highlight your personal qualities in your resumé, cover letter, or application form, especially if you do not have the necessary work experience or qualifications for a job position.
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Glossary Eligible (adjective): Qualified for something (having the right qualifications, skills, etc.) Willing (adjective): Ready and/or pleased to do something, especially in an enthusiastic way. Disappointment (noun): The feeling of being sad because something is not as good as you expected. Counterpart (noun): In communication, counterpart refers to a person who you talk to. Interchangeably (adverb): in a way that can be exchanged, especially without affecting the way in which something works. Mother tongue (noun): The language that you first learn to speak when you are a child (also referred to as first language). Speakers of English as a foreign language: It refers to people who learn English, but their mother tongue is any other language, such as Spanish, German, French, and so on. Be promoted (passive voice expression): to move somebody to a higher rank or a better job position in a company. With ease (idiom): Easily; without difficulty. Cope (verb): to deal successfully with something difficult. To make up for (phrasal verb): to compensate for something. |
2- Language Learning Strategies
As speakers of English as a foreign language, sometimes we need to overcome some limitations. For instance, when we do not understand the main idea of a text, or when we cannot express our ideas clearly, etc. So, if you have been in any of those situations, do not worry! Learning a second language (namely English or any other language that is not your mother tongue) is a complex process that requires some ‘helpful tips’, also known as strategies, to help you overcome those limitations.
According to Oxford (1990: p.1), “Learning strategies are steps taken by students to enhance their own learning”. In this sense, any action made by learners to help them make sense of the information, boost their self-confidence, highlight useful information in a text, or any other action made by students to make it easier for them to cope with language learning can be considered a learning strategy.
Rebecca Oxford (1990), an important linguist and professor who specializes in Language Learning, came up with a set of strategies, some of them aimed to deal with new language, and others addressed to manage the learning process. Let us review some of them in the next section:
2.1- Cognitive strategies
These strategies will help you manipulate the language material in direct ways. Some examples of this kind include:
– Taking notes, highlighting, or underlining the most important points/words in a text (when listening and reading). You can use markers or highlighters in different colors to emphasize important words, so that you can easily find them later.
– Using your mother tongue (Spanish) when possible, to understand ideas (when listening and reading). Remember that there are some English words which are similar to Spanish. For instance: ability (habilidad), inspire (inspirar), motivate (motivar), process (proceso), etc. Let’s see the words in context:
Leadership can be defined as the ability to inspire, motivate, and accompany others during a process in order to achieve a particular goal.
– Organizing your thoughts/ideas clearly (when writing, speaking, listening, or reading). For example, if you want to write a resumé, you can make a list of your personal qualities to develop them later. Also, if you are listening to a podcast featuring, for instance, ‘7 Tips for a Healthier Life’, you can list down a key word to remember each tip.
2.2- Compensation strategies
They can help you make up for missing knowledge. These strategies include:
– Guessing the meaning of words from context (when listening and reading). This strategy implies identifying the connotation of the word (positive or negative); the function of the word (is the word an action/verb? Is it an object/noun? etc.)
– Using synonyms to express your ideas (when writing or speaking). For instance, if you are in a job interview, instead of writing ‘I am good at talking to people’, you may want to say ‘One of my personal skills is communication’.
– Using mimes or gestures to express a concept (when speaking). Sometimes when we are not sure about which words/expressions to use, we can use our face or body to represent what we want to say. For instance, the girl in the picture is using her hand to mimic something related to a phone call (such as ‘I call you later’, etc.), depending on the context of the conversation.
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Reflection: Which strategies do you use to overcome limitations when learning English? For example, if you are reading a book and do not understand a word, do you try to deduce its meaning from context? If so, you are already using a language learning strategy. |
3- Practice: Test your knowledge on Language Learning Strategies!
Read the job ad below and identify the 3 ‘skills for the working world’ candidates should have to be eligible applicants, according to the ad.
Step 1: Identify which paragraph contains information about ‘personal skills’ or ‘skills for the working world’.
a) Paragraph 1
b) Paragraph 2
the correct answer is b, paragraph 2.
Step 2: As mentioned in the instructions, you need to identify 3 skills for the working world. So, you can highlight or underline the 3 separate ideas using different colors. For example:
Step 3: You can find key words and find synonyms for them. For example, the expressions ‘fertile imagination’ and ‘innovative ideas’ are synonyms for ‘creativity’.
Suggested Activity
Identify the 2 missing skills for the working world in the text below. You can use the same strategies used in Step 3, or you can use others, such as using your mother tongue, guessing the meaning of words from context, etc. You can check your answers below.
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First, the candidate must be talented and passionate, with an eye for detail, and have a fertile imagination, and innovative ideas. Second, the candidate must have the ability to think quickly in order to identify difficulties and create systems to overcome limitations. Finally, we need a designer who is willing to learn new working methods and design techniques. |
Answer Key
Strategy #2 is ‘problem-solving’.
Strategy #3 is ‘learnability’.
