Large circle at center reads "Career Readiness Competencies." 8 surrounding circles list the following competencies: Career and Self Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity and Inclusiong, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, and Technology.
Career Readiness Competencies

What are career readiness competencies?

Career readiness competencies, or career readiness skills, are eight foundational principles defined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). These competencies have been specified to help students and university faculty and staff to understand and put into practice the traits, perspectives, and knowledge necessary to be successful across a number of career paths and industries. The competencies are outlined below.

Definition: developing career through personal and professional learning, knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigating career opportunities, and networking to build relationships 

Associated Behaviors: goal setting; exploring areas of growth; applying feedback; displaying curiosity; learning about strengths; establishing and maintaining relationships; seeking opportunities

Definition: clearly and effectively sharing information, ideas, and perspectives

Associated Behaviors: using active listening; communicating in an organized manner; asking appropriate questions

Definition: understanding the context of a situation and using logical analysis

Associated Behaviors: using inclusive reasoning; gathering information from a variety of sources; accurately summarizing and interpreting data; anticipating needs and prioritizing actions

Definition: demonstrating awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures; engaging in anti-racist practices that actively challenge the systems, structures, and polices of racism

Associated Behaviors: advocate for inclusion, justice, and empowerment; keep an open mind to diverse and new ways of thinking; address and reflect on systems of privilege; ask for feedback from multiple cultural perspectives

Definition: recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals

Associated Behaviors: inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others; use innovative thinking; serve as a role model; plan, manage, and complete projects

Definition: knowing work environments different greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, act in the interest of the larger community and workplace

Associated Behaviors: act with integrity and accountability; be present and prepared; have attention to detail; show dedication; be dependable and meet or exceed goals

Definition: build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilites

Associated Behaviors: listen careful to others; manage conflict; interact with and respect diverse personalities; compromise and be agile; build strong, positive working relationships

Definition: understand and leverage technologies to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals

Associated Behaviors: navigate change and be open to new technologies; use technology to improve efficiency and productivity; achieve goals and solve problems with innovative ideas and devices

Why are career readiness competencies important?

We know that students learn a great deal in a liberal arts education. Naming those learning outcomes is greatly beneficial to students, particularly in seeing how their education has helped them build skills they will rely on whatever they chose to do post-graduation. By using the common language in identifying those outcomes and competencies, students can track their own growth and faculty/staff can identify how their work is valuable not just in terms of learning outcomes in their program area but to the university as a whole.

I’m struggling to identify these competencies in my experiences. How can I determine where or how well I’m using these competencies?

There are various options available for exploring the career competencies or self-evaluating:

For faculty and staff: