Test Your Career Readiness IQ
Part of teaching any college course is equipping your students with the hard and soft skills they need to thrive in the workforce—and in life.
Take our quiz to see how much you know about career readiness, based on data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the leading source of employment information and hiring trends for those with a college education.
1. How many key competencies has NACE developed to determine a learner’s career readiness?
6
6
20
20
8
8
1. How many key competencies has NACE developed to determine a learner’s career readiness?
Correct!
Ding! Ding! Ding! Someone knows their NACE competencies! The 8 key competencies determined by NACE’s task force are
highlighted here.
Critical Thinking/
Problem Solving
Oral/ Written
Communications
Teamwork/
Collaboration
Digital
Technology
Professionalism/
Work Ethic
Career
Management
Global
Intercultural/
Fluency
1. How many key competencies has NACE developed to determine a learner’s career readiness?
Incorrect!
Ooh, so close. But actually, NACE has defined a total of 8 key competencies, highlighted here.
Critical Thinking/
Problem Solving
Oral/ Written
Communications
Teamwork/
Collaboration
Digital
Technology
Professionalism/
Work Ethic
Career
Management
Global
Intercultural/
Fluency
2. Which competency includes punctuality, working productively with others and time-workload management?
Professionalism/Work Ethic
Professionalism/Work Ethic
Teamwork
Teamwork
Career Management
Career Management
2. Which competency includes punctuality, working productively with others and time-workload management?
Correct!
Wow, color us impressed! You're right, Professionalism/Work Ethic are the parents of these skill “children.”
According to NACE, two solid ways for students to develop these skills is by attending class and handing in assignments on time.
Professionalism/Work Ethic
2. Which competency includes punctuality, working productively with others and time-workload management?
Incorrect!
Sorry, valiant effort—but not quite right.
While that IS one of NACE’s key competencies (nice work!), the three skills in question actually fall under NACE's Professionalism/Work Ethic competency.
Professionalism/Work Ethic
3. According to NACE, it's important for career-ready grads to be fluent in multiple languages.
True
True
Partially True
Partially True
False
False
3. According to NACE, it's important for career-ready grads to be fluent in multiple languages.
Incorrect!
While fluency in more than one language can surely give students a leg up in our global marketplace, NACE actually defines Global and Intercultural Fluency as "having value, respect, and the ability to learn from diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, sexual orientations and religions."
Global/Intercultural Fluency
3. According to NACE, it's important for career-ready grads to be fluent in multiple languages.
Correct!
You’re spot on. NACE defines Global and Intercultural Fluency as "having value, respect, and the ability to learn from diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, sexual orientations and religions."
Global/Intercultural Fluency
4. NACE defines career readiness as the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace.
True
True
False
False
Not Sure
Not Sure
4. NACE defines career readiness as the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace.
Incorrect!
You nailed it! Thanks to NACE, there’s finally a well-defined definition. NACE put Career Readiness into exactly these terms to help employers, educators and policymakers get aligned on what career readiness really means.
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
4. NACE defines career readiness as the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace.
Correct!
You nailed it! Thanks to NACE, there’s finally a well-defined definition. NACE put Career Readiness into exactly these terms to help employers, educators and policymakers get aligned on what career readiness really means.
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
5. Which of the following is a key competency for Career Readiness identified by NACE?
Leadership
Leadership
Fiscal Management
Fiscal Management
Penmanship
Penmanship
5. Which of the following is a key competency for Career Readiness identified by NACE?
Incorrect!
While undoubtedly useful skills for anyone to master, neither Fiscal Management nor Penmanship are key Career Readiness competencies identified by NACE.
The answer we were looking for is Leadership, which NACE defines as the ability to "leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals and use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others."
Leadership
5. NACE defines career readiness as the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace.
Correct!
While undoubtedly useful skills for anyone to master, neither Fiscal Management nor Penmanship are key Career Readiness competencies identified by NACE.
The answer we were looking for is Leadership, which NACE defines as the ability to "leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals and use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others."
Leadership
6. Which of the following communication skills does NACE consider vital for career-ready students?
Oral
Oral
Written
Written
Both
Both
6. Which of the following communication skills does NACE consider vital for career-ready students?
Incorrect!
But you’re not totally wrong! The correct answer is actually: Both. Students must know how to write AND speak clearly and concisely to effectively communicate their thoughts and ideas to others.
Successful communication in writing is crucial for workplace success. Think: emails, memos, letters, reports, etc. On the flip side, consider how crucial presentation and public speaking skills are to professional success. Not to mention, sharing ideas during meetings and even chatting with coworkers at the water cooler.
Oral/Written Communication
6. Which of the following communication skills does NACE consider vital for career-ready students?
Correct!
You nailed it! Thanks to NACE, there’s finally a well-defined definition. NACE put Career Readiness into exactly these terms to help employers, educators and policymakers get aligned on what career readiness really means.