Skills Employers are Looking For

While you may think that choosing the “right” major is key to getting a good job, your long-term professional success will depend far more on acquiring the right skills for a rapidly changing workplace.

• The ability to work well in teams—especially with people different from yourself
• An understanding of science and technology and how these subjects are used in real-world settings
• The ability to write and speak well
• The ability to think clearly about complex problems
• The ability to analyze a problem to develop workable solutions
• An understanding of global context in which work is now done
• The ability to be creative and innovative in solving problems
• The ability to apply knowledge and skills in new settings
• The ability to understand numbers and statistics
• A strong sense of ethics and integrity 

Source: "How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today's Global Economy?" (Results of a national poll by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2006).