Apply It 1.5: Career Connection: Hard vs. Soft Skills

  • Understand the difference between hard skills and soft skills

Career Competencies

The National Association of Colleges and Employers has identified eight career competencies, or skills, that are important in today’s job market.[1] You will learn about each of these skills in more detail later. For now, just reflect on what you are good at and what qualities you could improve.

Find a family member, friend, or classmate. Discuss the attribute that you chose above. Together brainstorm some ways that you can work on improving that skill. Break it down into steps and set small, manageable goals for yourself. What do you want to accomplish in the next month? What about by the time this class is over? If you each choose a skill to work on, you can check in with each other periodically as motivation and keep each other accountable for moving forward!
  1. National Association of Colleges and Employers. “Development and Validation of the NACE Career Readiness Competencies.” NACE, 2022. https://www.naceweb.org/uploadedfiles/files/2022/resources/2022-nace-career-readiness-development-and-validation.pdf. ↵