Skills Necessary for Successful Employment

The requirements of the modern workplace involve a complex interaction of five competencies and three foundational elements (Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, 1991). The competencies include the ability to organize, plan, and allocate resources; the ability to work with others; the ability to acquire and use information; the ability to understand complex interrelationships; and the ability to work with a variety of technologies. The foundational elements upon which these competencies are built include basic academic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities.

The National School-to-Work Learning and Information Center (1996c) emphasizes the importance of students acquiring both academic and vocational skills in high school in order to be successful in future careers: