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Thursday 2nd September 2010

The following content was kindly provided by Jan West, Project Manager at MentorSet.

Having run MentorSET, the WES mentoring scheme for women in SET for the last 6 years, I continually come across women who believe that the route to career advancement is to keep their head down, work hard and to quietly do a good job. The world doesn’t work like that and such women come to MentorSET wondering why they have been pasted over for promotion, or worse, been made redundant. Personal and social skills, as well as networking play a large role in the advancement of your career.
 
As women in SET, we like facts. So here are some hard facts about soft skills:
  • A long term study carried out on Harvard graduates showed that IQ and degree level didn’t play a big part in their future career success.
  • It is now generally agreed that there is not just one type of intelligence that is crucial for career success but rather a spectrum of intelligences including the soft skills.
  • Studies show that Emotional Intelligence which includes personal and interpersonal skills is a better indicator of career success than traditional IQ (given that you have an average or above average IQ).
  • Unlike traditional intelligence (IQ), you can build your EQ and it generally increases with age.
 
As Scientists and Engineers, IQ and technical knowledge are obviously more important than in some other careers, but soft skills are still important. I have seen this first hand. Soft skills, like technical skills, can be worked upon and so a good soft skills course should aid career advancement rather than be seen as irrelevant. We will all have strengths and weakness and so it important that you choose the right course for you.
 
May I suggest the following reading material to help you understand the importance of soft skills and to help you to work upon them:
  • Emotional Intelligence – why it can matter more than IQ by Daniel Goleman
  • The Success Principle by Jack Canfield
 
Finally I will do a plug. Mentoring is also an excellent tool to help you build your soft skills. Both mentors and mentees can gain soft skills. MentorSET has been helping women in SET for 6 years and feedback shows that it has changed lives in some cases.  If you would like to find out more, read our case studies or join, please go to the website: www.mentorset.org.uk. The scheme is free and always welcomes new mentors and mentees.