HYEC - The Best English Speaking Club in Hanoi (since 1992) - CLB Tiếng Anh lâu đời nhất Hà Nội

Hi Contributors,

I'm very pleased to introduce Hà as our latest Contributor Candidate. This is her debut topic paper. Please comment and give her your supports.

—DNT

HARD SKILLS VS. SOFT SKILLS

by Hanguyen

Introduction

“Hard skills will get an applicant an interview, but soft skills will get that person a job.”
—Ian Morrison

There are two basic types of skills in the world of work: hard skills and soft skills.

Hard skills are “technical/actual knowledge”. They are part of a person's IQ (Intelligence Quotient), are usually specific to a professional job, and can be determined by qualifications or standardized tests. Research shows that IQ plays an important role in many desirable life outcomes (e.g. job performance, income, etc.) ^[1].

Soft skills are “common sense knowledge”. It is a sociological term for a person's EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient). Soft skills are very difficult to judge by standardized tests and can only be roughly estimated by personal contact. Most of the time, a person's soft skills are most visible in real-life social situations^[2]. Soft skills include language abilities, interpersonal communication skills, the ability to work under pressure, the ability to work in a team with cultural diversity, etc. Studies have shown that people with high EQ have a better chance of success in life, in professional career, and in business^[3].

Discussion Questions

1. Do you agree or disagree with the above quote by Ian Morrison, and why?
2. Can you share your own experiences of how IQ or EQ helps in your study, work, personal relationships, etc.? What do you think is more important: soft skills or hard skills?
3. If you were an employer, who would you employ: an employee with excellent “hard skills”, or the one with impressive “soft skills”?
4. Apart from the skills mentioned in the introduction above, what else do you think can be considered soft skills? Can soft skills be taught as official subjects in schools?

Vocabulary

Applicant (noun):

Người xin việc, người nộp đơn

Sociological term (noun):

Thuât ngữ xã hội

IQ (noun, abbr. for "Intelligence Quotient"):

Chỉ số thông minh

EQ (noun, abbr. for "Emotional Intelligence Quotient"):

Chỉ số cảm xúc (chỉ số trí tuệ xúc cảm)

Pressure (noun):

Áp lực, sức ép (đặc biệt trong công việc)

Diversity (noun):

Sự đa dạng.

References

1. "Intelligence Quotient". Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iq. Retrieved on Jan 8, 2008.
2. "Emotional Intelligence". Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence. Retrieved on Jan 8, 2008.
3. "Sometimes, EQ is more important than IQ", CNN.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/Careers/01/13/emotions/index.html. Feb 2, 2005.

Okay, ko ai comment gì thì copy sang "Chương trình hàng tuần" nhé.

—DNT

P.S. Đây là cách làm của khi đang mentoring cho một CC: Mentor sẽ chịu trách nhiệm post topic cho người mình hướng dẫn.