26 October 2024

The Importance of Soft Skills in Career Success | Study with New Zealand

Theo Spruyt
Global Digital Content Specialist | Education New Zealand

Discover how soft skills contribute to both academic and career success. Improve your soft skills by embracing feedback and stepping out of your comfort zone!

Whether you choose to study in your home country, in New Zealand, or anywhere else in the world, it is important to focus on improving your ‘soft skills’ (also called ‘people skills’) alongside the ‘hard skills’ you’ll pick up during your coursework.

While hard skills are what you learn during your studies (like learning Photoshop for a Graphic Design course or learning information about the human body at Medical School), soft skills are what you need to better connect with other people, like communication and teamwork skills.

If you can develop and improve both your soft skills and your hard skills while you study, it can be very beneficial to you while you are a student and afterwards, when you graduate and join the workforce.

In New Zealand students are encouraged to engage in activities which build these skills. From mandatory speeches at primary school to group projects that encourage relationship building and stakeholder engagement at the tertiary level, these skills are something that all students in New Zealand learn, without even realising it.

Learning in New Zealand is not just from books. It’s very important for children to experience the real world, not just study knowledge.

- Huang Jing from China, mother of seven-year-old Yang Fengting

Why should you care about soft skills?

Even though learning and mastering only your hard skills while you study might seem more interesting to you, it is also very important to spend time developing your soft skills.

Better soft skills can lead to improved relationships with other people, whether you are in the classroom, the workplace, or in a social setting. Understanding soft skills and how to use them around other people can help you find new work and study opportunities and advance your career.

Soft skills like self-confidence and being able to communicate clearly can also help you make new friends. Coming from a different country can make settling in feel difficult, but you can start making connections and feeling comfortable in your new surroundings by working on your soft skills.

Many people realise the importance of these skills during their first job interview. Being able to talk about your skills and experience in a clear, confident manner helps your employer assess whether you are the right fit for the job.When you first arrive in New Zealand, you might find that your soft skills are tested before any of your hard skills are. Soft skills like communication will be very important in making friends, communicating with lecturers and classmates, and getting help whenever you need it.

As an international student, making friends may seem like a difficult task at first. The best advice is to be a little bit brave and start talking to people. You’ll soon discover that most New Zealanders are kind and welcoming. See more information about making friends when you arrive in New Zealand.

(Embed Video): https://youtube.com/shorts/gO3d6aSb1Is

Soft skills in New Zealand

When you first arrive in New Zealand, you might find that your soft skills are tested before any of your hard skills are. Soft skills like communication will be very important in making friends, communicating with lecturers and classmates, and getting help whenever you need it.

As an international student, making friends may seem like a difficult task at first. The best advice is to be a little bit brave and start talking to people. You’ll soon discover that most New Zealanders are kind and welcoming. See more information about making friends when you arrive in New Zealand.

Creativity and a sense of humour are also highly valued soft skills in New Zealand. The ability to make and take a joke can help you make friends with new people. However, do your best to understand the Kiwi sense of humour before you try out a joke in public – you don’t want to accidentally offend anyone!

In some cases, your employability in New Zealand can be linked to how well developed your soft skills are. If your job application can truthfully show that you have skills like leadership[MM1] , conflict resolution and critical thinking, then you will have a better chance of getting the job you want. For some job applications, your soft skills can be just as important as your hard skills.

New Zealand is a diverse country with lots of different people working alongside each other every day. If your soft skills include cultural awareness and competence, you will do well in New Zealand workplaces.

Soft skills in Academia

A good way to start working on your soft skills while studying is to join a club on your campus. Whether you want to try something completely new or meet people with similar interests to yourself, be sure to check the list of clubs and societies available with your education provider and go along to the Clubs Expo during your orientation week.

There is a club available for just about everyone and every interest. Learn more about student clubs, societies and associations.

Even if you didn’t have any time for socialising, making friends and trying new experiences while you were back home, you will find you have that time while you study with New Zealand.

In 2023 New Zealand was rated number one in the world for work-life balance, according to the Global Life-Work Balance Index. A good work-life balance means being happy and productive while you study but also making time for yourself and your friends. Embracing New Zealand’s work-life balance culture will give you a better experience while you study and help you make connections with the people around you. You’ll be exposed to new ways of thinking and improve your soft skills as a result.

New Zealand is also a great country for people with creative soft skills. The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranked New Zealand students as the fifth most creative thinkers in the world. Being surrounded by creative people and being open to new ideas will help you develop and improve your own abilities.

As you browse through the different education providers in New Zealand, be sure to make notes of all the possible ways you can start to improve your soft skills in and around the classroom. You might find that you have a very long list of options!

Ready to start your own adventure in New Zealand? Take the first step today and find the right education provider for you.

Soft skills in the workforce

Even after you have graduated and moved into the workplace, continuing to develop your soft skills is important.

For example, the soft skills that help you make decisions and react to important situations while working will develop over time, and could help you get promotions, pay rises and new job offers.

While studying, you learn lots of new information that develops your hard skills and helps you graduate. After joining the workforce, your soft skills such as strategic thinking, the ability to organise your time and your overall work ethic will help you become better at your job.

If you are being mentored by a senior person in your workplace, be sure to ask them questions about their soft skills as well as their hard skills – you might be surprised by their advice and the experiences they share with you!

Networking can play a large role in your career success, as you will inevitably need to connect with people across your chosen industry. This can range from people you work with directly, to people you have simply met once or twice. As the saying goes – first impressions, last. This means that it is important to make a good first impression with everyone you meet, as that is generally what they will remember about you.

Ways to improve your soft skills

There are several ways you can improve your soft skills, including:

  • Being open to feedback. Whether it’s from your educators, bosses, co-workers or classmates, it is important to take on advice from others and use it to better yourself.
  • Build positive relationships. You never know when you will next work with someone again, so be sure to make good first impressions, be polite and courteous, and try to connect with people in an appropriate way.
  • Get out of your comfort zone. A lot of learning can be done when you try new things and test your potential. You might find a talent that you didn’t know you had!
  • Adapt to change. Like moving from studying to the workplace, your career will be full of changes that you will need to adapt to. You might even find that you are given new responsibilities, change jobs, or even move to another country!

Conclusion

While you are in New Zealand, studying with an education provider and working for an employer are two of the best ways to improve your soft skills.

Having a series of well-developed and proven soft skills on your CV can be what sets you apart from other applicants with the same qualifications as you.

Give yourself the edge in your career by working on your soft skills inside and outside of the classroom, and you will feel more comfortable in any new environment you find yourself in.

The results will speak for themselves once you put the work in!

Ready to start your own adventure in New Zealand? Take the first step today and discover the right course waiting for you!

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About the contributors
Theo Spruyt
Global Digital Content Specialist | Education New Zealand