Chapter 2: How to Use This Guide & Intro to Skill Sets

For Students:

As students we take jobs on campus to help pay for expenses, college, family, etc. while maintaining our academic classes.   We often don’t realize that every job and task we perform help us in developing skills that will be attractive to our future employers.  While academics help provide the foundations for our knowledge on our chosen degree area, our campus student positions will help complement our knowledge with skills and abilities to make us more competitive in the job search.

Desired Skills

Today’s employers are seeking a number of skill sets.  According to NACE, National Association for Colleges and Employers (Job Outlook, 2015, National Association of Colleges and Employers), the top 10 skills set desired from recent graduates are the following: 

UNM 5 Skill Sets

Self Assessments

As you begin your student employment experience, it is important to start off with a self-assessment.  What areas do you feel you are competent in – AND – what areas might need to be goals?  The following tables are designed to help you look at your skills sets and begin thinking about where to go from here – (hint:  this will help you set goals with your supervisor!).  You can share this page with your supervisor – or use it for your own self-reflection.  

For Supervisors:

In this guide, you’ll find definitions, learning objectives, and resources to customize the student worker experience to your department or program needs. The framework of this guide complements the values and skills that UNM recognizes as valuable and necessary for our student population to grow and be successful.  We want you and your student employee to gain the greatest benefits from their employment at UNM. We are a diversified school, and each department is different.

The number of students employed, the type of work they do, and how to evaluate their progress are all things that need to be considered when planning your customized training. After reading through the manual, revisit this page to determine who to contact to help tailor your experience. All supervisors who post a position with Student Employment will receive a copy of this.