Essential Skills for Success
Essential skills are character skills and personality traits that reflect how you work in general, with others, and by yourself. Essential skills are also referred to as soft skills, interpersonal skills, and noncognitive skills. Although there many, example essential skills include communication, teamwork, problem solving, and adaptability.
Hard skills, or technical skills, are those learned through education, training, and life experiences on specific topics. Example hard skills are culinary expertise, computer programming, and proficiency in world languages.
Essential skills are transferrable across education and career, regardless of program of study or place of work.
Essential Skills Development Resources
- Bring Your 'A' Game to Work
- Bring Your 'A' Game Anywhere is a self-directed, e-learning curriculum that provides Essential Skills for Success (soft skills) development in the areas of attendance, appearance, attitude, ambition, accountability, acceptance, and appreciation. The curriculum is accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device. Now, more than ever, it is critically important to prepare for the workforce by development exceptional Essential Skills (soft skills).
- Ten interactive eLearning modules - each designed to be completed in 20 minutes
- Student-centered design to engage the learner
- Built-in knowledge checks that validate the learning of each essential skill (soft skill)
- Access to the Certificate of Work Ethic Proficiency Exam
- South Dakota Department of Labor (SD DLR) offers Bring Your 'A' Game Anywhere to South Dakota school districts. To request login information, complete a submit a School Login Request.
- Soft Skills to Pay the Bills Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success (U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy)
- Career Development and Essential Skills for Success Lessons and Resources
