The powers that be at Google finally realized that STEM skills were less important than soft skills. As part of a human capital initiative, Project Oxygen, they learned what makes for successful hires.
The top seven soft skills sought by Google, as reported by the Washington Post, included:
“being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas”.
The real irony? The more academia focuses on hard skills, the more important soft skills are, as a predictor of long term success.
About Hemant Rustogi