SOFT SKILLS:

Connecting Classroom to Careers

 Last Time We Met…
Soft Skills Are:
> Skills, abilities and traits
that pertain to personality,
attitude, and behavior
Soft Skills Are Not:
> Formal or technical
knowledge
What Industry Thinks

Technical skills and computer

literacy are assumed!
 What Industry Wants

Skill sets that include:

Oral and written communication skill
Critical thinking ability
Problem-solving resourcefulness
Ability to work productively on a team
 What Our Students Want

Meaningful employment
Competitive advantage in today’s
economy
Help with soft skills
 One Solution:
Soft Skills at Work
Workbook and Video Package
Published by Cengage
Contains practical guidance with videos
and personal reflection “callout boxes”
 Our Experience at
Northern Arizona University
Implemented “Soft Skills at Work”
Used in Intro CIS course
Close to 1,000 students Fall 08

Topics covered:
Resumes, attire, online persona management, written
communication, team dynamics and generational
differences, presentation basics
 CIS Course Implementation
Course Coverage
Part lecture, part lab (Office 2007)

Soft Skills Integration

Replaced some critical thinking cases
Covered all 5 workbook/video chapters
by spacing them out over 15 weeks
What Did the Students Do?
Completed the in-text “personal reflection”
boxes
Example:
Watched and critiqued the
accompanying videos

Submitted end-of-chapter
exercises
 For Example…
Chapters 4 and 5
Chapter 4 Exercise: Planning the Next
Training Meeting (in teams)
Had to research locations
Created a Word document with summary
Prepared an Excel worksheet for all locations
Required team coordination on formatting, data
collection and reporting
 Then…

Chapter 5
Teams selected and presented one
location to the class
Had to “dress the part”
Submitted Word, Excel and PPT
documents
 Moment of Truth:
Student Survey
Student majors:
Business
Accounting, Finance, Advertising, Marketing, Management, CIS
Hotel and restaurant management
Elementary education
Forestry, geology
Entrepreneur /own business
Health professions
Dental, speech, medical, PT
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Students were asked to rate topics in
terms of how helpful it will be in
the future.
Resumes and interviewing skills:

97%
(Somewhat to very helpful)
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Online persona management, identify
theft and cyberstalking:

88%
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Written communication skills, e-
mail/cell/text message etiquette:

90%
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Team dynamics and generational
differences:

89%
Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Presentation skills:

94%
 Some of the Comments
Related to the Chapter Contents
I need to clean up my online persona – I have pictures
out there I’d rather not be public!
It helped me fix what was wrong with my resume’
I found things when I “googled” myself that surprised
me!
Made me realize that everyone on a team has a different
personality but can still contribute
These are life skills I will use all the time
It reminded me how important basic grammar and
etiquette are!
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Students were asked to evaluate how much
they learned from each chapter’s
video episode.

Resumes and interviewing skills:

72%
(Moderate to tremendous amount)
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
What the recruiter does back at the office:

83%
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Preparing for the first big writing
assignment on the job:

81%
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Working with a dysfunctional team:

83%
 Moment of Truth:
Student Feedback
Making an effective presentation:

86%
 Some of the Comments
Related to the Videos
I noticed how people acted – what worked and what didn’t.
I don’t think I would have caught it if I didn’t actually see
it.
As soon as you walk in the building, you are being
evaluated on how you present and carry yourself.
I need to be prepared – do my research, dress
appropriately, and act professionally if I want to get and
keep my job.
I need to speak up and not assume that people will know I
am qualified just by looking at me or reading my resume’.
 Students Enjoyed…
The resume and interviewing skills
chapter and videos the most
(but the others received votes as well)
 Would We Do It Again?
Yes! We are!
What we observed (besides what the students said in
their comments):

E-mail messages were written with more care

Not everyone knows what an executive summary is
Professional business casual attire does not include
sneakers, jeans and t-shirts
 Career Connection

Students caught on pretty quickly

Recognize need for advantage in
today’s competitive job market
Recruiter feedback is positive
 Wrap Up

The workbook and videos are available

now – see your sales rep!

Questions?
beverly.amer@nau.edu