Note: this assignment consists of a set of readings and concludes with a single writing exercise that will you submit to me as a Word document. To upload, go to “Course Materials” → “Writing Assignment #1”

READING

1. Read Ward’s (2017) article, “Google Exec, Mark Cuban agree that these skills are the most robot resistant.”

2. Read the excerpt from Coplin’s (2012) book, “10 Things Employers Want You To Learn in College.”

3. Read CUNY Brooklyn College’s handout (summary) of Coplin’s (2012) book Identify three “what employers want” skills as mentioned in Ward’s article or Coplin’s book excerpt (or Brooklyn College’s summary of it) that YOU want to develop further in this course.

1. Read through Karbarch’s infographic, “Learning and Thinking Skills of the 21st Century Student.”

2. Read through the Center for Teaching Quality’s infographic, “Paths to 21st Century Success.”

3. Assess yourself on the excerpt from the “21st Century Skills Assessment.”

Identify three “21st Century” Skills from the 21st Century Skills Assessment (#3 above) that YOU want to develop further in this course.

Read through the graph provided by the Pew Research Center (2016) on “The State of American Jobs.”

Read the excerpt from the Collegiate Employment Research Institute Report, “Moving Up or Moving Out of the Company: Factors that Influence the Firing of New College Hires.”

Part I. Skills employers want you to acquire in college

Part II. 21st century skills

Part III. Why there will be an emphasis on specific technological skills in this course

Part IV. Why there will be an emphasis on “following instructions” and “meeting deadlines” in this course

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

To complete this assignment, you will write a short essay of at least 300 words that contains the following components.

a. Briefly describe your post-undergraduate career aspirations (tell me what you’re

planning to do after you finish your degree, whether it be further schooling, looking for a job or whatever else)

b. Name the three “what employers want” skills from part I that you want to develop in this course and describe why you chose those three

c. Name the three “21st Century” skills you choose from part II and describe why you selected those three

d. What is the most important or surprising thing (or things) that you learned while reading these articles and doing this assignment (Professor’s note: I’m assuming there was something… if that’s not the case, tell me. But make sure to tell me why you didn’t learn anything important or why nothing surprised you.)