10 Career and self-development The NACE Career Readiness task force debated how to revise the career management competency from the initial list of competencies, as it did not resonate strongly with students or employers. Self-awareness and career development were considered, as each are relevant to early career readiness and have their foundations in the literature. Jarvis (2003) defined career management as composed of personal and professional development, learning and work exploration, and life/work building. Similarly, Hirschi, Freund, Hermann (2013) included six dimensions within this idea: Career planning, Career self-exploration, Environmental career exploration, Networking, Voluntary human capital/skill development, and positioning behavior. As the idea of self-awareness and career development were embedded in these conceptions of career management, the task force landed on a definition of a competency that was aligned with these definitions and combined the benefits of self-awareness and career development. As such, the NACE task force adopted a title of Career and Selfdevelopment, defined as: Proactively develop oneself and one’s career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities, and networking to build relationships within and without one’s organization. Communication Both oral and written communication have long been held as a core competency that is critical for entering the workforce. In fact, 96% of respondents indicated it was “very” or “extremely” important for recent graduates (NACE Recruiting Benchmarks, 2022). Initially published as oral/written communication, the most recent revision simplified the competency to just Communication, including its various forms: verbal, nonverbal, and written. Though difficult to assess, Casner-Lotto and colleagues (2006) as well as the U.S. Department of Education (OCTAE, 2014) have argued for the importance of being able to communicate in the workplace. Because workplaces generally consist of multiple people and teams working together to achieve common goals, communication is required for those efforts. As such, the NACE task force adopted a revised definition of: Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization. Critical thinking Similarly, critical thinking is always included as a core competency that is required for the 21st century workplace. Some frameworks include it as problem-solving, decisionmaking, or critical thinking. The NACE task force took the position that critical thinking
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