Soft skills training a must for graduates who start work

Most universities do not offer soft skills or do not give them the weight they deserve. Curricula in Rwanda tend to prioritise hard skills, cross-cutting issues such as gender, entrepreneurship, values and citizen education, at the expense of soft skills.

Today, the labour market prefers graduates with a blend of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are not being considered as the conclusive indicator of graduates’ professional abilities.

Graduates need to master professional skills as well as soft skills such as the ability to communicate, networking, intra- and interpersonal skills. If not, they will face challenges while looking for jobs.

Due to a lack of formal ways for students to acquire soft skills, fresh graduates are called upon to participate in sessions or programmes aimed at equipping them with soft skills, such as those offered by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), which then links fresh graduates to institutions.

Selected graduates used to spend six months in a facilitated internship, where they are expected to be exposed to practices where – again – soft skills are needed.

This model was replaced in early 2021 by one that entails participating in a programme that equips students with the necessary soft skills. The process is offered through RDB’s chief skills office (CSO) that was established three years ago.

Soft skills in the workplace

The CSO’s aim is to align skills development with labour-market demands and provide effective oversight and coordination in the skills development and employment promotion ecosystem.

I was privileged to be part of a cohort that participated in a three-week session to acquire soft skills.

To this end, our group of 450 fresh graduates met on the University of Rwanda’s Huye campus. Thousands of new graduates applied, and a lottery was used to select the applicants who would eventually undergo training.

While in the camp, we were privileged to meet several speakers and employers who talked about the importance of soft skills and how they apply in the labour market.

Soft skills are character traits and interpersonal skills that characterise a person’s relationships with other people. In the workplace, soft skills complement hard skills, which refer to a person’s knowledge and occupational skills. Sociologists may use the term soft skills to describe a person’s emotional intelligence quotient, or EQ, as opposed to intelligence quotient, or IQ.

The added value

Experts say that soft skills include the ability to communicate with prospective clients, mentor your co-workers, lead a team, negotiate a contract, follow instructions and get a job done on time.

So, as trainees, we learned networking skills, inter- and intra-personal skills, and communication skills. We were exposed to theory as well as practical work to see how the skills are applied in practice.

Role-play was used, so we could experience how we should behave while looking for employment as well as in the workplace.

It helped us understand that hard skills acquired at university were not enough and that university students should learn soft skills while they are still at university.

I learned a lot during the training sessions, especially networking and communication. I used to not care about networking, I learned that I did not know how to properly approach people and communicate effectively.

I learned how to use the ‘small opportunities’ I need to get the ‘big’ ones. I also learned that I could use being a journalist to market myself in different areas.

Through networking, I am thrilled that some people I met during training got jobs through me. I learned the true value of proper communication. Soft skills for work readiness add value to the hard skills I acquired at university.

And, even though I don’t have a good contract, I believe that I will get one. The soft and hard skills I have show me that I can get one with all required competencies.

Universities can do more

There are thousands of students and graduates who are in dire need of the soft skills they need to be successful in the workplace.

A ministry of education tracer survey report released in May 2019 and the recent one put the employment rate for graduates of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes at 50% while the general employment rate for university graduates (mainstream) was 63.4%.

According to the same report, the underemployment figure for TVET graduates was 39.5%, while for higher learning institutions it was reported to be 18.5%, University World News reported on 25 July 2019.

The survey also revealed that graduates from both TVET institutions and universities lack additional soft skills and professional experience. Entrepreneurial and business skills were also limited.

This means that more efforts are needed to boost soft skills and such skills should be offered at universities so that all the students can acquire them.

Alice Tembasi lives in Rwanda’s Huye District and recently graduated from the University of Rwanda’s School of Journalism and Communication. She works as a volunteer at Radio Salus.