South College Library Blog

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01/22/2024
Tanya Mainville

While having the necessary educational qualifications is important in securing a new job, employers have begun looking for something more in their applicants. Soft skills, often defined as a series of mindsets and behaviors, have become essential for long-term career success. 

Soft skills are comprised of the personal character traits, qualities, and habits that make you who you are. “Your work ethic, your attitude, and the way you interact with other people are a few examples of soft skills” (Reiman, 2022). 

 

The following list from Soft Skills For Dummies identifies and describes the nine different factors that impact a person’s soft skills: 

  1. Attitude – A positive attitude is necessary for any job. Employers seek people who demonstrate optimism and determination while performing their everyday tasks. 

  1. Character – Good character is something that continuously develops each day and is based on the choices and decisions a person makes.  

  1. Diversity and cultural awareness – Employers often hire people who have experience working with others from various cultural backgrounds. It is important to be accepting of and willing to work with others who are different from you.  

  1. Appearance and etiquette – Dressing professionally can leave a positive lasting first impression. On average, it only takes 4 seconds to make an impression, so you’ll want to make it a good one! 

  1. Time management – Showing up to interviews, birthday parties, and any other personal or professional event on time consistently will show others that you are reliable and that you value being prompt and present.   

  1. Teamwork – Teamwork indeed makes the dream work, and no team can reach its goals without each member’s full support. Therefore, it’s important that you can work well in either group or team settings. 

  1. Work ethic – Everyone has the choice to work hard or not. Choosing to complete your tasks on time whether you enjoy them or not demonstrates a good work ethic. 

  1. Critical thinking and problem solving – Holding yourself accountable for the choices and decisions you make will help you to find solutions to issues that arise while also helping you to communicate with others more effectively. 

  1. Leadership – Having the willingness to guide and encourage others shows employers that you are not afraid to step up and take the lead when necessary.  

 

It has been proven that soft skills not only improve your performance and opportunities for success in the workplace but also in your personal life (Reiman, 2022). Maintaining a positive mindset, being accepting of others, and leading a team toward a common goal are all ways you can continue building on your soft skills. 

For more information on how you can incorporate soft skills into your professional life, be sure to check out the Soft Skills subject guide on the South College library website. 

 

Cindi Reiman. (2022). Soft skills for dummies. For Dummies. 

01/12/2024
profile-icon Jennifer Muller

A group of books on a red background

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Did you know that the South College Library provides students, faculty, and staff access to over 100,000 eBooks? Find eBooks related to your academic studies, personal interests, and self-improvement. Do you enjoy reading fiction books? The library’s collection includes novels, collections of short stories, and poetry too.

The Clock Mirage by Joseph Mazur

What is time? This question has fascinated philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists for thousands of years. Why does time seem to speed up with age? What is its connection with memory, anticipation, and sleep cycles? Award-winning author and mathematician Joseph Mazur provides an engaging exploration of how the understanding of time has evolved throughout human history and offers a compelling new vision, submitting that time lives within us. Our cells, he notes, have a temporal awareness, guided by environmental cues in sync with patterns of social interaction. Readers learn that, as a consequence of time's personal nature, a forty-eight-hour journey on the Space Shuttle can feel shorter than a six-hour trip on the Soyuz capsule, that the Amondawa of the Amazon do not have ages, and that time speeds up with fever and slows down when we feel in danger. With a narrative punctuated by personal stories of time's effects on truck drivers, Olympic racers, prisoners, and clockmakers, Mazur's journey is filled with fascinating insights into how our technologies, our bodies, and our attitudes can change our perceptions. Ultimately, time reveals itself as something that rides on the rhythms of our minds. The Clock Mirage presents an innovative perspective that will force us to rethink our relationship with time, and how best to use it.

Crusader Without Violence by L. D. Reddick

Published to critical acclaim in 1959 and long out of print, Crusader Without Violence was the first biography of the dynamic leader who emerged from the 1955–56 Montgomery Bus Boycott as the spokesman of the twentieth-century American civil rights movement. NewSouth's 60th Anniversary Edition, with a new introduction containing new biographical details about its author, returns to general circulation a valuable, rare, and engaging account of Martin Luther King Jr. before he became an American phenomenon. The author, L. D. Reddick, had known the young King in Atlanta. They became reacquainted when Reddick moved to Montgomery in 1956, where King pastored the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Reddick became a congregant and King's friend and was active with him during the bus protest. He was thus able to report firsthand and at length on King within the setting of the young minister's early career and family life.

Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities: Strategies to Succeed in School and Life with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, ADHD, and Processing Disorders by Daniel Franklin

Based in cutting-edge research in neuroscience, education, and the principles of attachment-based teaching, this important guide for parents offers tools and practices to help children transcend language-based learning difficulties, do better in school, and gain self-confidence and self-esteem. If your child has a language-based learning difficulty—such as dyscalculia, dyslexia, and auditory processing disorder—they may have to work twice as hard to keep up with their peers in school. Your child may also have feelings of frustration, anger, sadness, or shame as a result of their learning differences. As a parent, it hurts to see your child struggle. But the good news is that there are proven-effective strategies you can learn to help your child be their best. This book will show you how. Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities outlines an attachment-based approach to help your child succeed based in the latest research. This research indicates that a secure attachment relationship between you and your child optimizes their learning ability by enhancing motivation, regulating anxiety, and triggering neuroplasticity. In this book, you'll discover why it's so important to accurately assess your child, find new perspectives on LBLDs based on the most current studies, and discover tips and strategies for navigating school, home life, and your child's future. Most importantly, you'll learn how your own special bond with your child can help spark their interest in reading, writing, and math. Every child is unique—and every child learns in his or her own way. With this groundbreaking guide, you'll be able to help your child thrive, in school and life.

Lines on a Map: Unparalleled Adventures in Modern Exploration by Frank Wolf & John Vaillant

Two decades of adventure writing are captured in this entertaining and inspiring collection of travel journalism by renowned adventurer, writer, filmmaker and environmentalist Frank Wolf. Some of the adventures include: two friends on a cycling and volcano-climbing odyssey across Java, the world's most populous island, in the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia, in the wake of 9/11; a surreal private lunch with former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau during an 8000 km canoe journey across Canada; discovering the past and present on a 900 km hiking and kayaking journey from Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon; negotiating the cultural divide during a whitewater paddling expedition in Laos and Cambodia with Russian extreme kayakers; exploring the nature and politics of a multi-billion dollar pipeline in northern BC by hiking, biking and kayaking the GPS track of the proposed project route from the oil sands to the British Columbia coast; conducting a mammal tracking survey in the course of a 120 km ski traverse of Banff National Park; discovering the truth about the existence of Sasquatch in northern Ontario; retracing Viking history during a canoe trip across Scandinavia. Complete with dozens of color photographs, Wolf weaves together humor, drama and local knowledge to transport readers to some of the outermost corners of the globe in an epic quest to celebrate the freedom to move, explore and be wild.

Noodle Soup by Ken Albala

Every day, noodle shops around the globe ladle out quick meals that fuel our go-go lives. But Ken Albala has a mission: to get YOU in the kitchen making noodle soup. This primer offers the recipes and techniques for mastering quick-slurper staples and luxurious from-scratch feasts. Albala made a different noodle soup every day for two years. His obsession yielded all you need to know about making stock bases, using dried or fresh noodles, and choosing from a huge variety of garnishes, flavorings, and accompaniments. He lays out innovative techniques for mixing and matching bases and noodles with grains, vegetables, and other ingredients drawn from an international array of cuisines. In addition to recipes both cutting edge and classic, Albala describes new soup discoveries he created along the way. There's advice on utensils, cooking tools, and the oft-overlooked necessity of matching a soup to the proper bowl. Finally, he sprinkles in charming historical details that cover everything from ancient Chinese millet noodles to that off-brand Malaysian ramen at the back of the ethnic grocery store. Filled with more than seventy color photos and dozens of recipes, Noodle Soup is an indispensable guide for cooking, eating, and loving a universal favorite.

Self-Care for New and Student Nurses by D. Fontaine, T. Cunningham, & N. May

Self-Care for New and Student Nurses presents techniques to prepare you for stressors present now and those to come. No matter where you are in your nursing career, this book offers you multiple ways to prioritize your own mental, physical, and emotional health.

01/02/2024
Lauren Kent
No Subjects

We’ve all heard the phrase “new year, new me” but what about “new year, new study habits”? The new year can be a time where you assess your current study habits to see what is working and what might be a hindrance to your success. With the new quarter set to start in a couple weeks, reflecting on your current study habits can help you prepare yourself for your upcoming workload.  

Ways to improve study habits: 

  1. Set small and realistic goals – setting large goals can be overwhelming and place too much pressure on you; whereas smaller goals are more achievable and less stressful. 

  1. Don’t focus on your grade – focusing on your grade can put added stress on you and cause you to feel discouraged if that grade is not achieved; instead, focus on learning and increasing your knowledge, which will naturally produce a better grade since you’re taking in the information rather than just memorizing it. 

  1. Review the material at the end of the week – this is a good habit to develop because it will keep the information fresh in your mind instead of getting pushed back. It will decrease your likelihood of cramming before a test as well (McWilliams, 2014). 

  1. Get a study group together – If you are part of a cohort, you will be with them throughout your entire program, so getting together to review material will be very beneficial. You can review information together and someone’s strong suit might be your weakness, so you can learn from each other. 

  1. Find ways to help retain information – this can be done in several ways. Flashcards are a great way to retain information and provide a quick way to review what you’ve learned. Rewriting notes can help you take the information and put it into your own words, which reiterates what you’ve learned and helps with comprehension. Taking practice tests online can help reveal gaps in knowledge and prepare you for upcoming exams (Coursera, 2023). 

Developing strong study habits before the start of a quarter can help set you up for success, and these habits will stay with you throughout your time in school. Please also read through the How to Study guide on the library’s website for more tips and resources to improve your study habits. 

 

 

Coursera. (2023, November 29). 11 good study habits to develop. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/study-habits  

McWilliams, F. (2014). New year, new study habits: How to make changes in the new year. Method Learning. https://info.methodlearning.com/blog/bid/103729/New-Year-New-Study-Habits-How-to-Make-Changes-in-the-New-Year  

 

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