“ENGINEERING”, as Wikipedia defines it, is the science, skill, and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and also build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes. As evident from the definition, the Engineer has to apply his technical knowledge in practical life, and indulge in active social life. Students who decide to train themselves as Engineers come from a variety of background, and not always, do they score much on the personality scale. There are some who cannot overcome their language barrier, while there might be some who do not possess much idea about how to physically present themselves in a social situation. And in a developing nation as India, such problems are no wonder everywhere to be found. For decades employers as well as educators frequently complain about a lack in soft skills among graduates from tertiary education institutions.
Another not-so-rare factor that aggravates the situation is the indifferent attitude of students from technical fields towards language and arts. A consequence of all these shortcomings is what results in the diminished progress of a graduate in his professional life, even though he might be proficient in his technical skills. Before judging on the special technical skills, what the world sees and stresses on is the personality of the person they are dealing with.
Thus, it is of high importance for every student to acquire adequate soft skills beyond academic or technical knowledge, which not only shape his/her personality, but also complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job the student is trained to do, thus making a complete Engineer.
Another not-so-rare factor that aggravates the situation is the indifferent attitude of students from technical fields towards language and arts. A consequence of all these shortcomings is what results in the diminished progress of a graduate in his professional life, even though he might be proficient in his technical skills. Before judging on the special technical skills, what the world sees and stresses on is the personality of the person they are dealing with.
Thus, it is of high importance for every student to acquire adequate soft skills beyond academic or technical knowledge, which not only shape his/her personality, but also complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job the student is trained to do, thus making a complete Engineer.
Soft skills refer to those personality traits that make a person stand out from the rest and make a mark in society based on communicative efficiency, social graces, personal habits, etc. Though the skills that this definition encompasses may vary from field to field, for an engineer, soft skills may be broadly categorised into personal qualities, interpersonal skills and additional non-technical knowledge and skills. The skill that matters the most is the Art of Communication, which is generally found lacking in graduates from technical colleges and universities. Minimum requirements for a technical graduate should be ample proficiency in spoken and written language, English to be specific, a certain amount of self-esteem that will be reflected in conversation skills and body language, adequate discussion skills, and of major importance, good presentation skills in order to be able to market oneself and one’s ideas. In fact, job recruiters stress a lot on personal presentation in interviews and group discussions. Good speaking skills can even serve to successfully cover up weaknesses on the hard skills side! It is not a very easy task to vent out ones ideas in front of such a prominent group of people, much less convince them, if one is not proficient in his language and manners of speaking. Students need to be specifically trained in this field in college, for them to score high on their professional scale. If a graduate from university first has to be trained on putting more than three sentences together, how to do a proper presentation, or how to chat in a pleasant and winning manner with colleagues and customers, this graduate will surely not qualify as a quick starter. Once employed, the success story of people who know how to master soft skills continues because of much better career opportunities. Simple fact, which can be verified in daily business life, is that employers prefer to promote staff members with superior soft skills. Good hard skills alone are not necessarily enough anymore to be a first choice when it comes to promotion.
It is quite difficult for students to master such skills by joining formal training institutes or by going through textbooks. Soft skills need to be taken seriously, which can happen only when such subjects are included into the Engineering curriculum. Subjects like English language, Communication skills, and Personality Development have thus crept into the modern day Engineering course, regardless of what hard skill the student is learning.
But the question still lingers: Is that sufficient? Universities must put more stress on these subjects in a manner easily acceptable by the students with negligible arts background so that at the end of the day, the students can feel the change within themselves. Self-realisation and awareness is an important factor because, self-confidence is a necessity for efficient communication. Besides, in their daily life, most of the communication is informal in vernacular languages, which makes it quite awkward when they are required to address someone formally in English language. Thus a college which promises to produce an Engineer must emphasise on soft-skill development among its students and inculcate such traits in their social interaction. A very elegant way of offering soft skills training to students is to embed it into the teaching of hard skills. Educational institutions should modify their teaching methodology towards more student centred learning. Such a shift goes hand in hand with embedding soft skills into the teaching of hard skills. In other words: students participating in a lecture with the aim of learning a hard skill will inevitably and unconsciously practice a range of soft skills.
But the question still lingers: Is that sufficient? Universities must put more stress on these subjects in a manner easily acceptable by the students with negligible arts background so that at the end of the day, the students can feel the change within themselves. Self-realisation and awareness is an important factor because, self-confidence is a necessity for efficient communication. Besides, in their daily life, most of the communication is informal in vernacular languages, which makes it quite awkward when they are required to address someone formally in English language. Thus a college which promises to produce an Engineer must emphasise on soft-skill development among its students and inculcate such traits in their social interaction. A very elegant way of offering soft skills training to students is to embed it into the teaching of hard skills. Educational institutions should modify their teaching methodology towards more student centred learning. Such a shift goes hand in hand with embedding soft skills into the teaching of hard skills. In other words: students participating in a lecture with the aim of learning a hard skill will inevitably and unconsciously practice a range of soft skills.
Every student has some sort of a hobby of his own. Some sketch scenery at leisure, while some took music lessons or involved in dance and drama. Childhood is the best time for such extracurricular activities because parents and schoolteachers have superior influence on a young person’s aptitude in soft skills. But as one grows up, the competitive world narrows down his world to academics, which after a point makes life a humdrum affair. However, in a four-year engineering course, a student gets adequate time to practise such hobbies again. In today’s job-market, which in many fields is becoming ever increasingly competitive, in order to be successful in this tough environment, candidates for jobs have to bring along a “competitive edge” that distinguishes them from other candidates with similar qualifications and comparable evaluation results. And where do they find this competitive advantage? In bringing along additional knowledge and skills, added up by convincing personal traits and habits. Thus, the existence of various technical and cultural clubs in a technical college is not at all surprising. Even the college authorities must support the students’ efforts in nourishing the practice of soft skills inside the campus environment. Organising cultural and technical fests in college helps build a strong work ethic and teamwork abilities. The students get to work under pressure and make decisions of their own, which inculcates public and human resource management skills – a precious skill in today’s competitive market. And from each success they gain invaluable inexperience and confidence that helps them take up more daunting projects in future. And this is exactly what recruiters look for in their future employees!
Through cultural events like quizzing, drama, dance and music, students get to vent their talents in those fields. What can be better than these when it comes to communication and personality development! Even the government organises such events for technical students to bring out their talents. Events like Model United Nations (MUN), Tech-Quizzes, and Technical Seminars, all aim at bringing out the best out of a graduating student. The best part of this practice is that the benefits are not restricted to just the lot of few people, but extend to the whole college and even students from other colleges. It is a well-accepted fact that success always favours those who led an active life. Besides, it helps in sound mental development, the key to healthy personality development. The only part that the college has to play in it, is just to promote and permit such activities, thus making soft skills development an integral part of the engineers’ life.
Considering the fact that during the last decades in society the perceived importance of soft skills has increased significantly, it is of high importance for everyone to acquire adequate skills alongside academic or technical knowledge. A striking personality, appealing arts of oratory, and good socializing abilities are what, that draw admiration and reverence from society. Technical abilities are not sufficient to differentiate between a manual labourer and an Engineer. If we flip through the pages of history, hardly do we find a great person with a bleak personality. It is not just their remarkable talents that draw so much reverence from people across ages. Their personality is what inspires us and makes us follow their footsteps. Educators have a special responsibility regarding soft skills, because during students’ School and University time they have major impact on the development of their students’ soft skills. Besides raising awareness regarding the importance of soft skills and encouraging students to improve their skills, lecturers should actively practice soft skills with their students. Thus when a student graduates from an Engineering college, he should not only be a person who has the correct technical knowledge, he should have the dexterity to use that knowledge wisely. He should not be just a skilled labourer in the corporate world, he should be a person who leads with his skill set. In short, he should be a personality, not just another person.