Schulz, Bernd2009-12-032009-12-032008Schulz, B. (2008). The importance of soft skills: Education beyond academic knowledge. Nawa Journal of Communication, 2(1), 146-154.1993-3835.http://hdl.handle.net/10628/39This paper makes a survey of the importance of soft skills in students’ lives both at college and after college. It discusses how soft skills complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job the student is trained to do. The paper exhorts educators to take special responsibility regarding soft skills, because during students’ university time, educators have major influence on the development of their students’ soft skills. Embedding the training of soft skills into hard skills courses is a very effective and efficient method of achieving both an attractive way of teaching a particular content and an enhancement of soft skills. Soft skills fulfil an important role in shaping an individual’s personality. It is of high importance for every student to acquire adequate skills beyond academic or technical knowledge.enSoft skills - Study and teachingProject management skills - Study and teachingBusiness management skills - Study and teachingPersonal skills - Study and teachingSocial skills - Study and teachingLanguage skills - Study and teachingCultural awareness skills - Study and teachingArticle