While technical skills are critical to your professional success, there are other factors that can determine your career readiness. In other words, you may know how to execute job functions, but you may need more training in how to succeed at work or manage your career in the long term. Sometimes, these are referred to as hard and soft skills. Hard skills are typically learned in a classroom or during job training. Soft skills are acquired through exposure to a variety of experiences that contribute to your personal growth.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers has identified eight career competencies (a combination of hard and soft skills), compiled from employer feedback, each of which can be demonstrated in a variety of ways (see sample behaviors) and that contribute to career readiness.
They are:
- Career & Self-Development: Proactively develop oneself and one's career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities, and networking to build relationships within and without one's organization.
- Communication: Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.
- Critical Thinking: Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.
- Equity & Inclusion: Demonstrate the awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures. Engage in anti-racist practices that actively challenge the systems, structures, and policies of racism.
- Leadership: Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.
- Professionalism: Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.
- Teamwork: Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.
- Technology: Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals.
Reprinted courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers
How career ready are you?
Fill out our NACE Competencies Chart to see potential room for growth.
Ready to develop your career readiness competencies? Develop your skills and add a line to your resume with a career readiness certification.
Earn a Career Readiness Certification
- Self-enroll in our Canvas course: go.umd.edu/careerreadiness.
- Complete the pre-course survey.
- Finish 11 modules (approx. 4 hours) in any order you choose.
- To earn your certicate, all module quizzes must be completed with a perfect score.
- You have up to 3 attempts to complete each quiz.
- Fill out the post-course survey.
- Email careerengr@umd.edu or visit 1131 Martin Hall to receive your certificate.
- Successful completion is defined as perfect scores on all module quizzes and completion of pre and post course surveys.