5 Essential Skills Needed by Adult Learners
Continuing Education Abilities Desired of Graduates by Employers
Employers considering an applicant for a position within their company require specific essential skills beyond completion of a college degree. These abilities are grounded in college course work, along with skills developed during lifelong learning experiences. To succeed in any work place, adults must be aware of these vital skills employers want new employees to bring with them into the workplace after completing their continuing education.
Employee skills are typically divided into two branches: hard and soft skills. Hard skills are those learned in books and hands-on experience. Hard skills get a potential employee in the door; however, the essential skills employers seek are soft skills. These include employee work ethics, habits, and traits. These soft skills are formed from life experiences and developed during successful continuing education endeavors.
Soft Skills: Crucial Expertise Employers Seek in College Graduates
The following are five essential skills employers seek in adults completing continuing education.
Work Ethic Skills – successful adult students have a strong work ethic, because academic success requires hard work and diligence. Employers seek new employees with a strong work ethic for potential leadership, responsibility, and for filling key positions within a company. Employers seek graduates with strong academic performance and participation in professional or college organizations.
One example is seeking a leadership or membership role in an organization on campus, such as the Student American Association of Civil Engineers or Commerce Associates. All colleges and schools provide a list of organizations.
Communication Skills – the ability to speak and write clearly are essential skills for academic success and the workplace. Communicating clearly is a matter of knowing what to say and then using appropriate tools to say it in writing or in speech. Knowing what to say is often the hardest part; however, proper research concerning a topic is evident to both an instructor and employer when it is presented clearly and concisely.
One example of developing good communication skills is to volunteer to work for the school newspaper. If no newspaper exists, create one, or start a news blog. This helps develop writing skills and learning to meet deadlines.
Problem Solving Skills – this essential skill not only includes the ability to solve a problem after it occurs, it also means having the ability to predict problems in advance. This is where science and math courses have their place in college. The ability to hypothesize or conjecture is critical to predicting the outcome of events or development of new practices in a business. Employers seek employees who can visualize outcomes and avoid negative outcomes.
One example is practicing the ability to think ahead. Observing situations or interactions among people or events and then predicting the outcome, along with recommendations to resolve problems that may arise. Writing predictions down in a journal or blog with solutions based on predicted outcomes assist the mind with developing problem solving skills.
Critical Thinking Skills – is the ability of people to take charge of their own thinking and learning. This requires development of criteria and standards for analyzing and assessing information. Critical thinking is used throughout continuing education courses. Decisive thinking requires previewing, contextualizing, questioning, reflecting, and analyzing information received through a variety of means.
One example is reading a supporting article related to course material. Analyze each sentence, every word, and supporting resources to determine if the information is factual. This is called fact checking when the information is analyzed using prior knowledge, experiences, and other reliable resources. Fact checking is an important aspect of critical thinking.
Research Skills – is the ability to learn how to learn. Research is learning how to recognize important information rather than just remembering. Research is also having the ability to determine how the parts fit within the whole, rather than a bunch of unconnected parts. This becomes the ability to recognize patterns within a process.
One example is thinking out of the box to find resources for a research project. Instead completing a paper or project using the same old tired resources and thought processes, be creative and look for resources beyond the norm. Most people rarely venture beyond the first page of sources presented by a search engine; going past the first page offers other ideas and views.
Making Connections: Essential Skills in Continuing Education and Workplace Soft Skills
These five essential skills are transferable from an education environment to the workplace. Employers seek employees who not only have the hard skills learned in college; they also desire employees who have the soft skills to become successful within the company. Employers also want employees who work well with others in team settings, are creative, and are confident in their abilities. These idyllic employees are self-starters who can handle responsibility and leadership roles, along with improving the bottom line of a company.
Essential Skills Needed For Success
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