With the new semester underway, comes new experiences, and new opportunities to learn, grow, and prepare for your future.
Whether you’re just beginning your first year at BSU or set to graduate this semester, developing your career readiness is an important part of making the most of your experience.
Career readiness is about building skills, experiences, and habits that help you succeed in the workplace and demonstrate your value to employers. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), these competencies include:
- Career & Self-Development
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Equity & Inclusion
- Leadership
- Professionalism
- Teamwork
- Technology
The good news is that you can build these skills in many ways, including coursework, student organizations, internships, part-time jobs, volunteering, study abroad, undergraduate research, and many other experiences.
Not sure where to start? Ask yourself:
- What competency do I feel is a strength of mine?
- Which areas could I use more development or gain more experience in?
- What opportunities can help me grow that competency this semester?
The Focus2 “Am I Career Ready?” assessment can help you answer these questions. You can gain insight into your strengths, learn how much employers value each competency, and how your results align, and discover ways to continue building the skills you may have less experience in.
As you begin the semester, take one small step to identify one competency you’d like to strengthen and seek out opportunities to build that skill.
Ready to get started? Take the Focus2 “Am I Career Ready?” assessment and explore BSU’s Career Readiness: What Employers Are Looking For resource page to learn more about the eight competencies and how to develop and articulate them throughout your time at BSU.
