Soft Skills for Scientific Success

The skills needed for success in carrying out technical aspects of a job can be gained almost wholly through education and work experience.  Acquiring soft skills for non-technical aspects of a job is not straightforward because they are not taught in school and often not obvious by the job’s description.  However, the combination of technical and soft skills is critical for career success.  In some instances, soft skills become more important than technical skills.  For some, these skills may be innate and for others they may be learned through self-awareness and training courses. 

The course will expose individuals to real scenarios from a wide range of work environments and highlight some of the accompanying soft skillsets for various positions and situations in R&D, manufacturing, chemical, pharmaceutical, medical devices, private industry, government and other areas.  Considerations for multicultural, multigenerational, cross-disciplinary and industries regulated by FDA, DEA, EPA are woven into the design of the course.

Key topics include:

• Seven basic soft skills (Interpersonal, Flexibility, Leadership, Problem solving, Work Ethic, Communicating, Teamwork)
• Strengths, weaknesses and blind spots
• Beyond basics:  explore a myriad of soft skills
• Compare and contrast soft skills needed for: manufacturing vs. R&D, bench vs. office, peer-to-peer vs. peer-to-executive, private industry vs. government vs. academia, generational preferences, organizational structures, cultural preferences
• Real work place scenarios and skills variations by role, industry, task
• Generational, cultural, technological preferences
  

Scientist and engineers who’d like to discover the soft skills necessary for success