During a specially organised event on 2 August 2018, UNE students who participated in the IFAMA (International Food and Agribusiness Management Association) Case Study Competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina underscored the planning, practice, preparation, imagination, team work, and positive attitude required to be successful in the competition. The UNE teams competed against Universities from around the world. The UNE postgraduate team came first in their division. The UNE undergraduate teams came second and third in their division.

While it was not directly stated, the event highlighted the importance of soft skills. Soft skills are a combination of people skills, communication skills, body language, problem solving, self-confidence, leadership, empathy, the ability to see an issue from another perspective, collaboration, wisdom, self-awareness, and professionalism required to work well with others and achieve a specific task. Hard skills include subject knowledge, technical proficiency, and the ability to assess and measure. Soft skills and hard skills are interdependent but the importance of soft skills is often overlooked.

UNE IFAMA Teams

UNE IFAMA Teams. Left to right: Damien Thomson, Tyla Comerford, Sarah Loveridge, Rebecca George, (2nd place in the undergraduate division); Mikayla Bruce, Christina Stannard, Lucy Collingridge, Emma McCrabb (1st place in the intermediate division); Nicola Harvey, Natalie Pearce, Caitlin Bowman, Jasmine Whitten (3rd place in the undergraduate division)

Dr Kip Werren, a qualified accountant and solicitor, noted that a job for life is becoming less common with the likelihood that individuals will change jobs and careers many times during their life. ‘It will be the transferable soft skills that employers will focus on in the future. It is likely that employers will pay a premium for entrepreneurship, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, resilience, and creativity skills.’The IFAMA teams were managed and mentored by Professor Derek Baker, Dr Stuart Mounter and Ms Sally Strelitz. Mentoring helps develop team member soft skill performance and entails serving as a role model, providing counselling, validating and coaching. Prior to the international competition the IFAMA teams spent many hours in preparing and presenting in a mock competition situation. During these sessions the teams were given valuable feedback from their mentors as well as by Mrs Lyn Gollan who concentrated on enhancing the teams’ presentation and public speaking skills. Mentoring has a significant impact on teamwork, communication, and interpersonal skills and the teams’ resounding success at the international competition is a strong validation of this collaborative learning relationship.

When it comes to the soft skill of professionalism the exact meaning of the term is illusive. Professor Lillian Corbin’s research interests include ethics and legal professionalism. ‘Professionalism’ is often characterised by notions of public interest, collegiality, self-regulation, and individual responsibility, and more recently the term e-professionalism has been introduced to cover a lawyer’s online conduct.’

Emphasising technical competencies to the exclusion of soft skills will narrow an individual’s prospects for implementing career changes and likely diminish their ability to achieve personal aspirations. The UNE School of Law provides guidance on communication, critical thinking, and surprisingly, creativity. While it is rarely emphasised, those who study law are creative thinkers. They question, they evaluate, they interpret legal principles in novel ways, they reframe propositions, they take different perspectives, and they come up with new ideas.

 

Feature image left to right: Professor Lillian Corbin, Head of School – UNE School of Law; UNE Business School; Ms Sally Strelitz, SABL Outreach and Engagement Officer; Mrs Lyn Gollan, Professional Staff Member School of Law; Dr Kip Werren, Lecturer School of Law