 Welcome to computer support for IT professionals understanding soft skills. In this learning activity, we'll go over what soft skills are, why they're important to the IT professional, and how to improve your own abilities. What are soft skills? Soft skills, or people skills, are necessary social abilities unrelated to your area of expertise. For example, as an IT professional, you're probably fluent in network cabling, Linux, and C-sharp. You may not be as experienced in soft skills, including communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem solving, and conflict resolution. Employers expect you to have simple people skills including good communication and the ability to make eye contact. To more advanced skill sets including engaging the customer, controlling the conversation, effectively working with other team members, and easily adapting to change. Gone are the days when your technical skills alone are enough to land a job. Employers have found a direct correlation between an employee's job success and their level of people skills. These abilities directly correlate to how they function on a team and whether or not they'll be a strong leader. This explains why many companies are now reprioritizing their search for IT professionals and are seeking job candidates who display good soft skills during the interview process. Soft skills are so important that 67% of employers won't hire a candidate who has great technical skills but can't work with people. Instead, they'll hire a candidate with strong soft skills and fewer technical skills. These companies prefer spending time and money training a candidate on the necessary technical skills when the person meets or exceeds the company's expectations for getting along and handling customers. You may be asking, why not hire the candidate with the greatest technical competence? Many employers have found out the hard way that employees lacking soft skills are often unable or unwilling to learn them, which makes them less productive and more disruptive in the long term. It's easier to teach technical skills to a great people person than it is to teach a technical whiz to have soft skills. How to Improve Your Soft Skills Many people are sure they have good soft skills, but how do you know? One way is to ask friends and family some simple questions such as, how can I improve my listening skills? What are my weaknesses when communicating both verbally and in writing? When in a conflict situation, how do I behave? Am I a good team member? Answers to these open-ended questions will start a discussion on where you can improve. Don't worry if you have identified an opportunity for growth. You can improve your soft skills. With time and practice, you can get better. Other ways to improve your skills include taking a communication skills course through your local technical college, finding a mentor to share ideas with and practice skills, and volunteer with a non-profit organization. This may seem odd, but working with a non-profit organization lets you work with people, handle conflict, and demonstrate leadership ability. Plus, it adds a verifiable skill to your resume. Committing a small amount of time each day to practicing your people skills adds up. Improvements will make you a better and more successful IT professional. So the next time you're looking for a new job or going for that new promotion, keep in mind the importance that soft skills play in IT and ensure yours shine during the interview. You have completed computer support for IT professionals, understanding soft skills.