Frequently Asked Questions

A Soft Technical Skill© is an advanced technical competency that applies to nearly every job in every career and in every industry.  Examples range from Teamwork to Confidentiality, from Critical Thinking to Ethics on the Job, from HazCom (Hazard Communication) to Written Technical Communication.  Over 40 years of research has revealed sixty (60) such soft technical skills.  Each requires learning for understanding, application, and credentialing of mastery.

      The U.S. State Directors of Career and Technical Education at Advance CTE refer to these skills as essential knowledge & skills, academic foundations, and common cores required for career success. Every technician needs competence in all of these topics.

To be competent means a worker has sufficient knowledge, skills, habits, and positive attitude to be effectively and efficiently productive on the job.  A competency is  an underlying characteristic of a person which enables them to deliver superior performance in a given job, role or situation; a worker’s incentive and know how to perform actions of high quality.

Technical is a sophisticated occupational process which requires a specialized knowledge of tools, techniques, and terminology.  This includes finite skills practiced into predictable habits with a positive mental attitude to successfully operate and manipulate the materials, equipment, and personnel involved.

“Hard” technical skills usually require hardware or physical tools, while “soft” technical skills usually require “mind ware” or “mental tools.”  Hardware may consist of anything from a bucket to a backhoe.  For example, an automotive technician may use wrenches, electronic-diagnostics machines, and other physical tools while performing “hard skills.”  Contrary, “soft” technical skills require mind ware or habits of thought.  For example, that same automotive technician may use such soft technical skills as teamwork, common sense, estimating, and other mental tools while performing job tasks.  To be sure, hard skills require some thought, and soft technical skills require some tools – pencils, paper, and computers come to mind.

Training in over 60 Soft Technical Skills© is available from www.BenchMark.Group/Lesson-Up.  The focus of each module is to make the mind ware or mental tools into habits of thought for your use on the job.

When arranged along a continuum, soft skills tend to be more abstract, while soft technical skills tend to be more concrete.  Examples of soft skills may include empathy toward others, appreciation of abstract art, creative expression, existentialism, and other skills.  Examples of soft technical skills include Confidentiality, Critical Thinking, Ethics on the Job, and other skills used in earning a living.  Some people contend that soft skills can only be learned by completing a bachelor or higher degree.  That may be true, but soft technical skills can be learned by a person looking to enter or advance in a career.  Every module for a Soft Technical Skill© contains a discrete body of knowledge with precise terms defined in context of a job.  In addition, every lesson includes a standard operating procedure (SOP) with a job aid for how to do the job task.

An occupational skills set is the “know how” of an occupational competency, consisting of a contextual (based on a specific situation or location) knowledge, positive attitudes, and mental and physical procedures and techniques rendered into on-the-job habits.  Every Soft Technical Skill© module produces a skills set in the soft technical skill.

To a point, they are. Employability skills are part of the Soft Technical Skills, namely modules on:

• Designing a Career
• Getting the Job
• Climbing the Career Ladder

These modules were developed to help solo learners and group instructors provide learners with quality technical instruction, resulting in successful employment and career advancement for every learner.

Each module is written by a team of technical professionals, consisting of:

• a lead writer who outlines the content
• technical experts who ensure precision, detail, and accuracy
• technicians who work in an occupation/career field of the competency
• line editors who correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• technical instructors who classroom-test the module with actual learners
• contributors, such as technical experts, instructors, and learners who make suggestions for improvements.

Each learner goes online to Lesson-Up. In the upper-right hand corner of the top banner of the Home page is a place to Sign In.  Enter your name and email address for access.

You may take the Practice eQuiz twice, once as a pre-test and second as a post-test. One caution: finish the entire module before taking the post-eQuiz.

The purpose of the eSurvey is to measure your attitude toward a particular Soft Technical Skill©. A person’s success in an occupation/career of choice is directly correlated to their work attitude. We’re here to help you improve your attitude toward work. Every module attempts to assist in that goal with the inclusion of music, humor/cartoons, and other positive aspects. The eSurvey helps you discover your attitudes and exhibit ever-more positive attitudes. (See Attitude on the Job module for more information.)

The Attitude eSurvey is designed to give an accurate assessment of your attitude toward the particular technical competency. If your responses indicate that you did not read and respond to each item individually, such as merely marking the same choice for every item, the eSurvey will advise the survey-taker accordingly. The survey also detects other forms of survey-taking inaccuracies.

For a Solo Learner (an individual person for a single module), the cost per subscription is $349. This includes all the module’s online instructional materials, guidance by a real-live mentor, and the cost of the Comprehensive Performance Examination for credentialing. This is payable up-front and is non-refundable. Subscriptions to subsequent modules are available at lower cost.  (See FAQ What are the Terms and Conditions of a subscription?)

By placing an order, the subscriber acknowledges:

• Having read and agreeing to these Terms & Conditions.
• Payment may be made by credit card via PayPal or via a purchase order.
• Modules become available online pending clearance by PayPal.
• The instructor/mentor/trainer is responsible for the content of each module.  The module content provided by Bench Mark Publications is suggested only.
• Available modules are those posted on the web site.  Updated and new modules are posted as they become available.
• Subscription costs are payable in advance and are not refundable.
• An annual subscription is considered to be twelve consecutive months or 365 days from date of purchase, or portion thereof.
• For institutional subscriptions, Bench Mark Publications reserves the right to designate what is a “qualifying institution.”
• All payments in US dollars.
• For details, please contact techsupport@benchmark.group.

A subscription for a solo learner lasts for thirty (30) days. Your progress will be monitored by a mentor. You will be given an opportunity to renew the subscription.

Every module’s eText, ePlan, PowerPoint, eQuiz, and eSurvey are continuously being reviewed, renewed, and updated. New technical information, equipment, techniques, and skill standards emerge seemingly daily. Technical experts review the content on a periodic basis. You may rest assured that you a learning the most current information.

The Soft Technical Skills Institute (STSI) is an independent agency which, via a Board of Review, establishes the minimum requirements for credentialing of competence in each Soft Technical Skill©.

Every learner who successfully completes a module is eligible to take a summative  Comprehensive Performance Examination covering that module. This exam is administered by the Soft Technical Skills Institute (STSI). This online examination consists of 40 multiple-choice recognition-&-recall test items plus a 41^st item which requires actual demonstration of the skill such as problem solving, creativity, design, and performance. As a candidate, the learner will be contacted by STSI for details on taking this proctored examination. The exam is not timed, but must be completed within one session. Completed examination forms are returned for grading by the STSI Board of Review.

When you successfully pass the Comprehensive Performance Examination, you are eligible to apply for credentialing from a panel of experts at the Soft Technical Skills Institute. A successful credential holder may refer employers, interviewers, job evaluators, and others to STSI. STSI describes in detail the competency standards that the you mastered, which may be used in your occupational resume, during job interviews, and/or during periodic performance evaluations while on the job.

The secret?  Learn more!

Researchers at McKINSEY did extensive international research of some four million workers over a decade.  Based on this research, they observed that the more occupational skills a worker masters over time, the more money they earn over their work life.  This contributes to being promoted in your current job.  This was enhanced by deliberately moving to another job where the those who were more skilled and productive were appreciated and rewarded.

To learn more about their research, go to If you want to grow in your career (and lifetime earnings), you need to focus on doing this by S. Smit, A. Madgovar, and B. Schaninger of McKINSEY at Fast Company.

How can you earn more?  Learn more!  You can begin by mastering a Soft Technical Skill© from Lesson-Up.

In the past, a person’s work life was “learn – do for several years – retire.”  That “learn-do-retire” formula worked for many people, but change is coming.  Jobs are always changing as new technology, new materials, and new techniques emerge.  In a Global Talent Trends study by the Mercer Company, Ravin Jesuthasen reported that 53% of organizations are identifying new skills needed for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs, and that those organizations want existing employees to become upskilled and do those evolving jobs.

In order to future-proof your job, you need to “learn, then do – learn more, then do and earn more – learn even more – then do some more.”

• Learn new skills
• Do the job
• Learn more new skills
• Do the newer job
• Learn even more skills
• Keep doing your ever-changing job

In the long run, you’ll save your job.  To future-proof your job, be prepared to reinvent yourself constantly.

Upskill yourself by learning a new Soft Technical Skill©.

Here is a visual of how our modules are organized into clusters. 

Soft Technical Skills lesson plans are a series of online lesson plans for teaching generic technical competencies to a small group of learners.

Every module has these five components:

• a learner-based eText containing the subject matter of the module
• an instructor-based ePlan containing instructional strategies on how to teach the module
• a PowerPoint presentation
• a Practice eQuiz
• an Attitude eSurvey

Soft Technical Skills© modules do contain a unique body of knowledge.  The term “soft skills stew” describes how some people view soft skills; everything in one pot.  Like a stew comprised of meat, vegetables, and seasonings, some view soft skills as all the skills blended together in one pot.  Some erroneously refer to this as “professionalism.”  For them, learning such skills often requires a college education.  The soft technical skills are, indeed, inter-related and interwoven, but each has a unique body of knowledge, key terms defined in an occupational context, and operational specifics.  Partitioning such skills makes each easier to learn and master.  Upon learning several soft skills, a technician naturally combines multiple soft technical skills into an operational and effective work pattern.

An eText is the subject matter of the module. Every eText is:

• is structured based on a series of key questions with precise and concise answers for each.

• is specifically written for easy reading, understanding, and retention.

• is written for electronic formats on all digital devices.

• provides access to a Practice eQuiz.

• provides access to an Attitude eSurvey.

The modules were developed for instructors/trainers/mentors with varying degrees of experience and expertise. Such instructors/trainers/mentors may be in various technical training facilities and situations, such as:

• community colleges
• cooperative career-& technical education
• technical training institutes
• in-house and in-plant corporate training programs
• proprietary trainers
• military training
• correctional institutions
• and other employment training situations

Every ePlan contains suggested learning activities, but several modules also contain an Enrichment Learning Activity which add depth, extension, and more intense academic rigor to the topic.  For example, the ePlans for several modules contain an Enrichment Learning Activity on Statistical Analysis of Data.  Others, such as the ePlan for Ethics on the Job, contains enrichment learning activities on The Work Ethic and The Nature of Free Will.  These Enrichment Learning Activities foster further research and learning about the topic.

Yes, there are four “big picture” intended outcomes.  The first is that every module, in some way, encourages learners to be creative on the job.  Increasingly, the work place expects and rewards technical employees who are creative and inventive in becoming more effective and efficient in accomplishing job tasks.  (See Designing on the Job module for more information.)

The second encourages learners to become trainers of others.  Training others not only sharpens one’s own technical skills, but develops interpersonal skills, such as organizing subject matter, presenting to a group of peers, assessing progress, and more.  (See Train the Trainer module for more information.)

The third encourages learners to become lead workers or supervisors of others, who perform similar technical tasks.  This often involves hiring, training, and supervising others like themselves.  (See Supervising module for more information.)

The fourth encourages learners to become self employed.  Almost every technical career lends itself, in some way, to being self employed: a freelancer, a franchisee, an entrepreneur, and other forms of self-directed employment.  In doing so, they can become self-actualized and they can enjoy a feeling of accomplishment and self worth.  (See Self-employment module for more information.)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), an arm of National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) defines non-cognitive aspects as background information about a learner.  There are three types of non-cognitive aspects.

• The first is general learner background, such as gender, age, race, geographic location, etc.
• The second is contextual/policy information, such as school settings, attendance, family background, reading aloud, and exposure to English in the home.
• The third is subject-specific background, such as time spent studying, learning experiences, motivation, and perceptions about the content.  Some educators contend that these latter non-cognitive aspects are soft skills.

The reading level of the eTexts varies slightly, but is generally at a USA 8^th to 10^th grade level, with a Sentence Complexity of about 20, and a Vocabulary Complexity of about 30 out of 100 (which is the most difficult).  The exact reading level is shown on the last page of each eText.  Reading levels range from the lowest, which is grade 7.67 for the Job Aid module, and up to the highest which is grade 10.4 for the Confidentiality module.  For context, USA TODAY has a reading level of about grade 6, while MOTOR TRENDS magazine has a reading level of about grade 13.  Certain child care text books have reading levels as high as grade 18, due to technical terms regarding brain development in children.

When subscribed, every ePlan contains classroom learning activities which augment and reinforce the subject matter in the eText.  Every ePlan contains:

• measurable learning objectives.
• suggested learning activities with discussion questions.
• terms with definitions in an occupational context.
• a PowerPoint presentation, which may be customized by the instructor.

For novice instructors, the ePlan provides step-by-step instructions on how to teach the module using different instructional approaches:

• Deductive approach
  • Lecturette/Discussion
  • Flipped Classroom
• Inductive approach
  • Problem-Based/Problem-Solving
  • Project-Based
  • Applied Research

When subscribed, go to www.Lesson-Up.net.  In the upper-right-hand corner of the Home page is a box labeled Instructor Login.  Enter your name and email address for access.

The Attitude eSurvey is designed to give an accurate assessment of your attitude toward the particular technical competency. If responses indicate that you did not read and respond to each item accurately, such as merely marking the same choice for every item, the eSurvey will advise the survey-taker accordingly. The survey also detects other forms of survey-taking inaccuracies.  The learner may re-try the eSurvey with the instructor’s permission.

• For a Solo Learner (an individual person for a single module), the cost per subscription is $349.  This includes all the module’s online instructional materials, guidance by a real-live mentor, and the cost of the Comprehensive Performance Examination for credentialing.  This is payable up-front and is non-refundable.  Subscriptions to subsequent modules are available at lower cost.  (See FAQ What are the Terms and Conditions of a subscription?)
• For a Group Instructor/Mentor/Trainer, the cost for a subscription to a complete module is $24.95 per learner for up to 20 learners.  Subscriptions to subsequent modules are available at lower cost.  (See FAQ What are the Terms and Conditions of a subscription?)
• For a Qualifying Institution, such as a technical school, community college, in-house training, or similar entity, the year-long subscription price for all available modules is $4,900.  (See FAQ What are the Terms and Conditions of a subscription?)

No. As an instructor, you may have up to 20 learners on each module.

A subscription for a group instructor lasts for thirty (30) days. An instructor will be reminded of the days remaining and will be given an opportunity to renew the subscription.

Every module’s eText, ePlan, PowerPoint, eQuiz, and eSurvey are continuously being reviewed, renewed, and updated.  New technical information, equipment, techniques, and skill standards emerge seemingly daily.  Technical experts review the content on a periodic basis.  When an instructor subscribes to a module, they can rest assured that they are teaching the most current information, and that they won’t need to buy new textbooks.

Every learner who successfully completes a module is eligible to take a summative  Comprehensive Performance Examination covering that module. This exam is administered by the Soft Technical Skills Institute (STSI). This online examination consists of 40 multiple-choice recognition-&-recall test items plus a 41^st item which requires actual demonstration of the skill such as problem solving, creativity, design, and performance. As a candidate, the learner will be contacted by STSI for details on taking this proctored examination. The exam is not timed, but must be completed within one session. Completed examination forms are returned for grading by the STSI Board of Review.

Yes, institutional subscriptions are available.  For an institution, such as a technical school, community college, in-house training, or similar entity, the introductory subscription flat-rate price is $4,900 for the institution’s full-time instructors’ access to all available modules for twelve months or portion thereof.  (Please see FAQ Terms-&-Conditions.)

An instructor may use any module in any manner they choose.  They may use all of the module or part.  The simplest is to teach the module by following the ePlan’s deductive approach, which uses the eText’s Key Questions sequentially.  An instructor may choose to skip around the eText’s Key Questions, focusing on those which are the most relevant to the occupation/career of choice.  Another option is that the instructor may choose to use one of the inductive approaches.  An instructor may choose to use only the eQuiz as a pre- and post-test prior to, and following instruction, or use the eSurvey as a way of focusing on developing positive work attitudes. Choices continue depending on the needs of the learner and the instructor.  Be creative!

GARFIELD © by Jim Davis is a cartoon cat character that hates Mondays. “GARFIELD Days” are unique school days, such as before or after weekends, holidays, semester breaks, vacations, etc. For some learners, focusing on schoolwork on a GARFIELD Day can be difficult, so many technical instructors vary the curriculum by teaching soft technical skills on those days.

That varies depending on several factors, such as the length of the session, the ability of the learners, the prior experiences of the learners, the number of learners per group, the content of the module, and others.  However, instructors report that, on average, they spend about four hours on each module.

In a “flipped classroom,” the instructor provides the instruction, usually in the form of a short, locally-produced video lecturette or demonstration, which learners watch online anytime before coming to class.  Upon doing so, learners come to class ready to discuss, practice, and apply the concepts through in-class learning activities.  This is the reverse or flip version of a traditional classroom, in which learners came to class to hear a lecture, after which they leave and do home work/practice.  Every Soft Technical Skill© module’s ePlan contains step-by-step details on how to teach the soft technical skills by flipping the classroom.

“Middle skills,” loosely defined, are those skills learned between receiving a high school diploma and a college bachelor’s degree.  More precisely, middle skills are those skills needed for high-paying, high-tech jobs in manufacturing, medical, computer, and other industries which are going unfilled.  More precisely yet, middle skills are those hard and soft skills needed by employers to perform advanced technical tasks.  According to an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled Who Can Fix the “Middle-Skills” Gap? about 69 million technicians – roughly 48% of the work force – have middle-skills jobs.

According to the authors – T. Kochan, D. Finegold, and P. Osterman – the skills landscape has changed.  Formerly, upward-mobile youth played by the rules and went to college to get ahead economically.  Now that has changed to needing middle skills consisting of both hard and Soft Technical Skill©, such as Learning on the Job, Systems Thinking, Managing Time, and others.

Every module focuses on training for a particular Soft Technical Skills©, but every module also contains supplemental educational instruction. This includes:

• music appreciation
• historical contexts
• humorous interpretations
• mathematical/statistical interpretations of data
• scientific methods of inquiry
• psychological understanding
• sociological activities

All of which contribute to academic rigor.

There are several differences between training and education. Here are a few:

• Some say training develops skills you can use today, while education imparts information you can use tomorrow.
• Others say training provides solutions to problems we know, while education provides solutions to problems we don’t know.
• Still, others contend that training helps you make a living, while education helps you make a life.
• Training helps you learn how to do something, while education helps you learn about something.

Still confused? You're in good company. Socrates, the Greek philosopher from about 400 BCE, stuggled to differentiate these same concepts.

Yes. Every module correlates to several learning standards, especially:

• Occupational Skills Standards
• Common Core Learning Standards
• NextGen Science Standards (NGSS), where applicable
• Essential Knowledge & Skills required for career success from the STATES’ CAREER CLUSTER INITIATIVE.
• PARCC is the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.
• SMARTER BALANCED ASSESSMENT CONSORTIUM has an assessment process which measures each learner’s progress toward meeting or exceeding the Common Core State Standards.
• P21 is an acronym for Partnership for 21^st Century Skills and Battele For Kids Frameworks & Resources. P21 is also an acronym for Pre-Kindergarten through grade 21, which defines the span of schooling grades covered beginning with Pre-Kindergarten up through graduate levels of education and training.  P21 provides teaching resources, such as a P21 Common Core Tool Kit”.  Every Soft Technical Skill© module contributes to specific skills defined in P21's Framework for 21^st Century Learning.  These specifics are shown in the ePlan for each module.

Every module contains a Practice eQuiz and a Comprehensive Performance Examination.  A major focus of the Soft Technical Skills Institute (STSI) is to monitor emerging assessments from learning standards providers in order to incorporate advances into every module.

Every Soft Technical Skill© module contains four forms of assessment.

1. The recommendation of the mentor/instructor of record.
2. An online eSurvey, which measures each learner’s attitude toward the particular soft technical skill. The eSurvey helps learners discover their attitudes and exhibit ever-more positive attitudes.
3. An online formative Practice eQuiz. The test items are based on Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy of REMEMBERING, UNDERSTANDING, APPLYING, ANALYZING, EVALUATING, and SYNTHESIZING/CREATING.
4. A summative Comprehensive Performance Examination. The first part is online and consists of forty (40) test items similar to the Practice eQuiz.  The second part is a hard-copy assessment of a learneer’s degree of competence.  This consists of challenges requiring problem solving, synthesizing, creativity, designing, actual demonstration of skill performance, and application of the concepts on a career/occupation of choice – a performance.

When a learner successfully passes all the assessments, they are eligible to apply for credentialing from a panel of experts at the Soft Technical Skills Institute (STSI).  This describes in detail the competency standards that the learner mastered.  Credentialing includes a digital badge for the particular Soft Technical Skill©.