Overview

Adult basic education programs focus on a range of gaps associated with knowledge and skills needed to be life, career, or college ready, such as basic life skills, financial literacy, health literacy, and career exploration. In addition to the College and Career Readiness Standards we will explore in Module 2, we have assembled a roster of resources to help us identify specific career-readiness skills an adult should possess (i.e. the desired state) in order to achieve his / her future goals. Please skim and bookmark the following resources for future reference.

O*Net

The O*NET website houses the nation's primary source of occupational information. According to the website, "Central to the project is the O*NET database, containing information on hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors. The database is continually updated by surveying a broad range of workers from each occupation."

Employability Skills Framework

Employability Skills Framework (Links to an external site.) provides supplementary resource links associated with each of the employability skills described below:

Applied Knowledge Skills include "thoughtful integration of academic knowledge and technical skills, put to practical use in the workplace":

Applied academic skills that "enable employees to put skills based on academic disciplines and learning, such as reading, writing, mathematical strategies and procedures, and scientific principles and procedures, to practical use in the workplace."
Critical thinking skills that "enable employees to analyze, reason, solve problems, plan, organize, and make sound decisions in their work."

Effective Relationship Skills include "interpersonal skills and personal qualities that enable individuals to interact effectively with clients, coworkers, and supervisors":

Interpersonal skills "include the ability to collaborate as a member of a team or work independently, as appropriate; communicate effectively; maintain a positive attitude; and contribute to the overarching goals of the workplace."
Personal qualities "contribute to effective relationships include responsibility, self-discipline, flexibility, integrity, and initiative. Other essential qualities are a sense of professionalism and self-worth; willingness to learn; and acceptance of responsibility for one's own professional growth."

Workplace Skills include "the analytical and organizational skills that employees need to successfully perform work tasks ... including managing time and other resources; understanding, evaluating, and using a variety of information; communicating effectively with others in multiple formats (speaking, writing, listening); understanding relationships among the components of a system; and applying information technology appropriately and effectively."

Career Clusters

The Career Clusters (Links to an external site.) website provides a drill-down of specific skills and knowledge relevant to 16 different career clusters (e.g., agriculture, hospitality, etc.) representing more than 79 career pathways.

Competency Model Clearing House

The CareerOneStop website presents competencies that are essential for workplace success and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. As described on the website, "the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and industry partners collaborate to develop and maintain dynamic models of the foundation and technical competencies that are necessary in economically vital industries and sectors of the American economy. The goal of the effort is to promote an understanding of the skill sets and competencies that are essential to educate and train a globally competitive workforce.

The models serve as a resource to inform discussions among industry leaders, educators, economic developers, and public workforce investment professionals as they collaborate to:

Identify specific employer skill needs
Develop competency-based curricula and training models
Develop industry-defined performance indicators, skill standards, and certifications
Develop resources for career exploration and guidance

My Skills / My Future

The My Skills / My Future website is a searchable database of jobs that provides a job description with job duties and required skills training.

Vocational Information Center

The Vocational Information Center database offers information on vocational and technical careers, including the skills employers seek.