Help Them Become Skill-Oriented

In today's competitive, global marketplace job skills are what count. Work is basically an economic exchange: labor for pay. We are hired to perform skills. Having marketable, transferable skills is the key to success in the workplace.

Parents can help their children:

Learn what skills are, particularly those that are marketable, transferable, and motivated;

How skills are used at work and why they are so important;

Learn new skills, particularly the Foundation Skills, the skills required of all workers in the high-performance workplace of the 21st Century;

Identify the skills they already have; and

Develop a job skills portfolio.

These ideas are discussed in Job Skills for the 21st Century, A Guide for Students.