Soft Skills VS Hard Skills – What Really Matters?

While we were discussing this topic during our debate, I recalled a story shared by our professor during my college days. This is about the two guys who are applying for an IT job position in an international company. Both of them have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering but they came from different universities. The first guy is from AMA Computer University, and the other one is from De La Salle University.

The head hunter can’t decide which of the two will be considered for the IT position. By the way, the IT position is Systems Engineer. They were given an IT project scenario and they have given an opportunity to demonstrate their expertise. The AMACU graduate made a schematic diagram which comprises servers and network architectures, and since it was proven that AMAers are the best in IT technical skills, no doubt, and I’m very proud of that. That’s why it was so easy for him to do such project. On the other hand, the DLSU graduate wasn’t able to complete his work, and he is having difficulty in creating diagrams out of the given scenario. And then their time was up, and they were required to explain their work.

The student from AMACU was called and he was given enough time to defend his work. But unfortunately, he wasn’t able to explain his work. Although he is confident that his work is correct, he remained silent for the whole session. He also wasn’t able to answer the panelists’ questions correctly. On the other hand, the DLSU student was able to explain the work of the AMACU student. He didn’t use his schematic diagram because he knew that it was not correct, and incomplete. He decided to use the schematic diagram of the AMAer, and he explained it well in the panelists. Every questions raised by the panelists were answered correctly, and flawlessly. The panelists were happy and convinced about his presentation. Now, guess who was considered for the job position? Of course, the DLSU graduate. Ouch!!! We’re such a loser!!! : (

Being technically expert is good. However, technical skills are easy to observe. Technical skills are operational. You can acquire these skills on your job itself through experience. On the other hand, soft skill or people skills are hard to observe. They are needed for work and for everyday life. 

Way back 3 years ago, when I’m just starting at IBM. I can’t understand why IBM has a lot of soft skill trainings compared to technical trainings. In my point of view, I recognize that IBM is an IT company, and this will attest that IBM must provide more technical trainings than soft skill trainings. “Do I really need soft skills in my profession?” I asked myself. While browsing our corporate website, I was navigated to read about the IBM competencies, and I found out that I was wrong. Technical skills are not reckoned to gain the IBM competencies, and because of this, I started to enroll in our soft skills training programs.

These are the soft skills training programs in IBM; it was categorized with the 9 IBM Competencies:

IBM COMPETENCIES

        1.       Build Mutual Trust

a.       IBM Values and Building Trustworthiness

        2.       Act with a Systematic Perspective

a.       Time Management

b.      Conflict Management

c.       Stress Management

d.      Project Management for Non-Project Managers

        3.       Collaborate Globally

a.       How to make Collaboration Work

b.       Make Your Contacts Count

        4.       Embrace Challenge

a.       Managing from Within: Self-Empowerment

b.      Setting Goals and Objectives

c.       Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills

        5.       Partner for Client’s Success

a.      Customer Service 101

b.      Leading a Customer Focused Team

        6.      Influence through Expertise

a.      Discovering Your Strengths

b.      Steps in Creating Your Most Successful Self

        7.       Continuously Transform

a.      Creativity and Innovation

b.      Adapting To Change

c.      Coping with Criticisms and Feedbacks

        8.       Communicate for Impact

a.      Effective Presentation Skills 101: Build Your Presentation

b.      Effective Presentation Skills 102: Double Your Impact

c.      Effective Presentation Skills 103: Optimize Your Presentation

d.     Grammar Refresher (GSpa)

e.     Effective Business Writing

        9.       Help IBMers Succeed

a.      Business Coaching

b.      Being Effective Team Member

Through these IBM competencies, I have learned that soft skills are more important than technical skills. “Soft skills really matters. Soft skills are the greatest!”