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What Employers Want In Entry-Level Employees
Posted by Doug Walker on 3/6/2017From Boston Advanced Technological Education Connection (BATEC), surveyof employers (2007):
- Communication skills (oral and written)
- Ability to work productively in teams and groups (teamworkskills)
- Customer and business focus (understanding the big picture)
- Ability to listen for meaning and comprehension
- Ability to prioritize work and self-evaluate (self-reflection andtime management)
- Development of original solutions to novel problems (problemsolving)
- Ability to lead and act responsibility (leadership and ethics)
Lindqvist and Westman (2011) survey of labor market outcomes for men in Sweden for noncognitive skills:
- Willingness to assume responsibility
- Independence
- Outgoing character
- Persistence
- Emotional stability
- Initiative
- Social skills
Interpersonal Capacities in 21st Century Skills Framework, 2010:
Work Creatively with Others
- Develop, implement, and communicate new ideas to others effectively
- Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work
- Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the realworld limits to adopting new ideas
- View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation is a long-term, cyclical process of small successes and frequent mistakes
Communicate Clearly
- Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills in a variety of forms and contexts
- Listen effectively to decipher meaning, including knowledge, values, attitudes, and intentions
- Use communication for a range of purposes (e.g., to inform, instruct, motivate, and persuade)
- Utilize multiple media and technologies, and know how to judge their effectiveness a priori as well as to assess their impact
- Communicate effectively in diverse environments (including multilingual)
Collaborate with Others
- Demonstrate ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams
- Exercise flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal
- Assume shared responsibility for collaborative work, and value the individual contributions made by each team member
METHODS OF ASSESSING INTERPERSONAL SKILLS, National Academy of Sciences Report, 2011
Social-Technical
• Translating client needs into technical specifications
• Researching technical information to meet client needs
• Justifying or defending technical approach to clientSocial
• Reaching consensus on work team
• Polling work team to determine ideasTechnical
• Using tools, languages, and principles of domain
• Generating a product that meets specific technical criteria
• Interpreting problems using principles of domain -
Entry-Level Employability Rubric Resources
Posted by Doug Walker on 3/6/2017Highest Ranked Soft Skills For Entry Level Employees - Ranked by Employers in the Seattle Jobs Initiatives Report
- Communication:
- Oral Communication
- Ability to listen (not talk too much)
- Appropriate use of grammar (no slang)
- Use of professional dialogue
- Customer service skills
- Listening skills
- Talking in a linear fashion (getting to the point)
- Talking without use of fillers, such as “ah”, between sentences.
- Ability to type without errors in spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure
- Ability to provide concise responses
- Ability to speak with confidence
- Non-verbal communication - eye contact, smiling, positive body language
- Politeness
- Self-Direction
- Ability to articulate what types of training you need
- Good judgement and common sense
- Keeping the big picture in mind when making decisions (not being too rigid or too loose with the rules)
- Problem Solving
- Ability to fix problems rather than “band-aiding” them
- Ability to be proactive and find alternatives to problems
- Accepts and adapts to change
- Manages stress professionally
- Takes effective and appropriate action
- Professionalism
- Showing up and looking the part, dressed for success
- Being prepared
- Complying with dress code
- Ability to write professional emails
- Staying within ethical boundaries
- Accountable for actions
- Reliability
- Dependable - follows through with work on time
- Attendance - regular and on time
- Communicated regarding expectations, deadlines and setbacks
- Teamwork/Interpersonal
- Respects the cultural values of others
- Gets along with others
- Performs well on a team
- Positively resolves conflict in a timely manner
- Acknowledges others in a positive and appropriate manner
Links:
http://www.seattlejobsinitiative.com/wp-content/uploads/SJI_SoftSkillsReport_vFINAL_1.17.13.pdf
http://www.workreadiness.com/images/WRCprofile.pdf
http://actfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/National-Network_EmployabilitySkills_July2014.pdf
http://cte.ed.gov/employabilityskills/index.php/framework/sources
https://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.pdf