Fantastic Skills And How To Acquire Them

Before you even think about sending out that résumé of yours, we want you to be equipped with the right tools for the workplace. Check out gradmalaysia’s crash course on the skills you need to develop your career.

We all know how incredibly important having a particular set of skills are. Take a look at the requirements for any job and you will find that recruiters seek candidates with an impressive skill set. It may be “strong leadership skills”, “able to write and converse in Mandarin” or “up-to-date with current trends of the IT industry” – the list goes on. In this article, we take a look at the two types of skills necessary for advancing your career: hard skills and soft skills.

HARD SKILLS

Hard skills are also known as technical skills. They are usually acquired through formal training, professional certifications or previous work experience. This means that these skills are teachable and can be measured.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Language skills are measured through levels of proficiency, usually labelled as beginner, intermediate and advanced. While us Malaysians are taught Bahasa Melayu and English in schools – which asserts our claim as bilinguals – many possess other language capabilities as well. Having a multilingual background is sure to get you more visibility within a pool of candidates. Check out the language classes offered by your university or if you are willing to spend on one-on-one coaching, as there are many available tutors out there. Remember, learning a new language takes commitment and effort, so set aside time to actively practise using that language. Also, don’t forget to take language proficiency tests to see where your fluency stands!

JOB SKILLS

These are work-specific skills which you MUST have to excel in your chosen career. It varies from field to field e.g. IT skills (data analytics, software development, etc), graphic design skills (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc), finance skills (accounting, financial reporting etc) and many more. These skills are usually obtained through a university diploma or degree, which itself is a certification of the hard skills you have learnt within your course. However, they also can be gained by attending courses, workshops and even through on-the-job training.

SOFT SKILLS

Following hard skills are soft skills, which are also known as transferable skills. These skills are generally in-demand as transferable skills can be used across all careers, regardless of the industry you are in. You can bring these skills to different jobs because they involve essential people skills. Here are a few soft skills you should master:

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

It's about assigning and delegating tasks well, setting deadlines and leading by a good example. Getting actively involved with a group activity, such as with student societies, and taking responsibility for something is the best way to learn leadership skills in university. Or just go a step further by taking on a coaching or mentoring role as it can also develop the relationship-building and performanceenhancing aspects of management and leadership.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

This covers verbal and written communication, not to mention your listening skills. It's about being clear and concise as well as effectively tailoring your message for the audience while listening to the views of others. Practise your communication skills by seeking out opportunities that require interactions with others. For example, take up part-time jobs or volunteer for work that require communication such as customer service.

Pro Tip

If you already have an idea about your career path, you can start planning the type of skills you need for it. For instance, if you aspire to join the automotive industry, scan through the job requirements of the job positions advertised in that field and find out what are the skills automotive engineers require.

TEAMWORK SKILLS

Teamwork is about building positive working relationships that help everyone to achieve goals and business objectives. They can be developed in many different extracurricular activities. Joining the committee of a student society is a perfect way to gain experience in working as a team and managing others. Internships and part-time jobs are also good places to develop teamwork skills because you will be working with new people within a professional environment.

ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS

This is about prioritising tasks, working efficiently and productively, and managing your time well. You need to be clear on what is important to focus on and how you go about meeting deadlines. Reflect on and try out different techniques that enable you to plan, prioritise and get things done. Are you a fan of “to-do” lists? Do you keep a diary? Do you use an app or the traditional way of pen and paper? What keeps you on track and why? Discover the method that works best for you.