The Importance of Soft Skills

Some employers say soft skills, like communication and leadership, are just as important in getting hired as technical requirements like typing or computer programing. But soft skills are a challenge for schools, not just figuring out what they are, but how to teach them . . . and test that they have been taught. We’ll speak with Karen Webber, director of the Education and Youth Development program for the Open Society Institute in Baltimore, and Vanessa Proetto, teacher at Baltimore’s National Academy Foundation School, about the development of a soft skills curriculum. And veteran of the hospitality industry Michael Haynie tells us why mastering soft skills makes workers promotable.