Student Competencies and Behaviours:

What Employers Expect

Melanie Parker (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Anthony Arcieri (Harvard University), and Judith Baines (University of Hertfordshire)

The Importance of the Right Competencies

Definitions of terms (Oxford Dictionary)

Competency:• The ability to do something successfully or efficiently

Behaviours: • The way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially

towards othersOr• The way in which a person behaves in response to a

particular situation or stimulus

National Association of Colleges and Employers Career Readiness Competencies

Critical thinking / problem solvingOral / written communications

Teamwork / collaborationDigital technology

LeadershipProfessionalism / work ethic

Career managementGlobal / Intercultural Fluency

Association of Graduate Recruiters 2016 Development Survey: Gaps in Skills Training

Teamwork

Interpersonal communication

Problem-solving

Self-awareness

Business communication

Commercial awareness

Negotiating/influencing

Dealing with conflict

Managing up

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Skills training by graduate intake

Trained on this skill once hired Have this skill when hired

National Association of Colleges and Employers, Job Outlook 2016: Employers Rate Importance of Candidate Skills

Burning Glass developed and manages the nation’s largest database of online job postingsUsing advanced intelligence text mining to code 70+ facts about online job postings

Visit 45,000+

online job sites daily

Collect & de-duplicate

1M+ job postings daily

Parse 70 fields to generate detailed

data for each individual posting

• Job Title & Occupation• Employer & Industry• Technical Skills• Foundational Skills• Certifications• Educational

Requirements• Experience Levels• Salaries

• Variants coded to standardized skills to ease searching and enable analyses• Tracks demand, align programs with employers needs, gives students a

roadmap

Real-Time Analytics for Competencies and Skills

Institutional Approaches

• Embedded or add-on•Credit bearing or extra-curricular•Discipline specific vs generic approach• Employer Responsibility?

Table Discussion

~20 Minutes Discussing the Question(s) at Your Table

Increases students’ ability to utilize spreadsheets for business decision-making

Capstone course, including social, professional and spiritual development

Career management skills

Communication skills training to prepare and participate in a case competition

• Undergraduate program designed to broaden students’ education, inspire creativity and enhance professional impact. Over 20 course options. • Careers Service offers the interactive Professional Skills for Employability

course which includes teamwork, presentation, networking and business etiquette skills.