Career Competencies

• Show an awareness of strengths and recognize areas for development.
• Identify areas for continual growth; pursue and apply feedback.
• Develop plans and goals for your future career.
• Professionally advocate for yourself and others.
• Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn.
• Assume duties or positions that will help you progress professionally.
• Establish, maintain, and/or leverage relationships with people who can help you professionally.
• Seek and embrace development opportunities.
• Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support your career.

Specific Examples

• Meet with a Career Development Specialist to develop a personalized Career Action Plan.
• Participate in internships, undergraduate research, student employment, or other experiential programs.
• Attend Career Fairs and career networking events.
• Seek out campus student leadership opportunities, such as Student Government, Residential Assistants, Orientation Leaders, or become involved as a leader of and registered student organization.

• Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body language, abilities.
• Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills.
• Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand.
• Frame communication with respect to different learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
• Ask appropriate questions for specific information from supervisors, specialists, and others.
• Promptly inform relevant others when needing guidance with assigned tasks.

Specific Examples

• Actively participate in coursework, including class discussions, papers, class presentations.
• Practice professional communication during internships, campus-based experiential learning, and off-campus jobs and volunteer experiences.
• Seek opportunities to deliver presentations in front of small and large groups.
• Visit the SpeakWrite department.

• Make decisions and solve problems using sound reasoning and judgment.
• Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem.
• Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps.
• Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes.
• Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders.
• Multi-task well in a fast-paced environment.

Specific Examples

• Take courses that involve data and analysis.
• Complete projects in Forage to demonstrate skills.
• Seek opportunities to understand problems and contribute to solutions using available data.

• Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
• Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
• Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
• Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive attitude.
• Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
• Plan, initiate, manage, complete, and evaluate projects.

Specific Examples

• Get involved in student organizations or campus leadership opportunities through Student Engagement & Leadership (SEL)
• Mentor fellow students, formally or informally.
• Seek opportunities to contribute to or lead a project, such as with student organizations, internships, volunteer work, or part-time jobs.

• Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization.
• Maintain a positive personal brand in alignment with organization and personal career values.
• Be on time, present, and prepared.
• Demonstrate dependability.
• Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals.
• Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations.
• Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in your work.
• Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job.

Specific Examples

• Be positive when talking about your experience and career goals.
• Manage your time effectively to organize your schedule so that you meet all your commitments. If needed, prioritize your activities, and make decisions about where you can reduce time commitments.
• Update your professional headshot at one of our upcoming career fairs for free.
• Create a digital presence using LinkedIn.

• Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting.
• Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect different personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience.
• Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
• Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
• Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
• Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
• Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.

Specific Examples

• Seek opportunities to collaborate with others, such as on student organization efforts, internship projects, or campus initiatives.
• Join an intramural sports team or other groups that emphasize team involvement.

• Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies.
• Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work.
• Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks.
• Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-making.
• Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies.
• Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.

Specific Examples

• Seek opportunities to learn new or specialized technologies and systems, such as an industry-specific digital tool used at an internship site.
• Complete certification programs or training opportunities for specific technology relevant to your chosen field.