Career readiness is the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace. Both curricular and co-curricular experiences at OSU-Cascades foster development of the skills below and prepare students to be career ready by the time they graduate.
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving: Exercise sound reasoning to analyze issues, make decisions, and overcome problems. Obtain, interpret, and use knowledge, facts and data, and potentially demonstrate originality and inventiveness.
Oral/Written Communications: Articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral forms to persons inside and outside of the organization. Public speaking skills; ability to express ideas to others; write/edit memos, letters, and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.
Teamwork/Collaboration: Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers representing diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, religions, lifestyles, and viewpoint. Work within a team structure; negotiate and manage conflict.
Digital Technology: Leverage existing digital technologies ethically and efficiently to solve problems, complete tasks, and accomplish goals. Demonstrate effective adaptability to new and emerging technologies.
Leadership: Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals, and use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others. Assess and manage emotions and emotions of others; use empathetic skills to guide and motivate; organize, prioritize, and delegate work.
Global/Intercultural Fluency: Value, respect, and learn from diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and religions. Demonstrate openness, inclusiveness, sensitivity, and the ability to interact respectfully with all people and understand individuals’ differences.
Professionalism/Work Ethic: Demonstrate personal accountability and effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time workload management, and 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.
Career Management: Identify and articulate one’s skills, strengths, knowledge, and experiences relevant to the position desired and career goals, and identify areas necessary for professional growth. Navigate and explore job options, understand and take steps necessary to pursue opportunities, understand how to self-advocate for opportunities in the workplace.
Are you career ready? Take our short self-assessment to find out.
The eight competencies associated with career readiness for new college graduates were identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers through a task force comprised of representatives from both higher education and corporate businesses.