Guest Lecture Honing Soft Skills in the Campus World and Their Needs in the World of Work was held in room H3.1 of the Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Tanjungpura University. This lecture presented Chemistry alumni FMIPA Untan, Ricco Andrean William, S.Si as the speaker with a total of 86 participants. Bang Ricco said that we really need soft skills in the world of work and students, as prospective workers, we must not ignore this. The reason is, considering that currently companies demand that each workforce be supported with managerial skills which are part of our professionalism in the field.

Ricoo William with Chemistry students from FMIPA Untan in a guest lecture on Sharpening Soft Skills in the Campus World and Their Needs in the World of Work

Workers who have good emotional intelligence, in addition to intellectual intelligence, have the potential for superior competitiveness in the world of work. To meet the need for soft skills in the world of work, it is necessary to improve the quality of our individual human resources, be it hard skills or soft skills.

"In the world of work, there are 3 main components that must be met in order for someone to be said to have competence, namely knowledge, skill and attitude. The concept of soft skills is actually a development of the concept known as emotional intelligence. Soft skills themselves are defined as abilities beyond ability "technical and academic, which prioritizes intra and interpersonal skills. While hard skills are an important factor in work, a person's success at work is usually determined more by their good soft skills, because they are considered capable of learning and honing themselves in the field," said Bang Ricco.

Management experts themselves believe that if there are two people with the same hard skills, the one who will win and be successful in the future is the one who has better soft skills. Generally, weaknesses in the field of soft skills are inherent in a person's character. It takes a lot of effort to change it. However, soft skills are not something that is fixed. This ability can be honed and improved along with work experience, and from the environment that shapes us or the place where we decide to join ourselves.

There are many ways to hone and improve soft skills, one of which is by attending management training and seminars. Although, one effective way to improve soft skills is by interacting and doing activities or projects with other people. So that we learn in groups and can learn from people who have different experiences from us. Therefore, increasing the competency of graduates based on soft skills is very much needed and cannot be ignored by both educational institutions and individuals, prospective workers themselves. If this is achieved, the needs of college graduates in the world of work that are high productivity oriented will be met. Apart from that, improving the nation's character through professionalism in all fields can also be achieved. In this way, we can increase our readiness to face competition in the world of work, even more, to be able to compete in the free market. This can be achieved by applying soft skills to lectures. 

In your opinion, what activities best hone soft skills on campus so that we are not only ready to face the world of work, but also have professionalism? Share in the comments column, OK? Awaited.