Career Services
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Career Services News
April 21, 2016

Employers Identify Four “Must Have” Skills

What You Need to Know in Your Job Search

Posted in: Career Services General News

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The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) developed a Career Readiness Checklist based on seven competencies that are expected of new hires. These competencies include:

  • Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
  • Oral/Written Communication
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • Information Technology Application
  • Leadership
  • Professionalism/Work Ethic
  • Career Management

Although NACE’s checklist is a good way to measure your career readiness, you may question how important each of these competencies are to employers. NACE recently surveyed over 100 employers to ask just that. What they found were the top four skills that employers deemed to be “essential” in the college graduates they are looking to hire.

Top 4 “Must Haves”

  1. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

    • Exercise sound reasoning to analyze issues, make decisions, and overcome problems.
    • Obtain, interpret, and use knowledge, facts, and data in this process, and may demonstrate originality and inventiveness.

  2. Professionalism/Work Ethic

    • Demonstrate personal accountability and effective work habits, such as punctuality, working productively with others, and time workload management.
    • Understand the impact of non-verbal communication on professional work image.
    • Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior.
    • Act responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind.
    • Learn from mistakes.

  3. Teamwork/Collaboration

    • Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers representing diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, religions, lifestyles, and viewpoints.
    • Work within a team structure.
    • Effectively negotiate and manage conflict.

  4. Oral/Written Communication

    • Articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral forms to persons inside and outside of the organization.
    • Demonstrate public speaking skills and able to express ideas to others.
    • Write/edit memos, letters, and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.

Career Services can help you prepare!

Career Services at Montclair State University offers a wide array of resources and programming aimed at helping you at all stages of your career development. In collaboration with the Career Services Directors in each college/school, the Center for Career Services provides the tools, training, and exposure to opportunities that empower students and alumni to achieve career readiness and develop lifelong career management skills.

View upcoming workshops designed to prepare you for the workforce!

Need help?

Contact your Career Services Director. Or, you can contact the Center for Career Services at 973-655-5194 or careerserv@mail.montclair.edu.

Source: Job Outlook 2016 Spring Update, National Association of Colleges and Employers

The Job Outlook 2016 Spring Update survey was conducted from February 10 – March 22, 2016. The survey was sent to 944 NACE members; 144, or 15.3 percent, responded