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Developing Career-Ready Competencies this Summer

Summer has finally arrived! The break from classes is a great time for your student to rest and recharge, but it’s also important for her to be intentional about gaining relevant experience and developing key competencies that employers will be looking for in new college graduates.

From conversations with employers who regularly recruit Meredith College graduates, as well as what national recruiting data tells us, employers are seeking new graduates who are career-ready. What does that mean for our students? They should be focusing on ways to gain skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork, professionalism, and global fluency. Many students will be involved in internships, part-time jobs, volunteer work, research, and travel this summer. Talk with your student about how these experiences are helping her to develop these career-ready competencies employers are seeking! For example, how has her summer volunteer experience required her to analyze information, work as part of a team, and solve a problem quickly? Increasingly, we hear from employers that effective communication skills are a necessity, regardless of industry, career path, or job function. Simply having informational conversations with family friends or community members about their individual career paths can help students hone these critical communication skills, learn to articulate their strengths, interests, and skill sets, all while helping them solidify their own career plans.

Meredith College takes a strengths-based approach with students, and we work to help them identify their strengths and apply them throughout their college experience. Have conversations with your student about her natural talents, and how she can apply those talents through her experiences to develop key competencies this summer. Use these conversation-starters to get your student thinking about how she is using her strengths to develop career-ready competencies:

  • Describe an experience outside the classroom that strengthened your ability to work successfully as part of a team.
  • What experiences have you had that have developed your ability to work successfully with people from a variety of cultures/backgrounds?
  • Which of your strengths provides you with the ability to develop strong relationships and communicate effectively with others?

Meredith provides many opportunities for your student to gain competencies and develop her strengths throughout the school year, and the Office of Career Planning can help guide your student on how to effectively articulate those to potential employers. OCP is available to support your student at every step of the process — we’re available for appointments all summer long!

Questions? Contact us at career@meredith.edu. We look forward to working with your students!

Melyssa Allen

News Director
316 Johnson Hall
(919) 760-8087
Fax: (919) 760-8330

allenme@meredith.edu