Week Six Blog: Tech Skills and Jobs
For this week's article, I read about the gaps between the skills college graduates have upon entering the workforce and the skills companies are requiring. While STEM like jobs are in high demand, Human Resource departments in various companies are seeing the lack of ability for new hires to work 40 hours a week or send an email free of grammar errors, which to me is scary! Essentially, companies cannot find young adults who are able to communicate on a professional level and work independently. This statement was included in the article by a spokeswoman and really stuck out to me: "That’s usually one of the bigger problems. They’re lacking in good business etiquette communication skills [and] they’re used to working in groups so sometimes getting them to work independently can also be another thing. Working on their own is more challenging to them”. While I was not shocked that young adults lost the capability to communicate professionally and work on their own, I think accountability and technology are to blame. With the use of technology, "short hand" communication has become normal. Also, in any education class, teachers are told to incorporate technology and collaboration as often as possible, when in reality not every job requires group work. Young adults are entering the workforce lacking face-to face communication skills, not being able to work independently, and cannot participate in active listening (article refers to these skills as soft skills)... and the scary thing is according to the article those same employees think they are doing just fine! With the lack of various skills, the new hires are conducting more on the job training, which can cost the company time and money.
As a teacher in a 1:1 environment, students do email the teacher often and the lack of appropriate etiquette when emailing is quite evident. Furthermore, I think educators need to go back to the basics because we are so stuck on preparing students for 21st Century Learning that we overlook the basic communication and society functions. Both skills can be integrated in the classroom by incorporating both dynamics- group work, independent work, digital and oral projects, where students are held accountable for all skills acquired.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/companies-want-tech-skills-ability-write-complete-sentences-n759746
As a business teacher, I find myself reading articles like this far too often than I should. In addition to the lack of writing skills, I seem to find that teamwork and verbal communication skills are often specifically requested in job postings. I had an executive from Proctor and Gamble come in to speak to my Future Business Leaders of America club (of over 100 kids!) and was amazed at some of the stories he told. He specifically noted that the corporate mindset was that they could train anything to do a job. They were looking for forward-thinking, hard-working TEAM players who could communicate orally and in writing. They will often screen employees with a writing test first. I think this may be the new norm for interviews where writing is a part of the job responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteSide note... I definitely agree that students need to be taught how to effectively communicate with email. They tend to think it's just a text message and that spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc. are optional and it drives me crazy!
Thanks for sharing the article!
I couldn't agree more with your comments. I see some of the same issues that you described with my students as well. My students know how to use technology for gaming and social media purposes, but they lack the skills needed for typing and proper communication. I agree that both skills could and should be incorporated into the classroom in order to best prepare our students to be productive members of society.
ReplyDelete