Workplace Readiness
Ohio Wesleyan Adds Professional Development Training, Certificate to All On-Campus Student Jobs
Since Ohio Wesleyan University's Career Connection office began offering a Workplace Readiness Certificate this fall, nearly 300 OWU students have completed the online training.
The Workplace Readiness Certificate incorporates eight Career Readiness Competencies as outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Each competency provides a foundation to prepare students for success in the workplace and lifelong career management, said Leigh Mascolino, OWU's Career Connection director.
'Equipped to Succeed'
"Career Connection has been incorporating these competencies into our programming for a while," said Mascolino, who is also certified as a professional career coach, professional resume writer, national counselor, strengths coach, and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator practitioner.
"But making workplace readiness a formal part of every on-campus student job greatly increases the number of students we reach and adds an important layer of professional development into their work experiences," she said.
The eight NACE competencies covered by OWU's Workplace Readiness Certificate are:
- Career and Self-Development – Seeking and embracing development opportunities.
- Communication – Demonstrating verbal, written, and nonverbal (body language) abilities.
- Critical Thinking – Proactively anticipating needs and prioritizing action steps.
- Equity and Inclusion – Keeping an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking.
- Leadership – Serving as a role model to others.
- Professionalism – Demonstrating attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work.
- Teamwork – Collaborating with others to achieve common goals.
- Technology – Quickly adapting to new or unfamiliar technologies.
"After students complete the training, we encourage them to meet with their supervisors to discuss where their skills are strong and where they have room to grow," Mascolino said. "Then, we encourage the supervisors to identify ways to incorporate the desired skills into the students' work. We want employers who hire Ohio Wesleyan graduates to know that they are job-ready and equipped to succeed with the skills necessary in their new roles."
'A Better Candidate'
To ensure the faculty and staff feel prepared to support students in their professional development, Ohio Wesleyan's Career Connection and Human Resources offices are collaborating to provide training to employees who supervise student-workers. And even if students don't have an on-campus job, Mascolino said, they still are invited and encouraged to complete the Workplace Readiness Certificate.
Afterward, students are invited to provide feedback, which the Career Connection team will use to make the workplace readiness training even more robust and valuable for students. For example, Mascolino said, students noted that they'd appreciate more real-world examples of how to address any areas in which they want to improve.
Overall, however, students report that they appreciate learning about the skills important to employers and having a certificate to note on their resumes.
As one sophomore shares: "It always helps to have a look at yourself in a less biased lens. … It helps you reflect on all that you've done and how you're actively trying to improve. It makes it clearer to you what your strengths are, so you can be a better candidate anywhere you go."
Powered Up and Ready for the Future
Ohio Wesleyan's Workplace Readiness Certificate aligns with the university's goal to integrate core competencies, or "power skills," into the academic curriculum. Those skills include the ability to:
- Think aesthetically
- Reason formally and quantitatively
- Question scientifically
- Listen, imagine, and understand
- Write and speak effectively
- Learn a second language
- Examine power and inequities
- Engage diversity
- Act responsibly
The skills were added to OWU's General Education curriculum in fall 2023 and were designed with the overarching purpose of helping "students to find their place in the world and make their mark upon it."
"Combining these academic power skills with Career Connections' new Workplace Readiness Certificate helps our students to be ready to navigate the future and all it brings," Mascolino said.
Learn more about OWU's Career Connection office at owu.edu/CareerConnection and more about the university curriculum and core competencies at owu.edu/PowerSkills.