Soft skills are the non-quantifiable skills you possess that affect how you perform in everyday life and at work or school. These skills include emotional intelligence and the people skills that determine the way you interact with others. The confidence you exhibit and the way you communicate with others are also soft skills. These skills can be innate character traits or personality traits that are learned through study and practice. Rather than being identified by how well you perform a given task, this type of skill is identified by how well you interact with others.
Learning soft skills can make you more valuable to your employer by increasing your confidence and enhancing the way you manage your time. This can help your performance in team projects or when attending business meetings. Additionally, with the advancement of technology, such as machine learning or artificial intelligence, soft skills, such as being able to read another person's body language, showing compassion, and acting with empathy are becoming more valuable in the workplace.
Online courses on Coursera can help you learn soft skills by making it easy to find courses on soft skills topics, such as communicating effectively in groups or in specific professions like engineering. You can also explore subjects like how to learn, how to negotiate more effectively, and how to expand your creative thinking skills, as well as many other opportunities to learn about soft skills.
Learning soft skills may be right for you if you want to level up on any aspect of your life. These skills have the potential to help you improve as a student, can help you become a more effective communicator in interpersonal relationships, and are transferable to any job in any career field you choose to pursue.