When you embark on a higher education journey, you’re looking to get more than “just a job” out of your investment. You want a rewarding, challenging career that offers opportunities and progress.
But preparing for a lifelong career journey is more than learning job-related skills in your degree program – it’s about having the competencies to enter the workforce and thrive. Unfortunately, many degree programs focus on the theoretical aspects of the area of study, not how it translates in the real world.
That’s where career readiness comes in. With career readiness, you can learn transferable skills that are essential in the modern workplace, no matter what career path you choose to take.
What Is Career Readiness?
Career readiness is a broad term that refers to the foundational career skill sets students need to transition into the workforce. Encompassing more than just basic skills, career readiness is designed to support a seamless transition from an educational environment to the “real world.”
Though career readiness can include different focus areas, it generally focuses on financial security, personal health, and continuous professional growth that continues throughout the student’s lifetime.
Career Readiness Skills
Job skills are divided into two areas: hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills are the job-related knowledge and competencies that employees need to perform their work duties effectively. For example, a software engineer needs competencies in programming, coding, and software development, while an accountant needs hard skills in financial reporting, financial modeling, and payroll.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are skills that help employees thrive in the workplace. These are generally transferable skills that are useful in virtually every role, such as emotional intelligence, strong verbal and written communication, time management, and critical thinking.
Career readiness focuses on a range of different hard and soft skills. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the career readiness competencies include:
Career Development
Students should demonstrate self-awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses and understand how to pursue professional growth through continuing education, mentorships, or other skill-building opportunities. They should also be intellectually curious and driven to continuous self-improvement – both professionally and personally.
Communication
Communication is essential to every workplace. Students should have clear, concise, and culturally aware communication skills in verbal, non-verbal, and written formats.
Critical Thinking
Students should have strong critical thinking skills and the ability to solve problems by gathering information, asking questions, and translating research into a proactive plan.
Equity and Inclusion
Students should have the ability to recognize and consider different cultural viewpoints and advocate for equitable workplace practices and inclusivity.
Leadership
Students should set an example for others through coaching, planning and executing projects, and sharing the broad organizational goals and vision. This is especially important for students looking to transition into leadership roles.
Professionalism
Professionalism is a broad competency that includes being on time, focused on the task, and always behaving with integrity and ethics.
Teamwork
Workplaces often involve team projects that require students to collaborate with others, sometimes leading and sometimes following. Teamwork skill building includes fostering individual and group accountability and demonstrating conflict management.
Technology
Technology is vital to many workplaces and helps with productivity. Students should be comfortable with different technology solutions and have a desire to learn and embrace emerging technologies.
Additional Career Readiness Skills
Time and Stress Management
Both time and stress management are important for busy modern workplaces. Time management is a strategy to find the time to complete tasks according to priority and urgency. This is intimately connected to stress management, which refers to controlling stress and staying resilient in the face of stressful situations. This is especially important in careers that are known for being fast paced and high stress, such as medicine or law.
Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship is the responsible use of technology for anyone who uses computers, the internet, or digital devices. With technology’s current role in both workplaces and society at large, digital citizenship is a key component of career readiness.
Financial Literacy
Other than students in a finance degree program, most high schools and colleges fail to prepare students for financial literacy in the real world. This refers to the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources and achieve financial wellbeing, including topics like interest rates, credit scores, and budgeting.
Practical Knowledge
Practical knowledge is at the core of career readiness. Theoretical knowledge isn’t enough to prepare students for a career path after school. Having practical skills that translate into the workplace helps students impress potential employers and achieve long-term success with their career goals.
Bridging the Gap
The days of starting out in an entry-level position and working your way up are all but over. Students are expected to graduate and jump into the career world with all the skills they need and virtually no learning curve – which is one area that college programs may not cover.
Sophia Learning’s Career Readiness courses can help students focus their education into career-ready skills that can prepare them to take their learning beyond the theoretical into the practical. The courses cover topics like communication, selecting and applying for jobs, professionalism, and employability to help bridge the gap between academics and employment. Some careers may even require additional testing to enter into the field, which is where tools like Career Employer can assist in your preparation!
Get Career-Ready at Sophia
Career readiness includes all the hard and soft skills and competencies that students should have as a foundation for their career and to make a smooth transition from education to employment. If you want to set yourself up for success after graduation, start your free trial at Sophia and explore our career readiness courses!
