DISCOVERING INFORMATION:        MARKETING YOURSELF

1997-98  © Gloria L. Floren

MARKETABLE SKILLS AND ATTITUDES

CAREERS IN ENGLISH, LITERATURE, FILM

MARKETABLE SKILLS AND ATTITUDES. Whether you work for someone else or for yourself, you need more than knowledge, experience, and academic credentials or degrees to satisfy either your employer or your customers and clients. To succeed in the global marketplace, you need specific attitudes and skills that enable effective and wise use of your knowledge, experience, and formal education. This list—taken from actual announcements for management and professional positions available in 1997—contains phrases identifying specific required or desirable skills and attitudes; these phrases, and variants, are listed below under the skill sets most commonly sought in the marketplace:

COMMUNICATION SKILLS ( verbal, visual, computer and internet literacy--the position announcements emphasize communications skills over and over, so this section is repetitive for emphasis). The candidate must have

• excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills
• an ability to communicate effectively through written, verbal, and graphic means
• excellent verbal and written communications skills
• conflict resolution skills, excellent communications skills
• excellent oral and written communications skills
• effective oral and written communication skills, including presentation skills in executive level settings
• expertise in teaching and learning applications of electronic learning technologies
• ability to use electronic technologies
• excellent communication and presentation skills, and familiarity with a facility inventory software, as well as word processing and spreadsheet programs
• computer literacy, knowledge of applications based software in the Windows environment, including spreadsheet packages as well as desk top publishing packages
• experience with state-of-the-art communication technology
• outstanding communication and interpersonal skills

SOCIAL SKILLS, FLEXIBILITY, OPENNESS TO DIVERSITY. The candidate must have

• an ability to work effectively with others
• an ability to work well with, and motivate, colleagues of varying responsibilities in the organization
• an ability to maintain effective working relationships
• outstanding interpersonal skills
• excellent interpersonal and communication skills and ability to interact with people
• an ability to work in a team on diverse assignments
• a record of collaborative and productive relationships with diverse constituencies
• high commitment to teamwork and diversity
• high skills in interoffice and interpersonal relations and the professional development of staff
• a sense of humor and an ability to work with variety of constituencies
• affability and flexibility

THINKING SKILLS. Candidates must have

• an ability to analyze solutions and provide alternative solutions

ENERGY, DEDICATION, INTEGRITY. Candidates must have

• high energy and unquestioned integrity
• high energy, dedication, and integrity

ORGANIZATION, MANAGEMENT, EFFECTIVENESS. Candidates must be

• very organized
• adept in organizational and management skills
• attentive to the "big picture" as well as to details
• able to "follow through"
• able to prioritize workload and check the work of related professionals
• skilled in project and office management, including supervision
• experienced in project planning and administration

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING SKILLS (innovativeness; creativity; leadership; and continuous, lifelong learning and personal development). Candidates must have

• demonstrated experience in creating and implementing innovative programs
• leadership skills
• an understanding of continuous improvement process
• the ability and motivation to develop knowledge and skills in light of expanding job responsibilities

A major study completed in the early 1990s by the Office of the Secretary of Labor of the United States echoes these workplace skills and attitudes. The study asked, "What do Americans need to be able to do and to know in order to succeed in important and rewarding work?" To answer this questions, the "Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills" (SCANS) interviewed thousands of employers, made observations of people at work, and consulted with experts in organization and human behavior. The SCANS Report, What Work Requires of Schools, is available at this location--SCANS Report. A summary of this report is provided by the tables below.

In addition, the SCANS Report found certain personal skills needed in the workplace.

Based on these skills and an assessment of the workplace in the United States today, the report describes five workplace competencies that prospective candidates need; these are described in the table below:

CAREERS IN ENGLISH, FILM, and LITERATURE

Here's a list to begin (I'll want to provide examples and links eventually): Administrator, Advertising Executive, Ambassador, Archivist, Bookseller, Broadcaster, Chief Executive Officer, Communications Director, Consultant, Counselor, Editor, Film Critic or Reviewer, Filmmaker, Grantwriter, Historian, Human Resources Specialist, Information Specialist or Interpreter, Journalist, Judge, Lawyer, Librarian, Literary Critic, Manager, Minister, Negotiator, Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Producer, Professor, Psychiatrist or Psychologist, Public Relations Director, Rock Star (e.g., Sting), Screenwriter, Social Worker, Storyteller, Teacher, Web Weaver, Writer.  Check this page out from Western Illinois University:  Who Hires English Majors?

Do you have an example or a career that should be on this list? Write me at <gfloren@miracosta.edu>.