What Do Employers Want? Durham Tech Colleagues Speak Out

The Teaching-Learning Center distributed a questionnaire to all program directors at Durham Tech to ascertain what fundamental skills and competencies are required for each discipline area.  The following summary may be helpful in developing course assignments and syllabi, and in helping instructors identify potential areas of collaboration across their disciplines. 

• What do people in your field tell you about problems with the communication skills of entry-level employees?
  
• How do you inform students about the importance of communication in the workplace?
• Describe a written document or oral presentation that might be required of employees in your work field. What is its purpose? Who is the audience? When/how often is this communication needed?
• Do your students do case studies or problem-solving activities? Do you require writing or speaking in these activities? Is the communication graded or evaluated, either by the instructor or by the students? Do you use other ungraded, informal writing/speaking exercises?
• Do students collaborate?  
• How do the communications activities in your classroom indicate the students' readiness to function in the workplace?