- Soft skills, sometimes known as "people skills," are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a certain type of task or activity, soft skills are broadly applicable.
Soft skills are sometimes broken down into personal attributes, such as:
- optimism
- common sense
- responsibility
- a sense of humor
- integrity
- time-management
- motivation.
and interpersonal abilities, such as:
- empathy
- leadership
- communication
- good manners
- sociability
- the ability to teach.
It's often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you need soft skills to get (and keep) the job.
 |
Learn more about CIO career development and career paths |
| CONTRIBUTORS: |
T. L. Parsons, Kate Nasser |
| LAST UPDATED: |
06 Jan 2010
|
 |
Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.
Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com
|

 |
More resources from around the web:
|


');
// -->


 |
 |
|  |
RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
| Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary |
 |
hard skills
(SearchCIO.com)
Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities that may be required in a given context, such as a job or university
application... (Continued)
|
|

|