PF2 - Career Lesson

Careers

Hard Skills vs Soft Skills

Every job requires certain skills. Hard skills are the specific skills you need to do a particular job. You may acquire them in college, on the job training, or some other means. Soft skills are skills required to be successful at any job; some examples are positive work ethic, punctuality, time management, teamwork, and communication skills. Think about yourself and what soft skills you already have. Now consider what skills you may need to improve.

Soft Skills Practice

Social Media Footprint

A social media, or digital, footprint is what information you have put on the Internet. Some ways to positively impact your digital footprint in the future involve posting something that shines a light on your positive aspects, taking a break from posting everything about your life, and questioning whether what you’re posting is necessary and/or adds value before sharing. Your broader online presence impacts your career both positively and negatively. A future employer might decide to hire you based on something you posted that makes you look good but could also decide to fire you for something bad you posted. A prospective employer may not even follow up on a job application if they see you have a negative digital footprint. Think before you post!

Want to Make More Money?

In a commercial from the early nineties for a provider of distance learning courses, actress Sally Struthers used to ask, “Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do!” Each of us possesses human capital, which we use to gain income, and increasing our human capital can lead to higher earnings. Our human capital is based on education, training, knowledge, skills, talent, experience, health, and habits. Businesses and the government provide training to employees to increase their human capital. Highly skilled and educated workers benefit a nation and increase economic growth. With economic growth comes increased demand for skilled and educated workers. Wages and salaries will vary according to the market forces of supply and demand. For example, if a state has a shortage of trained nurses, wages will go up to attract more people into the profession, and more people will apply to nursing school.

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