Hard and Soft Skills

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable): N/A

  Course Title: Digital Information Technology

  Course Number: 8207310

  Career Cluster: Business Management and Administration

  CIP Number: N/A

  Course Type: N/A

  CTE Benchmark of focus:

  09.01 Analyze personal skills and aptitudes in comparison with various business-related job and career options. (i.e., hard and soft skills)

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is intended to introduce students to the hard and soft skills required in the IT field. It can be used as the introductory lesson in a unit that includes research into potential desired IT careers, the specific skills needed for these careers, and how these skills might be acquired. This can also lead to lessons about writing cover letters and resumes, filling out job applications, and preparing for and successfully performing interviews for an IT position.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson supports students in developing/practicing the hard and soft skills required for IT careers.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Define hard skills and soft skills.
  • Identify examples of hard and soft skills.
  • Analyze personal soft skills in IT using a self-assessment tool.
  • Identify current and needed personal hard skills in IT.
  • Research strategies to improve soft skills.
  • Research IT related hard skills.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • The term Information Technology (IT).
  • The types of jobs might fall into the IT category.
  • Basic online research skills.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What kinds of skills do employers look for in an employee and how can we categorize them?
  • What are your most employable skills and which skills do you need to improve upon?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, students can watch a video on hard skills versus soft skills (optional; see Teacher Notes)
  2. Discuss with students that hard skills are learned through education, training, and hands-on experience. Often people have degrees and certifications to prove their level of experience with hard skills.
     • Ask students to give examples of hard skills and list them on the board as you discuss.
  3. Discuss with students that soft skills are non-technical skills that describe how you work and interact with others. Most often, soft skills are gained through experience working with other people.
     • Ask students to give examples of soft skills and list them on the board as you discuss.
  4. Explain to students that they will be working in pairs to do a short sorting activity. They will define hard and soft skills in their own words and then sort the given skills into the correct categories. Let students know that you will discuss their answers afterward.
  5. Pass out the Hard Skills Versus Soft Skills Worksheet (see attachments) and provide students with a set time to complete the activity.
  6. After the time is up, have volunteers share their answers and discuss the definitions and why each skill goes in each category.
  7. Explain to students that they will be completing two additional activities. The first activity is a hard skills brainstorm for an IT job. They research IT hard skills online, and then assess what they already know and what they still need to learn. Remind students to reference reliable sources, such as the Bureau of Labor and Statistics or relevant job postings for prominent companies.
  8. Explain that for the second activity, they will take a soft skills assessment. This assessment will allow them to analyze which soft skills they are strong and weak in. They will then list out their 3 weakest soft skills on a worksheet and research strategies to improve them and write their strategies out. Again, remind students to find reliable sources through their research.
     • Teachers should find an applicable soft skill assessment designed for the workforce. See Teacher Notes for suggestions.
  9. Pass out the IT Hard Skills Brainstorm Activity worksheet, the Soft Skills Improvement Strategies worksheet (see attachments) and the teacher-chosen soft skills assessment tool and allow students to begin working.
  10. To bring this lesson to a close, discuss each of the activities.
      • Discuss the IT hard skills Brainstorm Activity with the students. Allow them to share their worksheet responses. As students share, list out the hard skills they already have on the board.
      • Discuss the soft skills assessment and improvement strategies worksheet. Allow students to share their strengths and weaknesses and strategies to improve. As the students share, list out their soft skills strengths on the board.
      • Discuss all of the diverse hard skills and soft skills listed on the board. Emphasize that it takes a diverse team of people to keep an organization running smoothly. Discuss why diversity of skills might be important in the workplace.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Teachers can search on local workforce websites for a soft skill self-assessment. One option and example can be found at: https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Portals/0/DM/JobSeeker/Soft_Skills_Self-Assessment_Fillable.pdf
  • Teachers can introduce the concepts of hard skills and soft skills by searching appropriate video platforms and finding a video about hard skills and soft skills to engage students.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment Idea:

  • The Hard Skills Versus Soft Skills Worksheet, Hard Skills Brainstorm Activity, Soft Skills Assessment, and Soft Skills Improvement Strategies can be used as formative assessments of student understanding of hard and soft skills.