Preparing Students for the Workplace

Durham Tech serves an important role in the Research Triangle Park area as a source for competent, well-trained technical employees.The College makes every effort collect feedback from area employers about their needs and about the skills and qualities they look for in prospective employees. Recent studies and feedback indicate that employers are concerned about the “workplace readiness” of prospective employees. In addition to meaning that graduates must demonstrate specific technical knowledge and expertise in their program areas, workplace readiness includes a wide range of technical skills – including critical reading, writing, proofreading, and oral communication skills and computer literacy – as well as general professional practices – including awareness of workplace ethics, attention to promptness and attendance, and the employee’s presentation of self and of his or her work.

With funding from a grant from the Carl D. Perkins Foundation, the Teaching-Learning Center at Durham Tech spent much of the 2001-2002 academic year exploring ways to promote workplace readiness and employability skills across the diverse curriculum programs offered at the College. Highlights and handouts from some of this exploration are included on this web site.

• What Do Employers Want? Durham Tech Colleagues Speak Out
• bold;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Map of Workplace Readiness Resources at Durham Tech
• Presentation:“Employability Skills:Writing, Speaking, Collaborating, and Teamwork”
• Presentation:“Communication Skills in the Workplace: Employers Talk Back”
• Faculty Initiatives
• NC State Employer Survey
• Becoming Workplace-Ready at Durham Tech
• Bibliography