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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many employers consider job candidates' soft skills as critical for professional success as traditional hard skills, especially in today's global marketplace. College graduates are increasingly confident of their soft skills, believing these interpersonal, non-technical competencies enhance their value as prospective employees. Recent studies, however, show a widening gap between employer expectations and college graduate abilities. This paper reviews desired soft skills, along with college students ' self-ratings of these same competencies; explores how employers and job candidates 'signal' the need for and/or presence of these skills; and proposes further research to discern the true cause of this seeming "soft skill gap."
Keywords: Soft Skill Gap, College Graduates, Signaling Theory
INTRODUCTION
Entering the job market as a new college graduate is a daunting yet exciting prospect. Fresh from the higher-education buffet of learning, college grads seek employment opportunities to capitalize upon their academic knowledge and inherent talents. Even those with lingering doubts as to their true professional calling tend to believe they "have what it takes" upon graduating to succeed in the global market. Employers have a different perspective: The majority of college graduates are confident in the level of their abilities, while in reality their skills fall short of employer expectations.
Recent studies reflect this dichotomy of evaluation. College graduates are highly confident of their abilities in both traditional "hard" and "soft" skill areas (Twenge, Campbell, & Gentile, 2012). Employers, on the other hand, are increasingly frustrated at what they see as a growing problem with graduates' soft skills, or rather, lack thereof (St. Louis Community College & Workforce Solutions Group, 2013). Soft skills - those non-technical competencies associated with one's personality, attitude, and ability to interact effectively with others (i.e., to be optimally employable) - are believed to be as valuable in the workplace as hard skills - technical, tangible, measurable competencies. Soft skills' interpersonal relations focus is especially important in our global marketplace (Nunn, 2013), where sensitivity to potential individual and/or collective diversity can tip the scale toward being hired or passed over. Despite college graduates' belief in the strength of their abilities, however, employers report a dearth of basic soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, and problem solving within this very group of potential job candidates (Hart Research...