Soft Skills we may (almost) have to learn to get good work

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ehymw
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16 Jan 2014, 6:37 pm

I hate kissing up, tooting my own horn, and socializing with people I don't like.

Guess I'll have to suck it up.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-h ... -you-work/



Tawaki
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16 Jan 2014, 7:42 pm

The two most important things in that article is the socializing (group events), and networking. Both have gotten me more jobs and promotions than anything else.

I hate doing both, and am a NT. Thanks for posting this.



hanyo
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17 Jan 2014, 9:10 am

All that socializing and networking is something I'm neither willing or able to do. If that means I never have a job I'm ok with that.



droppy
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17 Jan 2014, 11:51 am

Double post.



Last edited by droppy on 17 Jan 2014, 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

droppy
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17 Jan 2014, 11:52 am

And one's always supposed to do those things to get a good job? Bulls***.
My father has never done any of those things and I don't think he'd be able to. He's never been an a** kisser and is incapable of being one, he does not have any social relationships with most of his co-workers, he has never taken part in group events and still he gains enough money to make an household of 4 persons keep going. He doesn't even have an actual education but just some kind of stuff like a GED.
Not all jobs require social contact. Find one that doesn't.
I don't think I will ever be able to work out of my house when I'll have finished school but I know I can be a translator and work at home. Work at home, get a lot of money, do what you like. It's easy.
If I don't manage to work as a translator I will probably apply for some kind of social pension.



Roninninja
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17 Jan 2014, 6:39 pm

It's not necessarily soft skills, but being able to sell yourself and influence an interviewer is something I struggle with. Also, constant eye contact is super hard for me. I usually focus too much on eye contact and verbal cues and end up botching up my answer to the question being asked. This makes an already awkward situation even more nerve wracking! :?


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droppy
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18 Jan 2014, 7:24 am

Not all jobs require good social skills.
My father makes no eye-contact, he's unfocused most of the times and he often can't hear a question the first it is asked to him, he can't "sell himself" but he is straight forward.
To his latest job interview he didn't make eye-contact, he answered honestly to every question and used no particular social skills, and he was hired anyway. It was a mechanic job, he is good at mechanic stuff and he likes them, he can focus on his work and that's all that counts. My father has co-workers but has no social relationships with most of them, he usually doesn't even talk to them unless he wants to get information/something and no one bullies him.
Not all jobs require to be social. Thinking all jobs require good social skills is dumb.



mitch413
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18 Jan 2014, 10:26 am

You definitely need to know how to work well with a group as a lot of higher paying professional jobs are very collaborative and team oriented. This is probably far more important than the skills needed for the job itself.



ASPartOfMe
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18 Jan 2014, 1:23 pm

mitch413 wrote:
You definitely need to know how to work well with a group as a lot of higher paying professional jobs are very collaborative and team oriented. This is probably far more important than the skills needed for the job itself.


To get,keep, and grow in your job today I agree. For the long term overall good it is not good. Everybody is wondering why the quality of everything seems to be going down. I believe the increased in emphasis s on soft skills at the expense of hard skills is an important reason.


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thewhitrbbit
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18 Jan 2014, 1:45 pm

droppy wrote:
Not all jobs require good social skills.
My father makes no eye-contact, he's unfocused most of the times and he often can't hear a question the first it is asked to him, he can't "sell himself" but he is straight forward.
To his latest job interview he didn't make eye-contact, he answered honestly to every question and used no particular social skills, and he was hired anyway. It was a mechanic job, he is good at mechanic stuff and he likes them, he can focus on his work and that's all that counts. My father has co-workers but has no social relationships with most of them, he usually doesn't even talk to them unless he wants to get information/something and no one bullies him.
Not all jobs require to be social. Thinking all jobs require good social skills is dumb.


Being an expert in something can go a long way towards making up for some of the faults too.



Who_Am_I
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19 Jan 2014, 7:51 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:
mitch413 wrote:
You definitely need to know how to work well with a group as a lot of higher paying professional jobs are very collaborative and team oriented. This is probably far more important than the skills needed for the job itself.


To get,keep, and grow in your job today I agree. For the long term overall good it is not good. Everybody is wondering why the quality of everything seems to be going down. I believe the increased in emphasis s on soft skills at the expense of hard skills is an important reason.
]

To put it more bluntly, too many people are employed who are as charming as f**k but who couldn't find their arse with both hands.


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CyclopsSummers
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20 Jan 2014, 8:59 am

droppy wrote:
Not all jobs require good social skills.
My father makes no eye-contact, he's unfocused most of the times and he often can't hear a question the first it is asked to him, he can't "sell himself" but he is straight forward.
To his latest job interview he didn't make eye-contact, he answered honestly to every question and used no particular social skills, and he was hired anyway. It was a mechanic job, he is good at mechanic stuff and he likes them, he can focus on his work and that's all that counts. My father has co-workers but has no social relationships with most of them, he usually doesn't even talk to them unless he wants to get information/something and no one bullies him.
Not all jobs require to be social. Thinking all jobs require good social skills is dumb.


Dream job, dream hiring process. Too bad I have zero technical skills.


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Marky9
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20 Jan 2014, 10:17 am

I am often bemused by social skills being referred to as "soft skills", because my reality is that they are actually quite hard.


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