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Career Center, Santa Clara University

Build the skills & experience you need to land the job you love

Build Skills & Experience

An SCU education provides students of all majors opportunities to develop a variety of competencies applicable to the world of work.
 
Now is the time to take advantage of experiences inside and outside the classroom to hone the real-world skills employers value.

What In-Demand Skills do Employers Look For?
According to a recent employer survey powered by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the competencies below are essential to a new grad’s success in the workplace.
Exercise sound reasoning and analytical thinking; obtain, interpret, and use knowledge, facts, and data to analyze situations, make decisions, and solve workplace problems; and demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work.
Articulate thoughts, ideas clearly and effectively with persons inside and outside of organization; demonstrate public speaking skills; and communicate new ideas to others; write/edit memos, letters, and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.
Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers representing diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, religions, lifestyles, and viewpoints; be able to work within team structure; and be able to negotiate and manage conflicts.
Select and use appropriate technology to accomplish a given task and apply computing skills to problem solving.
Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals; use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others; demonstrate ability to assess and manage one's own emotions and those of others, using empathetic skills to guide and motivate; and prioritize and delegate work.
Demonstrate personal accountability, effective work habits, e.g. punctuality, working productively with others, and workload management, and understand impact of non-verbal communication on professional work image; demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior; act responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind; and be able to learn from one's mistakes.
Identify and articulate one's skills, strengths, knowledge, and experience relevant to position desired and career goals; identify areas necessary for professional growth; be able to navigate and explore job options and how to take the steps necessary for pursuing opportunities; and understand how to self-advocate for opportunities in the workplace.

Value, respect, and learn from diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and religions. The individual demonstrates openness, inclusiveness, sensitivity, and the ability to interact respectfully with all people and understand individuals’ differences.

Source: NACE Job Outlook 2015 - Spring Update; Content adapted from Are They Really Ready to Work, with persmisison from authors Linda Barrington, Jill Casner-Lotto, and Mary Wright, in collaboration with Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Society for Human Resource Management, and The Conference Board, Inc., 2006.


To Get Ready, Build Skills & Experience
There are many different ways to get relevant experience!
Volunteer

Check out these platforms which offer online classes and tutorials to hone your skills.
Navigate here to Learn more Lynda.com logo

Access all Lynda.com content for free by checking out a pass through Technology Training. Then add Lynda's "certificate of completion" to your LinkedIn profile.


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Navigate here to Learn more Coursera Logo

Coursera is a free option that also offers the option to add a certificate to your LinkedIn upon completion.


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Navigate here to Learn more The Muse Logo

The Muse has a resource section filled with free resources to help you.


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Navigate here to Read article

For a list of more resources, check out this article.


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Connect With Professionals in Your Future Field
Build your network on LinkedIn now before you need it. Reach out to SCU alums to connect with a virtual mentor working in an industry or organization that interests you.

Fifty percent of SCU students found their jobs through networking.

 

Need help getting started?

Visit the Networking & LinkedIn section of our Job Prep Toolkit.