Career Readiness Handbook: What does it mean to be "Career Ready"?

Today more jobs require post-secondary education (degrees and certificates) than ever before. The United States must produce more workers with associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and certificates to keep pace with mounting demand and to remain globally competitive. Earning a degree or certificate boosts your income potential (that means more money!) and gives you the skills you need to succeed in the workforce. Employees with post-secondary education earn 74 percent more than those who have a high school diploma or less, and completing your certificate or degree is the key to earning power and being career ready!

Being career ready means having skills that broadly prepare you to transition from being a college student to being an employee, manager, or entrepreneur. You will learn these skills during your time in school. Being career ready also means you can demonstrate these skills when you start a job. Your college will let you know about the marketable skills you are acquiring in your program. For more information about that requirement, check out 60x30TX and see page 21.

60x30TX defines marketable skills as “skills valued by employers that can be applied in a variety of work settings . . . These skills can be either primary or complementary to a major and are acquired by students through education, including curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities.”

This report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is worth your time.