NACE Competencies

NACE Career Competencies


What is career readiness?

Career Readiness is the attainment and demonstration of competencies that prepare students to enter the workforce with a foundation of experiences that employers identify as necessary skills. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has identified eight Career Readiness Competencies that prepare students to launch and enter their careers.

How do I develop career competencies?

Through your experiences at Cal Poly Pomona’s polytechnic campus, you are enhancing your career readiness competencies on a daily basis. Examples include participation in classroom learning, internships, co-ops, research, on-campus employment, work experience, or community service.

The Cal Poly Pomona Career Center is committed to helping students develop and enhance the NACE career readiness competencies.


Review the competencies here:

Proactively develop oneself and one’s career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities, and networking to build relationships within and without one’s organization.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Show an awareness of own strengths and areas for development.
  • Identify areas for continual growth while pursuing and applying feedback.
  • Develop plans and goals for one’s future career.
  • Professionally advocate for oneself and others.
  • Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn.
  • Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally.
  • Establish, maintain, and/or leverage relationships with people who can help one professionally.
  • Seek and embrace development opportunities.
  • Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support one’s career.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body language, abilities.
  • Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills.
  • Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand.
  • Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
  • Ask appropriate questions for specific information from supervisors, specialists, and others.
  • Promptly inform relevant others when needing guidance with assigned tasks.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment.
  • Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem.
  • Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps.
  • Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes.
  • Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders.
  • Multi-task well in a fast-paced environment.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Demonstrate the awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures. Engage in anti-racist practices that actively challenge the systems, structures, and policies of racism.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions.
  • Actively contribute to inclusive and equitable practices that influence individual and systemic change.
  • Advocate for inclusion, equitable practices, justice, and empowerment for historically marginalized communities.
  • Seek global cross-cultural interactions and experiences that enhance one’s understanding of people from different demographic groups and that leads to personal growth.
  • Keep an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking.
  • Identify resources and eliminate barriers resulting from individual and systemic racism, inequities, and biases.
  • Demonstrate flexibility by adapting to diverse environments.
  • Address systems of privilege that limit opportunities for members of historically marginalized 

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
  • Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
  • Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
  • Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive attitude.
  • Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
  • Plan, initiate, manage, complete and evaluate projects.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization.
  • Maintain a positive personal brand in alignment with organization and personal career values.
  • Be present and prepared.
  • Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings).
  • Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals.
  • Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations.
  • Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work.
  • Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting.
  • Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience.
  • Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
  • Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
  • Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
  • Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
  • Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)

Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish
goals.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies.
  • Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work.
  • Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks.
  • Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-
  • making.
  • Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies.
  • Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023)


PROJECTIONS POINT TO SALARY INCREASES FOR CLASS OF 2024 BACHELOR’S GRADS

There is good news for the Class of 2024: Salary projections for all reported groups of majors at the bachelor’s degree level are higher than the projections reported for the Class of 2023, according to results of NACE’s Winter 2024 …

By Alexis Lopez
Alexis Lopez Career Services Specialist
Read more

The 4 Competencies Employers Value Most…

What career readiness competencies do employers value most in their new college hires? Employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook surveys have consistently indicated that critical thinking/problem solving, teamwork/collaboration, professionalism/work ethic, and oral/written communications are all essential competencies.

Read the whole article by …

By Alexis Lopez
Alexis Lopez Career Services Specialist
Read more

Career Competencies Help Students Develop Skills

There are multiple benefits to having a well-defined career readiness program that spans an entire college or university or is at least available to all students, says David Gaston, Ed.D., assistant vice provost for academic success at the University of Kansas – …

By Alexis Lopez
Alexis Lopez Career Services Specialist
Read more

How to Be a Strategic Career Explorer

Whether you’re concerned with success in high school, college, a job search, or a specific career, it turns out that who you are (your background, skills, talents, etc.) is actually less important than what you do (the strategies you follow, …

By College Recruiter
College Recruiter believes that every student and recent grad deserves a great career.
Read more

The CPP Career Center is Here to Help!

Our university provides you a team of dedicated professionals who will coach you about future endeavors. Some ways are through self-assessment, career fairs, events, workshops, but most importantly, staff are eager to help you find your career direction whether through …

By Cherrie Peters
Cherrie Peters Lead Career Coach
Read more

Sidebar

Career Resources

Job TrendsIn partnership withLightcast logo

First, choose an industry of interest, then filter for occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)

Type in a keyword to select a relevant occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)

Contact & Location

Phone
909-869-2342
Address

Career Center Build 97 - Room 128
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA 91786

Career Service Hours

Day of the week
Regular Hours Drop-in Advising
Monday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm 1:00pm - 3:00pm (In-person)
Tuesday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm 1:00pm - 3:00pm (In-person)
Wednesday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm 1:00pm - 3:00pm (In-person)
Thursday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm 1:00pm - 3:00pm (In-person)
Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm  

To participate in drop-in advising, login to CPP Connect.