51̽»¨ Readiness Competencies: Skills Employers Are Looking For
The skills employers look for go beyond a major or GPA. They include how you communicate,
solve problems, work with others, and adapt in real‑world situations.
To help students understand and build these skills, the National Association of Colleges
and Employers (NACE) worked with employers to identify key career readiness competencies
and the behaviors that demonstrate them. These behaviors give you clear, practical
ways to recognize your strengths, identify skill gaps, and intentionally grow throughout
your college experience. Explore the competencies and sample behaviors below to see
how you can prepare for success in the workplace.
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.
Sample Behaviors
- Show an awareness of own strengths and areas for development.
- Identify areas for continual growth while pursuing and applying feedback.
- Develop plans and goals for one’s future career.
- Professionally advocate for oneself and others.
- Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn.
- Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally.
- Establish, maintain, and/or leverage relationships with people who can help one professionally
• Seek and embrace development opportunities.
- Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support
one’s career.
Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with
people inside and outside of your organization.
Sample Behaviors
- Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body
language, abilities.
- Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills.
- Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand.
- Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual
communication abilities, and cultural differences.
- Ask appropriate questions for specific information from supervisors, specialists,
and others.
- Promptly inform relevant others when needing guidance with assigned tasks.
Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and
logical analysis of relevant information.
Sample Behaviors
- Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment.
- Gather and analyze information from multiple sources and individuals to fully understand
a problem.
- Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps.
- Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that
may impact outcomes.
- Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the perspectives and lived
experiences of stakeholders.
- Multi-task well in a fast-paced environment.
Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational
goals.
Sample Behaviors
- Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
- Seek out and leverage resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
- Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
- Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive
attitude.
- Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
Plan, initiate, manage, complete, and evaluate projects
Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work
habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.
Sample Behaviors
- Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization.
- Maintain a positive personal brand in alignment with organization and personal career
values.
- Be present and prepared.
- Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings).
- Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals.
- Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations.
- Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work.
- Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job.
Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals,
while appreciating viewpoints and shared responsibilities.
Sample Behaviors
- Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions
without interrupting.
- Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
- Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
- Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
- Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
- Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.
Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks,
and accomplish goals.
Sample Behaviors
- Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies.
- Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work.
- Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks.
- Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely
decision-making.
- Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies.
- Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.
Reprinted courtesy of the
Next Steps
Now that you’ve explored the competencies and identified some of the ways you have
gained these skills, explore our online career resources to learn how you can demonstrate
your career readiness to employers. Consider making an appointment with your 51̽»¨ Coach to help identify other competency-related experiences and articulate your competencies
into a professional story for interviewing, networking, and promoting your strengths
and experiences.