Soft Skills

The usual Indian parentage forces and obsessive compulsive disorder in a kid's mind to be the first in class. Its true that admissions, scholarships are given to the top runners, but in the long run is it correct to strive hard to be the first in class?

I was one of them, actually not that much. i did have a competition, a cold war with a cousin, but i dont think my dad forced me that much. 12th std, i wrote atleast 7 entrance exams and actually flunked all of them, had a good score, BITS Pilani, pretty ok life. but that was because i was second in school... but... BUT... there is a good chance i missed out a lot of important things on the way. I did feel the force of having to "achieve".

Soft skills, the things that take u past that final HR interview, the team integration effort, the way people talk, the way people behave, the way people express, the politics... ive come to know... matter... they matter a lot. that makes the difference between an engineer and a manager. how long can u just stay an engineer?

"Knowledge is rendered useless by google and wikipedia" says a Wharton professor. i would not totally agree, but eventually it will turn true.

So what should u be doing?