Soft Skills Training – A Smart Career Choice for Students

In 2018, Global Online Soft Skills Training Market was US$ 6,947.0 million huge. And according to Absolute Markets Insights, it is expected to expand up to US$ 22,689.4 million by 2027.

Weak soft skills are a major barrier in the professional growth of employees as well as individuals’ personal growth. And because of the need to fill this gap, soft skills trainers are in huge demand. Certified soft skills trainers are required in various industries to offer:

• Employability Skills Training
• Corporate Training
• Etiquette Coaching
• Personality Development Training
• Confidence Coaching
• Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Training
• Behavioural Skills Training, etc.

Because of the huge demand and an array of opportunities as a soft skills trainer, soft skills training has become a viable and fruitful career option for students who are about to set out on a professional journey. But apart from these surface-level benefits, there are other reasons why becoming a soft skills trainer is an ideal career choice for students. Here are a few:

An Early Start – Most schools and colleges today offer soft skills training to their students, which creates a strong base at an early age. Now if you choose to become a soft skills trainer right after completing your education, you will not have to get trained in soft skills, you will just need to learn training skills through the Train the Trainer program.

Moreover, due to a lack of knowledge of the soft skills training industry, people change careers before realizing that they were meant to become trainers. If you gauge your skills now, you will have the right career guidance right from the start. And if you for sure know that you’d make a great soft skills trainer, better start now than later.

Early Earning Opportunity – Many students do not want to put themselves through 3 to 4 years of college before they can start earning, either because of the financial dilemmas or lack of interest in studies. And most of them end up with temporary jobs that do not earn them exceptionally well. But becoming a soft skills trainer solves this problem since it opens many permanent and financially beneficial avenues that can earn them in lacs with just a single project. All you need is perfectly polished training skills and business skills.

An Opportunity to be Your Own Boss – It’s well known that some relevant corporate experience is important before setting up a business. But as a certified soft skills trainer, you can start building yourself as a brand and be your own boss right away.

You can get clients directly, take up projects that you would like to work on, set your own timelines that also suit your clients, be your own worst critic, and keep learning along the way. But as the boss, the onus of putting in the right networking and marketing efforts will be on you.

No Monotonous 9 to 5 Schedule – As a soft skills trainer, you can certainly have a 9 to 5 corporate job if you prefer corporate environment, but you also have other brilliant options, such as:

• Offering online workshops and seminars on soft skills training
• Selling soft skills training courses based on your niche on e-learning platforms
• Working on both short-term and long-term projects on contract basis
• Conducting soft skills classes for a few hours every day in your own training centre, etc.

You can choose your own work timings and work on your own terms, and achieve the perfect work-life balance.

How to Become a Soft Skills Trainer

Step 1 – Get Trained in Soft Skills – Do your research and pick a soft skills training institute based on reviews, soft skills trainer certification offered, and other aspects such as business enablement support and institution’s support in career growth.

Step 2 – Get certified – Once you receive soft skills certification, you may need to start doing some volunteer work or take up less-paying projects to build your portfolio. Don’t worry; this step will help you set up a strong foundation of your career as a soft skills trainer.

Step 3 – Market Yourself – Spread a word in your professional and social circles, start networking, build a website, get on social media – do everything to make sure you are where the demand is.

Don’t limit your choices when you are choosing a career path. Analyse your skills and identify where they can be best used. Doing something that you’re already good at will help you fulfill your king-sized dreams faster.

Guest article written by: An award-winning Image Management Professional, Suman Agarwal has helped students, home-makers, women on sabbatical as well as people seeking second career alternatives to explore Image Management and Soft Skill Training as a vibrant professional choice. She frequently writes blog posts about the urgent need of image consulting professionals and soft skill trainers in the 21st century and loves guiding people in exploring lucrative career options. Write to her at [email protected] to seek advanced career guidance.