Importance of Soft Skills

The assignment content discusses the importance of attributes and skills beyond academic studies. It highlights the development of intellectual rigour, creativity, ethical practice, knowledge of a discipline, lifelong learning, communication and social skills, and cultural competence. The writer reflects on their personal gaps in skills and knowledge and outlines plans to improve them through various means such as reading, writing, internship, online study group, and attending diversity-focused conferences.

Attributes and Skills

Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................3
Southern Cross University Graduate Attributes.............................................................................................3
Critical reflection on gaps in skills and knowledge.........................................................................................5
References......................................................................................................................................................6

Introduction
Apart from the studies, it is critical to have skills and attributes for the over round
development. Since a long time the importance of soft skills were undervalued and less
training was provided to the students as compared to the hard skills. The paper presents the
importance of these skills and how I developed them.
Southern Cross University Graduate Attributes
Graduate attribute Unit code Examples of how I developed these
attributes
My skill
level
Intellectual rigour:A
commitment to excellence
in all scholarly and
intellectual activities,
including critical
judgement.
I played chess, puzzles, Sudoku, Logo etc. to
increase my logical ability and to master my
focus. I also memorized number tables and
even memorized the important dates and
phones numbers to enhance my skills. I
exercised on a regular basis in order to stay
physically active. I increased my reading habits
and read various books and articles for a few
hours per day. Lastly, I thought and observed a
lot on a regular basis.
Capable
Creativity:An ability to
develop creative and
effective responses to
intellectual, professional
and social challenges.
I tried to keep myself abreast with the
upcoming knowledge. I read various trade
journals, magazines and other literatures. I
believe that the active mind is important for
creative growth and therefore engaged in
painting as a hobby. I opened my mind towards
the new ideas and they helped in developing
various concepts and possibilities.
Expert
Ethical practice:A
commitment to
sustainability and high
ethical standards in social
and professional practices.
I strived to become someone who adheres to
high ethical standards in my own professional
life along with treating my friends and
everyone with respect and authenticity. I
started talking about difficult ethical choices. I
discuss the possibilities of ethical gray areas
and even acknowledge the complexity of work
life and studies. I even tried to build a trust and
cultivated the respectful environment around
me where people could speak up about the
ethics and share the responsibility for living it.
Novice
Knowledge of a discipline:
Command of a discipline
to enable a smooth
transition and
contribution to
professional and
community settings.
In order to be disciplined, I focussed on my
physical health and nutrition. I started putting
my responsibilities before leisure and started
keeping a positive mindset. I reviewed my
goals every morning before starting the day and
reviewed my goals before going to sleep.
Lastly, i instilled the keystone habit of exercise
which not only helped me become disciplined
but also helped me to improve my life in
various manner.
Expert

Lifelong learning:The
ability to be responsive to
change, to be inquiring
and reflective in practice,
through information
literacy and autonomous,
self-managed learning.
In order to improve my lifelong learning, I tried
to become more curious regarding the various
aspects of life and learning as various questions
can become a window towards high instruction.
I started taking risks using trial and errors and
embraced them openly. This helped me to
analyze the information on what went wrong.
Lastly, I started teaching others which helped
me to be updated with my knowledge and even
tested my knowledge to a large extent.
Capable
Communication and social
skills:The ability to
communicate and
collaborate with
individuals, and within
teams, in professional and
community settings.
Firstly, i worked on imbibing good manners
and practiced to be polite and showcased my
social skills. I started reading about current
trends and discussed it regularly with my
friends. This helped to start the conversation
and to enhance my communication skills. I got
myself familiar with the open-ended questions
and encouraged others to talk.
Expert
Cultural competence:An
ability to engage with
diverse cultural and
Indigenous perspectives in
both global and local
settings.
I started researching as well as seeking the
insight towards the various cultures using the
journal articles and academic books. I started
volunteering at the religious institutions in
order to seek more information. Additionally, i
befriended the members of diverse cultural
groups to broaden my mind. I always started
learning German as i found the best way to
immerse myself in the worldview of German
culture was to learn its language. As this is a
wide area, i need to work hard to develop my
cultural competence.
Novice

Critical reflection on gaps in skills and knowledge
I think I am capable when it comes to the intellectual rigour and in order to be an expert, I am
thinking of developing the following thought process into my daily life creative thinking,
lateral thinking, critical thinking, analytical thinking and contemplation. And to develop these
processes, I will continue my reading habit and will also inculcate the writing habit with time.
Furthermore, I personally believe to have mastered the discipline, communication and the
creative skills. But I still need to stick to my daily regime and routine so as to work harder
and not be let go of these skills. Being a firm believer of practice makes a man perfect, I have
planned not to stop practicing and to work on these skills.
For the ethical practice, I am planning to take an internship for 3-4 months in an organization
so as to understand the culture and diversity in the corporate sector and would learn on
working by following the my personal ethics along with maintaining the ethics laid by the
organization. In case of lifelong learning, I am thinking of joining a weekend virtual study
group online where I would be able to collaborate and learn from various people with
plethora of experience. This will help in applying the information to my personal knowledge
search. Lastly, in case of cultural competence, I am thinking of attending diversity-focused
conferences on the various diversity-related researches and by practicing issues and will learn
about the latest research. These conferences will help me in focusing specifically on various
diversity issues.

References
Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., & Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, I. I. (2016).
Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities
in health and health care. Public health reports.
Candy, P. C. (1991). Self-Direction for Lifelong Learning. A Comprehensive Guide to Theory
and Practice. Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-1310.
Schank, J. A., & Skovholt, T. M. (2006). Ethical practice in small communities: Challenges
and rewards for psychologists. American Psychological Association.