Research blog #7 Frame

At this point in my project I have a decent idea of what I am doing but I still have a few questions I will discuss with Professor Goeller when I meet with him this Wednesday. Most academic sources I have and am using are emphasizing the importance and practicality of soft skills. Although this a main component of my paper I am still missing a good amount of information on greek life and its relationship to soft skills. I will get more sources on this when I have decided on a final argument and counter argument for my paper. There are many different angles I am considering writing my paper using but I am not entirely sure which one would be the best and which I could write the strongest paper around. The academic sources I have now for my soft skills portion of the paper are very strong and when I decide on a correct angle I will look to find more strong sources for my paper.

Research Blog #6 Visual

Deepa, S., and Manisha Seth. "Do Soft Skills Matter? – Implications For Educators Based On Recruiters' Perspective." IUP Journal Of Soft Skills 7.1 (2013): 7-20. Business Source Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

- My paper deals with the importance of soft skills and how greek life can enhance and further develop these skills. For my image I wanted something that easily and clearly show the importance of soft skills. This image is from a survey to recruiting professionals on whether or not they believe soft skills are important. The results are extremely one sided and do show clearly that soft skills are very important in the workplace today. Almost 9/10 professionals agree they are important which is overwhelming evidence supporting my argument.

Lit Review #4

2)Deepa, S., and Manisha Seth. "Do Soft Skills Matter? – Implications For Educators Based On Recruiters' Perspective." IUP Journal Of Soft Skills 7.1 (2013): 7-20. Business Source Premier. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

3) Summary: In the workplace today, individuals seldom work alone and many times must work together with at least one individual on a project. This teamwork requires soft skills. Many recruiters were interviewed in this study on what skills were important to them in potential candidates. The importance of soft skills was emphasized and communication skills were the #1 skills recruiters stated that employees need to succeed in the workplace. Although hard technical skills are always wanted and crucial, many recruiters in this article stated that if strong soft skills are shown in an interview it can go a long way.

4) Manisha Seth- specializes in human resource management, stress management, talent management, and teaching effectiveness. All domains which hr and employee health are under. She has been cited over 30 times and written various articles all revolving around employees in the workplace.

5) Key Terms: 1) Soft Skills (as defined in article) (may be best definition I have found)- umbrella term covering various survival skills such as communication and interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, leadership qualities, team skills, negotiation skills, time and stress management and business etiquettes.

2) Technical Expertise: opposite of soft skills. These are knowing what to do on the job such as how to work a computer etc. Although recruiters look for these skills, strong soft skills in an interview can help secure a job.

6) Quotes:

"Soft skills are necessary in the workplace for professional success. They are vital at every level of an organization if it is to function smoothly and productively" (page 8)

" Other surveys and studies also show that employers are often more concerned about soft skills or attitudes rather than technical knowledge or competencies." (page 9)

"The ability to effectively communicate with managers, superiors, bosses, and coworkers plays a definite role in workplace success." (page 16)

7) Value: Recruiters are the first step for individuals getting jobs. Many times it is hard for a recruiter to judge a persons technical skills besides what is stated on the individuals resume. This is where soft skills play a huge part. If the candidate can display good communication and interpersonal skills many times it leads to them getting a job. Interviewing well is a very important skill. This article also does research that shows almost 9/10 recruiters find soft skills to be very important which supports my argument. On top of that soft skills were one of the most selected skill set being considered a 'must have' for job success which also supports my argument.

 

Research Proposal

Matthew Zuccaro

Professor Goeller

College! 201

March 7, 2016

Research Proposal

Working Title: Greek Life: The Breeding Ground for Soft Skills

Topic:

My topic involves the debate of whether or not being a member of a Greek organization leads to the development of ‘soft skills’ or, are Greek organizations simply places that attract individuals more likely to already possess these skills because of their social nature. Soft skills are defined as personal attributes such as interpersonal skills and the ability to work and communicate with others.  This paper will explore not only whether or not fraternities and sororities help members develop soft skills more so than those not in a Greek organization, but also whether these soft skills are useful and adequate predictors of success in life after college.

Research Question:

            Does being a member of a fraternity or sorority help in the development of soft skills or do fraternities and sororities attract individuals who already possess these skills due to their social nature and structure. Are these soft skills even beneficial in the real world, or do managers not actually place too much emphasis on these skills.

Theoretical Frame:

            I started off by reading an article “Executive Perceptions Of The Top 10 Soft Skills Needed In Today’s Workplace” by Robles. This article not only showed the top soft skills needed but it also validated the importance of soft skills. This article made it well known that soft skills were desired in the workplace and that well developed soft skills are highly regarded by hiring managers. Just for clarification as well as tying sources together, I will continue to look into articles discussing the benefits of soft skills and their value in today’s workplace.  With the help of this article though, it was a big step in concluding the value and importance of soft skills in the workplace. In the article “Unchallenged, Professed Core Values: Do Undergraduate Fraternity/Sorority Members Actually Benefit In The Areas Of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, And Friendship?” by Long., a study was conducted and the results showed the fraternity and sorority members benefited in certain areas. A few of the areas in which they benefited that could be constituted as soft skills include leadership and friendship. This study was also a good start in showing benefits of fraternal membership.

            This topic is very relevant to me since I am a member of a fraternity. I truly believe being a member of one has greatly improved my soft skills and prepared me for life after college better than if I was not in a fraternity. Although I was always a social individual, I believe that by joining a fraternity my soft skills were improved much more and much faster than if I were not a member of one. I hope from my research I can find overwhelming evidence that being in a fraternity does help the growth of soft skills. I also hope to find overwhelming evidence of the importance of soft skills in the real world. If my research supports my theories I believe I can write an extremely well written paper.

Research Plan:

            Something I really hope to utilize in my paper is first hand sources such as interviews of individuals I know who were in Rutgers Greek life who now are successful in the professional world. I hope they can better answer my two main questions of my research. The first being if they think being a member of a fraternity helped their growth of soft skills and the second being whether these soft skills have helped them succeed in the business world. I think these first hand sources will greatly help my research. In addition to conducting interviews of current and former members of the Rutgers Greek community, I plan on exploring the article “Soft Skills as a Predictor of Perceived Internship Effectiveness and Permanent Placement Opportunity” by Dabke to see the value of soft skills in an internship. This is because internships are usually an individuals’ foot in the door when it comes to the professional world and by receiving favorable internship reviews, individuals will be set up for future success.

            To dive deeper into the world of college fraternities and sororities I plan to read the book “Inside Greek U.: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige” by Desantis. Hopefully this book can give me more of an insight into how certain choices and opportunities that come out of Greek life can alter the future for an individual. What I hope to get out of this is more so the positives created instead of the negatives.

            Although it seems like I am exploring a very broad range of ideas in the research proposal I hope through this broad search I can pull out ideas linking soft skills to Greek life. I feel as though being a member of a fraternity has really helped my soft skill development and I hope after extensive research I can prove this is also true universally.

Bibliography

Dabke, Deepika. "Soft Skills As A Predictor Of Perceived Internship Effectiveness And Permanent Placement Opportunity." IUP Journal Of Soft Skills 9.4 (2015): 26-42. Business Source Premier. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Deepa, S., and Manisha Seth. "Do Soft Skills Matter? – Implications For Educators Based On Recruiters' Perspective." IUP Journal Of Soft Skills 7.1 (2013): 7-20. Business Source Premier. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

DeSantis, Alan D. Inside Greek U: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Employers Seek Recent Graduates with Soft Skills, Found Best in the Liberal Arts – Christendom College." Christendom College RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Long, Larry D. "Unchallenged, Professed Core Values: Do Undergraduate Fraternity/Sorority Members Actually Benefit In The Areas Of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, And Friendship?." College Student Affairs Journal 30.2 (2012): 15-30. ERIC. Web. 29 Feb. 2016

Robles, Marcel M. "Executive Perceptions Of The Top 10 Soft Skills Needed In Today’S Workplace." Business Communication Quarterly 75.4 (2012): 453-465. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Research Blog #5

Deepa, S., and Manisha Seth. "Do Soft Skills Matter? – Implications For Educators Based On Recruiters' Perspective." IUP Journal Of Soft Skills 7.1 (2013): 7-20. Business Source Premier. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

DeSantis, Alan D. Inside Greek U: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Elliot, Megan. "5 Skills College Grads Need to Get a Job." Usatoday.com. Usa Today, 3 May 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Employers Seek Recent Graduates with Soft Skills, Found Best in the Liberal Arts – Christendom College." Christendom College RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Long, Larry D. "Unchallenged, Professed Core Values: Do Undergraduate Fraternity/Sorority Members Actually Benefit In The Areas Of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, And Friendship?." College Student Affairs Journal 30.2 (2012): 15-30. ERIC. Web. 29 Feb. 2016

Robles, Marcel M. "Executive Perceptions Of The Top 10 Soft Skills Needed In Today’S Workplace." Business Communication Quarterly 75.4 (2012): 453-465. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Lit Review #3- Soft Skills as a Predictor or Perceived Internship Effectiveness and Permanent Placement Opportunity

2) Dabke, Deepika. "Soft Skills As A Predictor Of Perceived Internship Effectiveness And Permanent Placement Opportunity." IUP Journal Of Soft Skills 9.4 (2015): 26-42. Business Source Premier. Web. 29 Feb. 2016

3) Summary: Internships are usually a students first opportunity to have experience and work in the real world. Many times these internships are the first real job the student has had. Despite this many times managers want potential interns to already have established soft skills and this causes a mismatch. Internships are the proving ground for new employees and many times and can lead to full time jobs. In this article a study is conducted and finds that internship success is positively correlated with the display of certain soft skills. It was found that positive attitude, courtesy, and interpersonal skills were all very highly valued in perceived intern success. The top traits that led to full time offers from an internship were professionalism, teamwork, and interpersonal skills which are all soft skills. 

4) Author: Dr. Deepika Dabke: Has a PhD in psychology and has 15 years of experience in Academics, T&D, employee engagement, and employee counseling. She currently works as a consulting psychologist and faculty of HR and soft skills at IBS business school in India. She has many articles published and has presented articles and papers in national conferences.  

5) Key Terms:

Internship: A temporary position at a company usually designed for college and graduate students. These positions give students a feel for what work is like in a company and gives them useful experience which can be used for a career after school. These are usually an individuals first step in the door for a career. Internship success can lead to full time offer with a company.

Interpersonal Skills: skills involved in working with others such as communication (verbal and nonverbal), listening skills etc. One of the main soft skills focused on. In the article interpersonal skills are said to be the best predictor of perceived internship success as well as best predictor of being hired full time. 

6) Quotes: "Soft skills are a critical set of skills set for professional success and advancement. They play a pivotal role right from the entry level jobs to critical leadership roles in an organization. Honing a right set of soft skills during the management education program can greatly enhance the chances of a student’s success during the internship as well as job selection in the world of work" (page 11)

"Internship has been consistently looked at as a training ground for students to equip themselves to join the world of work" (page 4)

"The findings of the current study have important implications for universities and institutes. Educational institutes need to bear in mind that a strong soft skills base of students is imperative for interns as they enter the internship projects" (page 9)

7) Value: I wanted to use this article because of the importance of gaining internships which can lead to employment and success after college.It was good to know that soft skills are valued extremely highly in internship success and ability to get hired from an internship. This article is just another example which highlights the importance of soft skills. This helps the overall value of my argument. By having various articles raving about soft skills in the workplace my argument will be very easy to support.