It’s no secret that the 21st-century workplace is evolving at an incredible speed. Our economic climate is ever-changing and technology has pushed businesses to meet consumer demands in ways like never before. In order to remain successful, businesses today must be flexible and easily adapt to change, which requires a dedicated, creative, and intelligent staff. Hiring managers look for certain key qualities in their job applicants to ensure the success of the business. Will your scholar be prepared for the competitive, rapidly changing workplace?
Let’s review some of the top skills employers are looking for in young job applicants and how an independent study program like Compass Charter Schools (CCS) can help scholars develop those key skills and successfully transition into the workforce.
“Now, a major coalition of businesses, policy experts, trade groups, and academics are demonstrating that soft skills—specifically interpersonal skills, the ability to manage and control your emotions, communication skills, leadership, adaptability, and problem solving—are critical…Today, as companies increasingly need to become more dynamic, interconnected and flexible, soft skills are critical. According to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends report, executives now consider these skills important to fostering employee retention, improving leadership, and building a meaningful culture. In fact, 92 percent of Deloitte’s respondents rated soft skills as a critical priority.” – Why Soft Skills Matter and The Top 3 You Need, Forbes
It’s essential that scholars develop a strong set of soft skills in order to seamlessly transition into the workforce and achieve success. Employees can no longer survive in the workforce with only one strict set of job skills. Instead, they must be willing to grow and adapt their skills based on business and economic needs. It’s no surprise that when employers share their most desirable job skills in new applicants, they’re not looking for a specific set of technical skills, but rather a general set of competencies. Here are three important soft skills that employers are looking for in new job candidates:
Creative and Innovative
Creativity and innovation are the keys to sparking change in the workplace and successfully adapting to new trends and industry standards. Employers are looking for job applicants who demonstrate a creative mindset to achieve results. They want employees who can bring fresh, new ideas to the table to help the business succeed. They’re also looking for employees who are innovative and have the ability to develop a plan to make their creative ideas become a reality.
CCS is on a mission to “develop innovative, creative, self-directed learners, one scholar at a time.” Scholars in an independent study program have the flexibility to learn outside of the traditional classroom. They have the opportunity to grow their creative minds and be inspired by their unique surroundings. Many CCS scholars enjoy traveling across the country or internationally while they learn, which allows them to participate in unique experiences that encourage their creativity and innovation. CCS also organizes multiple field trips every month to enhance scholars’ learning, spark their curiosity and encourage new ideas.
It’s essential that scholars learn how to share their creative ideas with their peers and leaders. CCS scholars learn to share their ideas and passions through multiple outlets including live, online classrooms, scholar clubs and various school contests like the Spirit Song Contest and Road Safety Art Contest. Throughout their academic career, CCS scholars are encouraged to develop and share their creativity, which can help them smoothly transition into the workforce and achieve great success.
Flexible and Focused
Many employers are looking for top job candidates who can be flexible. They need employees who are comfortable with changing deadlines, new job responsibilities, government regulations and much more. It’s essential that employees understand how to create backup plans and learn how to quickly absorb new information.
Independent study programs offer scholars the flexibility to learn where they want, when they want, with more choices to enhance their overall learning experience. In order to stay on track, scholars in an independent study program learn how to focus and manage the high level of flexibility responsibly. They learn how to create their own schedule, track their progress and maintain important information on their own. An independent study program can help scholars learn at an early age how to eliminate distractions from their workspace, cope with new responsibilities, and any changes in their environment. CCS proudly offers scholars flexible academic choices and guides them as they learn how to focus and manage their academics to ensure a smooth, successful transition into the workforce.
Leadership
Strong leadership skills are critical in the workplace. Employers are looking for job applicants with proven leadership experience who can set a positive example and motivate their co-workers to ensure the success of the business. Hiring managers assess many qualities when considering a job applicant’s leadership capabilities including their confidence, focus, integrity and much more. They’re looking for employees who can respectfully work with diverse groups of people, assign tasks, organize projects, and assure that deadlines are met.
CCS offers scholars various opportunities to gain leadership experience throughout their academic career. Scholars at every grade level are invited to serve on the Scholar Leadership Council, where they can share feedback on school policies and procedures. CCS also organizes many scholar clubs that focus on various topics, and allow scholars to assume leadership roles and work closely with staff. As the late Nelson Mandela once said, “children are our greatest treasure. They are our future.” CCS is dedicated to guiding scholars as they grow to take responsibility for their future successes and become our future leaders.
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Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a WASC-accredited virtual charter school that serves families throughout California. Interested in learning more about CCS’ flexible academic programs? Visit our website, or contact our enrollment team at enrollment@compasscharters.org or (877) 506-8631.