Considering the fact that success is broken down to 70% interpersonal skills, I believe that there should be a stressed importance on developing interpersonal skills in educational degrees, regardless the degree.
In my professional career, I have noticed the importance of being able to communicate to others confidently. At times, I have been put in positions where I am questioned about my work, and I must properly convey it to other teams in order to get actions done and enhance our products. If not properly conveyed, our products would be missing feedback from the quality department, inhibiting the full potential and performance of our products.
Yes, having technical knowledge is essential, especially if you were to work in the research & development department for example, but pitching the idea is the most important aspect of product development. Technical skills can only be understood by those that come from similar technical backgrounds, however, you must be able to present that technical information so that it may be understood by a general audience where important decisions can be made. Has anyone else experienced the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace?
I love this question because I have always thought about this. Personally, I believe the system is backwards. If I am going to school to be an engineer, my value should be placed on my ability to engineer what is necessary. I'm hired to bring an idea to fruition, not to smooth-talk my way to getting that project. I do agree that interpersonal skills are important for teamwork but in terms of being successful in my field as an engineer, I should be more of a technical asset. Also we should consider that a lot of brilliant people are socially awkward and needing these interpersonal skills can really put these people in a box. Again, there is nothing wrong with interpersonal skills and it is necessary but it shouldn't be the standard of success for us engineers.
Your question is very important, and I cannot agree more. In my opinion, technical and interpersonal skills go hand in hand to make a good engineer. Before working in the industry, I did not fully understand why we do group projects in school, why do not do it individually, so everyone could receive the grade they deserve; and I know for a fact that not everyone is a team player and some people are not willing to help they need to be carried for the project to be done. However, after my little experience working in a company, I realized that a good project manager can make use of all the team members to decrease the load of work and to make an efficient work environment. For instance, when I started working, during my training period, my project manager used to put me on small tasks or to review the process work practice. Instead of just making me observe.
No matter what is the engineering project that we are discussing, will require more than one field of engineering. For example, to make a wearable glucose monitoring device, we need an electrical engineer, a biomedical engineer, and an electrical engineer, and a software engineer; for such a project to be successful and meet the deliverables of the company, all the engineers have to communicate and know how to be a team player. Being unable to communicate sets the project for failure. From my experience in the industry, I see the lack of communication between the departments and how it delays the production system to get a simple task done.
When I was first hired as a chemistry teacher, one of the interviewers, the senior chemistry teacher of the school commented, "You have all the right stuff on paper and you interview well. I'm not questioning whether you'll be able to handle the kids. But, if you don't know your content, it'll show. And that will be the real test as to whether you'll stay or not." I completely understood where she was coming from. Have a great interpersonal skills are important, just as important as the technical knowledge. If I had to put a percentage on it, its about 60/40 leaning toward interpersonal.
Jobs want you to have some background, some foundation to help them build you into their model of a successful worker. However, if you have less knowledge with a good foundation and a great attitude, no one will ever decline showing you a new skill. My senior chemistry teacher would have helped me with any of the tedious tasks that come along with the job, she would have even helped to show me a different way to teach the students but, I needed to come with some solid foundation to build off of.
I think the education system for more technical careers is a bit backward, but I don't want to diminish the value of interpersonal skills in a technical setting. Speaking from personal experience, I was taught several facts about biological systems and how to apply them in a lab setting but was never officially taught how to present my work professionally outside of the classroom. It came with real-life experience and luck, which are just as valuable. Not having interpersonal skills can be a massive hindrance to getting projects. It is important to present yourself as a team player with effective communication skills because projects consist of many people in different departments working towards the same goal. If you cannot communicate your technical "know-how" to the group, you're dead weight. Another aspect to consider would be how teachable you are. If you are not a receptive person and don't know how to communicate your concerns for the project's comprehensiveness, you cannot be taught and are unwilling to learn from the team.
As for the 70 interpersonal skills/ 30 technical intelligence ratio, I would shift it slightly to 65/35. In this career, you have to know what you're talking about and have a bit of background knowledge to apply your knowledge to the project and open to adapt to social situations around you and be a teachable person to have the project run smoothly.
Personal skills: Sometimes referred to as ‘personal transferable skills’, these are skills that are learnt in one situation, but can also be put into practice in another situation. Examples of these include communication, team work, leadership and problem solving. Technical skills: Knowledge and skills specific to a particular occupation or group of occupations. For example, the technical skills for a software developer would be programming skills.
https://st-josephs-college.j2bloggy.com/asrevision/difference-between-personal-and-technical-skills/
As a biotechnology student or any student, I believe the school is responsible for teaching the different aspects of your job to be successful; however, they are not solely accountable for interpersonal skills. They can give you the tools, but you must be willing to learn specific skills on your own that may not be the main focus during a course. They must teach you technical knowledge for you to be capable of doing the job. Imagine if they only taught you interpersonal skills of communicating and interacting with people, but you were not taught anything about biotechnology. Yes, you would be able to communicate and make friends, but you would not be successful when it’s time to do the work. However, if they teach you technical knowledge and give you the tools needed for emotional intelligence, you would be more than capable of completing the job effectively. Interpersonal skills are essential, and you should be given the tools on how to use them, but once informed and given the tools, you must be willing to do some of the work on your own. To answer the question, yes, I do think it is a proper investment as long as they also provide you the tools for interpersonal skills.
