Written by: Anonymous
Career readiness and employability skills lesson plans have become an increasingly critical part of education. Employers are desperately seeking people with a combination of skills that seem to fall under this career readiness and employability umbrella that also include such things as soft skills, customer service skills and life skills.
Imagine sending your students on to their career or college goals and aspirations knowing that you’ve done the very best to help them shine among their peers in whatever field they’ve chosen. That’s really what it’s all about, right?
At the heart of every educator is a desire to help each student be confident and proud in their accomplishments and successful in their futures.
To that end, we have many teachers and administrators and directors asking us, “How can I make career readiness and employability skills lesson plans engaging and age appropriate for middle and high school students?”
To provide that answer, we first have to understand what students need to master to be viewed as career-ready and employable.
What are important employability characteristics?
First, let’s take a look at what are the most important employability characteristics right now.
The National Associations of Colleges and Employers, NACE, recently published the skills and qualities that employers are looking for in college graduates. In the report, NACE states: “Employers considering new college graduates for job openings are looking for leaders who can work as part of a team and communicate effectively.”
They go on to assign percentage of importance to several characteristics that support that statement. Here are the skills NACE reports as most important to employers, in order of priority:
Leadership
Ability to work in a team
Communication skills (written)
Problem-solving skills
Strong work ethic
Analytical/Quantitative skills
Technical skills
Communication skills (verbal)
Initiative
Computer skills
Flexibility/Adaptability
Interpersonal skills
Detail-oriented
Organisational ability
Strategic planning skills
Friendly/Outgoing personality
Entrepreneurial skills/Risk-taker
Tactfulness
Creativity
Why are soft skills important for students?
Along with employability skills and career readiness, soft skills lesson plans have become an important part. Students can’t skip or gloss over them. Leaving soft skills lesson plans out of your courses puts your students at a disadvantage in the workplace. And ensuring mastery requires time and effort (technical skills alone will not get the job done).
Here’s why including soft skills lesson plans is so critical:
1) Companies Demand It
So-called soft skills are the bedside manner of the workplace. They are the transferable skills that employees use in every job in every industry. The economy will continue to emphasise customer service. While graduates can have the technical or knowledge-based ability (i.e. certifications) to do a job well, often soft skills are the make-or-break in getting and keeping a job.
2) Better Customer Service
Regardless of the job (CNA, auto mechanic, EMT, etc.) being able to relate to customers is required. Gone are the days where people could focus only on the technical skills they brought to the job. Superior customer support for companies is a key differentiator in a crowded competitive market place. A key competency in the service economy is how you treat customers and nothing is more important in the healthcare field.
3) Technical Skills Will Change
Technology is impacting all of us at work, at home and as consumers. Technical skills change quickly as tools, software, and innovation are introduced in every job across all industries. Now the rub, these changes in technical skills, put pressure on standards and programs to adapt and keep up. Soft skills, on the other hand, do not change as fast and are transferable to any job.
What are life skills for students?
It seems that life skills means something different to just about all of us. For some, life skills are similar to soft skills and employability skills. For others, they are more like traditional family and consumer science skills.
The Life Skills Handbook, defines life skills to include “decision-making, goal setting, problem-solving, coping with stress, coping with emotions, negotiating, friendship, interpersonal relationships, empathy (concern for others), critical thinking, creative thinking, resisting peer pressure, assertiveness.”
In depth, saying, “There is no definitive list of life skills, certain skills may be more or less relevant to you depending on your life circumstances, your culture, beliefs, age, geographic location etc. Perhaps the most important life skill is the ability to learn. By learning new skills we increase our understanding of the world around us and equip ourselves with the tools we need to live a more productive and fulfilling life. Life skills are not always taught directly but often learned indirectly through experience and practice.”
And now that we know what they are - don’t you think your students ought to have them? If they aim to be employed at some point, they better get them. Life skills are a way that your students can differentiate from other qualified candidates when looking for a job.
Reference: http://www.aeseducation.com/careercenter21/employability-skills-lesson-plans/
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