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10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in
College
The Know-How You Need to Succeed
by Bill Coplin
Copyright
© 2003
Book Review
Dr. David P. Helfand
Coplin bases the advice contained in his book on thirty years as a
student
advisor/professor as well as interviews with successful students and
alumni, recruiters and a variety of employers and human resource
specialists. The result is Coplin’s ten basic categories of skills, the
Know How Groups, undergraduates need to survive and succeed in the job
market.
The 10 Know How Groups are:
• Establishing a Work Ethic
• Developing Physical Skills
• Communicating Verbally
• Communicating in Writing
• Working Directly with People
• Influencing People
• Gathering Information
• Using Quantitative Tools
• Asking and Answering the Right Questions
• Solving Problems
Coplin states that one may see other terms and groupings used, but these
10 Know How Groups reflect a broad consensus concerning the skills
necessary to succeed in gaining employment and excelling in today’s
workplace.
Part I of this book identifies the skills related to the 10 Know
How Groups and covers about half of the book. Each Chapter in Part I
presents one of the 10 Know How Groups, which are further broken down in
to 3-4 sub-categories. For example, the Know How Group “Working Directly
with People” includes the categories of building good relation-ships,
working in teams and teaching others. Each category description is 1-2
pages long and at the end recommendations are listed for both courses
and non-course activities that can help students build those skills as
well as additional resources (relevant web sites, books and
organizations) to consult. Coplin also suggests minimum skills levels,
one’s Know How Score (KHS), students should attain in these areas by the
time they graduate. This tells employers how well one performs the
skills related to the 10 Know How Groups. Although employers may not
know the term KHS, they do know what skills they want their employees to
have. I found the advice in each Chapter to be concise, to the point and
very sound. It certainly helps the reader accomplish the author’s goal
for students - to develop an effective strategy to take full advantage
of what college can offer.
Part II, Boosting Your Know How Score, offers strategies on how
to develop the skills involved in the 10 Know How Groups. This includes
approaches to selecting colleges, programs, courses and instructors.
Additional topics include finding appropriate summer jobs and
internships and how to make the most of these experiences, identifying
possible off-campus learning (including overseas) programs, the
importance of volunteer opportunities and their relation to career
exploration, and possibilities beyond college (graduate school, for
profit and non-profit employment). I found all these sections to offer
solid advice and useful resources.
Part III, Planning Your Success, offers strategies to help
students plan and make the most of their college experience with a focus
on a commitment to continuous self-improvement. In this section
information is provided that helps students link interests and talents
related to the 10 Know How Groups with related career options. As
students identify professions of interest it is suggested they create a
professional KHS. This professional KHS incorporates higher levels of
the 10 Basic Know How Groups and/or adds specialized skills that relate
to those professions. In addition, strategies are offered on how
students can increase their KHS. This is followed by a work values
exercise for easy, yet useful first steps in the career exploration
process along with sound advice on researching careers.
From a career counselor’s perspective, I believe Coplin, who is not a
career counselor by training, handles this section very well, offering
solid suggestions on how to approach and start the important process of
career planning.
The book ends with a unique approach to resume writing. Coplin shows
students how to best communicate their KHS by illustrating how each of
the 10 Know How Groups can be emphasized on a resume. Once again, like
the entire book that precedes, the reader will discover practical and
useful suggestions. Overall this book is a great resource for students.
While this book may be most useful for those just beginning college, it
would be smart for juniors or seniors to read (for it’s never too late
to start) as well as a good idea for motivated high school students. The
book can confirm if a student is on track or serve as a wake up call so
they won’t be left at the station when it comes to having a strong set
of skills that would be highly valued by employers.
Dr. David P. Helfand
is the Coordinator of Career Counseling in the Northeastern Illinois
University Counseling Office in Chicago. Dr. Helfand is currently
serving as an Editor, Organizations Department, of this publication and
also writes for the career sections of the 90+ Gannett newspaper
websites. He is regularly featured in articles and reviews at several
prominent Internet career sites including careerbuilder.com, monster.com,
quintcareers.com and infirmation.com. Career Change, Dr. Helfand’s first
book now in its 2nd edition, offers strategies for career changers and
the challenges they face. For further information visit
www.neiu.edu/~dphelfan/careers. Dr. Helfand can be reached at
d-helfand@neiu.edu
Published in Career Convergence, a web magazine of ©
2003 National Career Development Association c/o Creative Management
Alliance
10820 East 45th Street
Suite 210
Tulsa, OK 74146
tel: (918) 663-7060
fax: (918) 663-7058
toll-free: (866) 367-6232
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