Career readiness & employability skills
Demographers have predicted that the first person who will live to be 150 has already been born. This means that children entering school today face the possibility of being the first generation of workers with 100-year careers.
Employability is a journey, not a destination. A career path, not a job. Employers and institutions have the opportunity to help learners advance in their journeys as the economy and technology impact jobs. This means reconfiguring job roles, rethinking education, and equipping ourselves and our children with the human skills to succeed.
We all need to embrace lifelong learning, continuously acquiring new knowledge and skills to thrive in an ever-changing and increasingly connected world. If we can make changes as individuals, and in our roles as educators or employers, we can turn the challenges we face into opportunities for personal, economic, and societal growth.
Emerging careers
Explore fast-growing specialized professions that offer your students new opportunities for rewarding careers—with the right education and skills.
Top employability skills for the 21st century
We’ve identified four areas that make up employability, based on formal and informal research with employers, educators, and learners.
Core academic competencies
One key component of career readiness is the ability to put core academic knowledge — like literacy, numeracy, and writing — and critical thinking skills to use in the workplace. Mastery of these core competencies prepares learners to analyze, reason, plan, and organize to make sound decisions.
Personal & social capabilities
The ability to build and maintain effective relationships is critical to success in any career in any sector of the job market. Personal and social capabilities, or “soft skills,” are the interpersonal skills and personal qualities that enable individuals to manage themselves and interact effectively with others in the workplace.
Career knowledge & transitional skills
We recognize that making a positive impact on employment outcomes is about more than helping people get jobs; it’s also about preparing them for long-term success as their professional goals and employment opportunities evolve over time. With an understanding of career pathways and a well-developed set of transition skills like networking and interviewing, lifelong learners are better prepared to progress to and within their careers.
Occupational competencies
In addition to core academic competencies, career readiness requires the mastery of occupation-specific competencies developed in both formal and experiential learning environments. This includes mastering specialized skills required to complete the functions and tasks of a particular job, and this mastery is often signified through industry-recognized credentials.
Empathy is in demand
Empathy can and should be taught. It’s an in-demand skill that can help students flourish in their studies, careers, and lives. Read about three aspects of empathy, its challenges, and how it can be taught.