Workplace Skills

Students need practice with career-related skills and processes that employers will expect them to have. Academic content teachers as well as career-technical teachers must be able to identify and isolate those skills—identified as "General Career Skills" by Standards First—that students will need in order to find and maintain full-time employment.

These skills cut across many career fields and can often be found amongst the process skills listed for various academic content areas. Expertise in these areas can help students not only to achieve their career goals, but to become well-rounded and fully functioning adults as well.

The list of skills included by Standards First in the "General Career Skills" category had its genesis in the 1992 SCANS 2000 report, an extensive study of workplace skills that would be required by the year 2000. Provided below is an abridged list meant to help Standards First teacher team members identify crucial job skills in lessons they review for inclusion in the Ohio Resource Center. It can also provide guidance to teachers and school administrators who want to identify these skills in their own lessons to develop mastery in their students.

Listed below are those skills identified by Standards Firsts central to career and life issues, and a short description. Readers are encouraged to refer to the complete SCANS report for an exhaustive study of requisite job skills.

Personal Skills / Application of Academic Content Skills / Organizational Skills / The Conventional Classroom Compared With the SCANS Classroom / Additional Resources

Personal Skills
Acting with "common sense" Considering each action in light of known facts, the nature of the business or industry, widely anticipated reactions of others (including clients), and widely anticipated results. Acting ethically and with integrity Practicing general ethical traits (honesty, fairness, equity, justice). Acting accountably Taking responsibility for one's action or lack of action; recognizing and accepting the consequences. Flexibility Adjusting to changing circumstances, information, personnel, client needs, etc. Maintaining appropriate personal standards Maintaining personal health, dressing appropriately, observing personal hygiene, adhering to the conventions of language and behavior for the situation (job site, interview, etc.).	Self-motivation Demonstrating a willingness to take initiative. Appreciation for workplace diversity Recognizing the importance of diversity within the workplace and the increasingly global nature of the job market and fostering that diversity. Having a positive attitude Recognizing the importance of a positive outlook and practicing a positive approach to the workplace, its challenges, and its personnel. Continually learning Assessing personal strengths and weaknesses, demonstrating the ability to learn from experience, taking initiative to develop a formal learning plan, and/or gathering information from co-workers, supervisors, job manuals, the Internet, or other sources. Working safely Having an understanding of and practicing safe work habits on the job site.
Application of Academic Content Skills
Listening skills Listening to, understanding, and interpreting oral directions or information from supervisors, co-workers, or clients; asking clarifying questions when appropriate; and conducting an appropriate discussion whether in person or on the telephone. Speaking skills Communicating information fluently and freely to supervisors, co-workers, or clients in person or on the telephone. Writing Skills Writing clearly and concisely, using the standard grammatical conventions and correct spelling, in a variety of modes (to inform, persuade, etc.).	Handling numbers Extracting and recording numerical data and carrying out arithmetic and algebraic calculations with high levels of accuracy. Reading Reading to extract information for the purpose of the particular job.
Organizational Skills
Organizational skills Identifying, organizing, and allocating resources (time, money, materials, and human resources) efficiently and effectively. Knowledge and use of information technology Using hardware and software that are common to most career fields. The use of personal computers, fax machines, cameras (digital and analog), telephones (cell and land-line),voice mail, emailing, word processing, general presentation software, etc. Problem solving Identifying problems, gathering and analyzing appropriate data, arriving at a logical and/or appropriate conclusion, and implementing a solution within a reasonable amount of time. Critical thinking Being analytical. Visionary qualities Using the knowledge of the career field to predict where things are going or how they might be going.	Negotiation skills Supporting a reasonable position and arriving at a shared conclusion with supervisors, co-workers, and/or clients. Planning Gather data, establish and manage a number of activities which are sequential or which overlap in time, establishing priorities, and evaluating the effectiveness of the plan. Working in teams Contributing as an active member of a working group; taking one's share of the job by contributing skills, ideas, and/or physical work; cooperating with team members; and identifying and working toward the common goal. Using equipment Identifying requisite equipment or tools and learning how to use and maintain them in an effective and orderly manner.
The Conventional Classroom Compared with the SCANS Classroom
In addition to the above list of skills, the SCANS report also provides a comparison of the teaching and learning in the "conventional classroom" with that of the "SCANS classroom" as envisioned by the Fort Worth School District. The reader may be struck by the familiarity of the comparison list, as it has appeared in different forms over the years to compare ineffective, non-contextual, teacher-centered instruction with research-based practices. From the Conventional Classroom to the SCANS Classroom
Conventional SCANS Teacher knows answer. More than one solution may be viable and teacher may not have it in advance. Students routinely work alone. Students routinely work with teachers, peers, and community members. Teacher plans all activities. Students and teachers plan and negotiate activities. Teacher makes all assessments. Information is organized, evaluated, interpreted, and communicated to students by teacher. Students routinely assess themselves. Information is acquired, evaluated, organized, interpreted, and communicated by students to appropriate audiences. Organizing system of the classroom is simple: one teacher teaches 30 students. Organizing systems are complex: teacher and students both reach out beyond school for additional information. Reading, writing, and math are treated as separate disciplines; listening and speaking are often missing from curriculum. Disciplines needed for problem solving are integrated; listening and speaking are fundamental parts of learning. Thinking is usually theoretical and "academic." Thinking involves problem solving, reasoning, and decision making. Students are expected to conform to teacher's behavioral expectations; integrity and honesty are monitored by teacher; students' self-esteem is often poor. Students are expected to be responsible, sociable, self-managing, and resourceful; integrity and honesty are monitored within the social context of the classroom; students' self-esteem is high because they are in charge of their own learning.
Source: Fort Worth Public Schools.
Additional Resources
The Skills Most Sought by Recruiters in Small- and Medium-Sized Organizations http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/careers/planning/work/skll_cht.htm Ethics Updates http://ethics.sandiego.edu/index.html Hot Skills Employers Want: The Skills You Have and the Skills They Want http://content.monstertrak.monster.com/resources/archive/careerfields/skills/ Employability Skills: Personal Management Skills Chart http://www.careerpathsonline.com/facguide/2002/Employability%20Skills%20chart.pdf

The Standards First project, supported in whole by the federal Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act, is a partnership between the Ohio Resource Center and the Ohio Department of Education, Office of Career-Technical and Adult Education.