Life Skills- Why do you really need them?

Schools generally cover theoretical aspects of academic education, but they don’t focus on career mapping based on a children’s interest. Hence, the onus is on students to plan a career that can make their school or college education purposeful. While the students prepare themselves for a better future, they need to inculcate essential life skills to have a successful career.

Now the question is, what are these life skills and what’s their significance?

Life skills are the abilities and behaviours that assist individuals in dealing effectively with the challenges they face after leaving school, such as selection in top universities, finding an appropriate job, excel in a career, etc. 

These skills allow them to handle situations and interactions with other people by identifying and processing emotions systematically. While some life skills are innately developed based on a person’s culture and upbringing, some can be learned based on the career’s interest.

Hence, here we have listed some life skills that are considered crucial in the real world:

Analytical Skills

It is the ability to find an ideal solution to a problem by collecting information and analysing data. There are some specific professions for people equipped with analytical skills. However, most of the employers seek employees who are capable of using logical steps to solve an issue and make decisions depending on the company’s objective. People who possess this skill can help a company in improving its productivity and attaining success. Hence, analytical thinking may sound a technical word, but it is an essential life skill that every person requires.

Some examples are – cost analysis, business analysis, profit analysis, process analysis, etc.

The other aspects of analytical skills are:

Critical Thinking

It is another crucial aspect of strong analytical skill. Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information based on the available data, facts and research findings and make informed decisions. 

For example, analysing customer service feedback data and developing a training session for employees based on the suggestions made by the customers.

A nurse analyses a similar type of disease case and decides the pattern in which patients should be treated.

Research

Before analysing the data on any problem, you must be able to research and collect data regarding it. It involves checking government websites, reviewing a large volume of excel sheets, collecting competitor’s information and much more.

Creative Thinking

People often associate creativity with arts, writing, and music. However, not all creative thinkers are artists. 

Analytical skill isn’t restricted to find an obvious solution based on data interpretation. It also includes creative thinking, which means doing something differently, or you can say it defines “Think outside the box” idiom quite well. Creative thinking is the ability to perceive patterns that are not evident to everyone. Hence, hiring managers look for creative thinking in their employees to bring a fresh perspective to work.

Examples of creative thinking include:

• Identify ways to cut costs during a budget crisis.
• Research new procedures to improve the quality of the product.
• Brainstorm at a business meeting to set strategies for next year.
• Creative problem-solving often stands out innovative and enables a person to become a leader. It can be used in fields like marketing, advertising, business, science and technology. For example, designing a new robot, writing a new computer program, devising a technical solution to automate the billing process, etc.

Creativity 

As we discussed creative thinking above, it shows that there are two sides of it – one is an essential life skill, and the other is based on artistic interest. Thus, if you are inclined towards arts and can think out of the box in arts, music, writing, acting, and photography, you are a creative professional who can make a career in any of these fields.

Professions based on creativity

1. Content writer – Writing content for blogs, website and social media
2. Editor – Editing the writer’s work and make it crisp
3. Copywriter – Writing copies for advertisements
4. Published author – Writing book
5. Graphic designer – Creating pictures for websites and social media.
6. Painter – Paintings of various genre
7. Photographer – Wildlife, humankind, weddings, portrait
8. Animation – Movies, videos
9. Music bands
10. YouTuber
11. Theatre
12. Films
13. Web series 
14. Communication

It refers to an individual’s ability to convey precise information to others either verbally or in writing. Whether you aspire to become a scientist or a writer, effective communication skills are necessary at the workplace to achieve success and growth. Communication doesn’t only mean speaking influentially; it also entails several other skills, which are:

Listening: Being a good listener is crucial to understand another person’s perspective. If you don’t pay heed to what others say, then it can be challenging to comprehend the work instructions given by your colleagues or seniors.

Confidence: It is another imperative factor in communication. If you present your idea or proposal with confidence, others also believe in you. But you also need to make sure that you don’t leave an impression of being aggressive or arrogant.

Body language: It includes hand gestures, eye contact, and a firm handshake. A robust body language is necessary to reflect your confidence while conversing or making presentations. It also helps in conveying a compelling message to the audience.

Clear and concise communication: Be clear and concise while talking or writing formal emails to other people. Think before you speak to avoid any confusion.

Friendliness: Whether you are in school, college or workplace, a friendly tone always helps in engaging, be it with co-workers, classmates or anyone.

Open-mindedness: An excellent communicator needs to respect others ideas as well. However, if you disagree with others’ opinions, enter into a productive discussion and try to decide on a ground where people should know the logic behind the exclusion of their ideas.

Be open to constructive criticism given by seniors. However, you can always ask clarifying questions if you are unsure of something.

Professions based on communication

1. Public Speaking
2. Marketing
3. Sales
4. Teaching

Information Technology (IT)

For any job, it is essential to learn the basic computer programs such as Microsoft Word (for documentation), Excel (for collecting and analysing data), Powerpoint (for presentation) and Email Management. However, if you are inclined more towards technology, you must know the advanced fields in it. For example, artificial intelligence, machine learning (ML), robotics, cloud computing, blockchain technology, software programming, etc. 

Also, it is crucial to update yourself with future technologies based on market requirements.

Domain Knowledge

Knowing the domains is vital for a person to decide the career path, be it in science, maths, arts and humanities or commerce stream. Here are the prominent domains that have covered a significant section of the job market:

Information Technology – Software, mobile platforms and advanced technologies

Healthcare – Medicines, hospital care and digital health records

Retail – Malls, physical stores, online stores, hypermarkets, e-commerce

Fintech – Adoption of technology in finance process

Banking – Traditional and online banking

Some other domains are:

Space science – Aeronautical engineering, research on space missions, spacewalk, space tourism

Medical science – Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Surgery, Physician, Dentist

Innovative Thinking

People who begin startups based on a unique idea are not the only innovators. People who apply new methods and technologies in their existing fields are also known as innovators. Here are a few examples:

• A doctor who implements Ayurveda medicine usage to diet and nutrition area
• A writer who learn graphic designing and coding skills to develop a website

Bottom line – the key takeaways

Apart from having these valuable life skills, it is also imperative to highlight them on your resume while applying for a job and during interviews. 

Employers in every field seek candidates who have unique skills, willingness to adapt to a new environment, and can work in a team.

Hence, here are the top 6 takeaways from the article that can help you in standing out from the crowd:

• Staying at the top of industry news is vital.
• Learn selling skills, even if it is about explaining your ideas to teammates and bringing them onboard.
• Become tech-savvy: From necessary coding skills to social media, learn to use technology fluidly.
• Project management skills: Learn to look at the bigger picture of your work and take the logical steps.
• Always question other people what can be done better.
• Learn to hire and manage people.

How can one acquire these skills?

Now that you know what these skills are and how important it is for you to learn these skills starting from a young age, you may be wondering how can you easily learn these skills?

There are three parts to any education that is done outside of school:

• Reading different, diverse, unique and fresh content.
• Attending webinars, workshops or learning from video courses.
• Finding a mentor that can assist you in navigating your career process.

Since the internet world has a lot of information, you can find it on google or Wikipedia or another relevant website. But the challenge is understanding the “what” aspect of learning. In schools and colleges, the textbook gives you the curriculum and your teachers, or you learn by following it. Whatever research or independent learning you do from the internet, either it is tedious, unsafe, irrelevant or complex to understand.