Do+You+Have+The+Skills?

RECENTLY...
four participating organizations jointly surveyed over 400 employers across the United States. These employers articulate the skill sets that new entrants—recently hired graduates from high school, two-year colleges or technical schools, and four-year colleges—need to succeed in the workplace. Among the most important skills cited by employers: • Professionalism/Work Ethic • Oral and Written Communications • Teamwork/Collaboration and • Critical Thinking/Problem Solving.

In fact, the findings indicate that applied skills on all educational levels trump basic knowledge and skills, such as // Reading Comprehension // and // Mathematics //. In other words, while the “three Rs” are still fundamental to any new workforce entrant’s ability to do the job, employers emphasize that applied skills like // Teamwork/Collaboration // and // Critical Thinking // are “very important” to success at work.

A Poor Report Card
When asked to assess new workforce entrants, employers report that many of the new entrants lack skills essential to job success. AWorkforce Readiness Report Card presents each of the three educational levels considered in the study. Employers expect young people to arrive in the workplace with a set of basic and applied skills, and the Workforce Readiness Report Card makes clear that the reality is not matching expectations.

** • **** The Workforce Readiness Report Card for new entrants with a high school diploma does not have a single item in the Excellence List. All 10 skills that a majority of employer respondents rate as “very important” to workforce success are on the DEFICIENCY List. **

• For two-year college-educated entrants, one “very important” applied skill — // Information Technology Application // — appears on the Excellence List while seven skills appear on the Deficiency List.

• Only for the four-year college-educated entrants to the workforce is the Excellence List longer than the Deficiency List on the Report Card.

- =** (ALL RESPONSES ARE TO BE WRITTEN BELOW THIS LINE) **=

Prompt 1: In your own words, define professionalism and work ethic and then describe your professionalism and work ethic. Prompt 2: Of these four skills, categorize each of these skills for yourself as "S" for Strong or "N" for Not Strong. Prompt 3: Who's responsibility is it for high school students to have these skills when they graduate? ("T" for Teacher, "S" for Student, or "B" for Both) Prompt 4: What can you do so that you will not be categorized as deficient by your future employers?