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7: Career Communication

  • Page ID
    106955
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    During the five-day workweek, most of us spend as much or more time with the people at work than the people we live with, so it is unsurprising that our workplace communication is very important to our overall quality of life. 

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    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Daily Life Breakdown

    In this chapter, we’re going to explore some areas directly related to workplace communication, including competencies employers desire, and how to prepare for and manage your career. Much of the material in this chapter is provided by the Career Services Department at Southwest Tennessee Community College and its director, Brenda Williams.

    • 7.1: Soft Skills and Career Readiness
      Year after year on national surveys, employers rank soft skills as even more essential than hard skills. Communication is among those skills classified as soft skills. In this unit, we will examine soft skills and will discuss Career Readiness Competencies that are essential for career success.
    • 7.2: Professionalism
      Professionalism is one of the most important of the Eight Career Readiness Competencies. Yet a 2019 survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that while almost 95% of employers surveyed considered Professionalism to be an essential competency, only 44.2%--fewer than half—found college graduates proficient in this area. (NACE 2019).
    • 7.3: Career Exploration
      In this unit, you will learn how to how to explore different career options that best suit your personality and interests.
    • 7.4: Résumés and Cover Letters
      A résumé is a one (preferred) or two-page document summarizing your relevant skills and qualifications that you share with an employer when applying for a job.  The purpose of a résumé is to get you invited for an interview.  The purpose of a cover letter is to get the potential employer to read your resume.  You can build a resume by using Optimal Resume, an online tool.
    • 7.5: Interviewing
      The saying that “you only have one chance to make a good first impression” is especially true during an interview. The goal is to present a professional image while communicating to potential employers the skills, education, and experiences you’ve worked so hard to gain. In a job search, nothing is more exciting or more intimidating than an interview. Reaching the interview stage means that you are in serious consideration for the position, and the pressure feels cranked up.
    • 7.6: Summary and Learning Activities
      In this chapter, you learned about the importance of soft skills in the workplace as well as eight career competencies employers expect from employees. You were informed about expectations of professionalism and ethics in the workplace and were given instruction in career management skills such as career exploration, resumes and cover letters, elevator speeches, and job interviews.

    © SkillsYouNeed (2017)https://www.skillsyouneed.com/interpersonal-skills.html.


    This page titled 7: Career Communication is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lisa Coleman, Thomas King, & William Turner.

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