Job hunters: to be competitive in this job market, you must pay special attention to showcasing your hard skills and soft skills in a balanced way. No longer is it sufficient to only demonstrate your hard skills. To be clear, hard skills are job functions or tasks that can be measured, require specific knowledge and abilities, and are taught in most traditional degree programs.  Examples are: accounting, software development and medical treatment. Hard skills will help you make the cut, but all things being equal in that area, employers will whittle down the remaining candidates by evaluating their soft skills.

Soft skills are more related to personality, how one interacts with others and how one performs his or her work. Although some people have these inherently, soft skills training can help the rest of us catch up.

In an April, 2014, survey by CareerBuilder, 2,138 hiring managers and human resource professionals identified the top ten soft skills they are looking for in job candidates. They are:

Other surveys and articles include additional soft skills like leadership, analysis, critical thinking and initiative.

What’s more, 77 percent of the respondents to the CareerBuilder survey said that soft skills are equally important as hard skills and 16 percent said that soft skills were more important than hard skills. This shows the importance of soft skills to getting a job and advancing in your career.

“When companies are assessing job candidates, they’re looking for the best of both worlds: someone who is not only proficient in a particular function, but also has the right personality,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, according to a press release.

When trying to prove that you possess soft skills, career experts suggest you explain the situation, start sentences with action verbs and hone in on results and accomplishments, just like you would for hard skills.

For example, to show how team-oriented you are, you could describe specific ways you helped your team succeed despite changing requirements (critical thinking/problem solving), low morale (your positive attitude) and a presentation to the manager (your effective communication and leadership). It might look like this on your resume:

To prove your communication skills, identify what you communicated, to whom, why it was important and the quantifiable results. Try this on your resume:

Effectively demonstrating soft skills is no easy task and will take a lot of time to get used to. You may have to brainstorm, ask yourself the hard questions, create a draft and make several iterations of revisions.

Then, get yourself some personalized help. Visit your career center staff to revise (several more times) and fully develop your accomplishment statements. Be patient with yourself because the hardcore truth about soft skills is that proving them and improving them is what could lead to the big payoff of a steady paycheck.

Most courses at Bryant & Stratton College contain a portfolio project. The portfolio project is critical because it allows you to apply the knowledge from the course to a project your will create.

Also, in many cases the project is similar to something you will create when working in your field.  Devoting time to the portfolio project will help you get the most out of each course. The first step in succeeding in the portfolio project is viewing the directions for the project as soon as they are available. Be sure to check for them each week in the Activities folder. Sometimes they are available as early as week 1, as many projects will have some element of the portfolio project, such as a draft or outline, due before the final project.

If possible, print the directions so you can highlight or make notes. After reading, ask yourself: Do I understand each part of the assignment?  Do I know what I need to do earn a high score in each category of the rubric? If any part of the project is unclear, email your instructor right away. The next step is to look at the “deliverables” for the project. This could be a topic selection activity, outline, or rough draft.  These deliverables are a great opportunity for you to receive feedback from your peers and instructor. It’s also a way to ensure you are working towards the project over time and not putting it off until right before the final project is due.

After completing your project, evaluate it carefully. Is there any area you rushed and may not have fully met the requirements? Are your sources appropriate for the project? How would a potential employer evaluate your selection of sources? Did you proofread? Reading it out loud is a great way to catch errors. I encourage all students to utilize the Smarthinking tutorial service before submitting the final draft.

Another great strategy is to actually fill out the rubric for your project. This can help you look more objectively at your work. Remember, your instructor, and many times a supervisor, does not see the hours spent researching and composing a project. Your project is the only way to demonstrate what you have learned.

Creating a portfolio project not only helps you retain the knowledge from your courses, but it’s a great addition to your electronic portfolio, which will showcase your abilities to future employers.   The skill of creating an involved project is a great way to practice time management.

With each project you will learn what strategies will work for you, and become more confident in your abilities. What a great way to prepare for your field!

Bryant & Stratton College doesn\’t just develop the basic skills required to succeed in a particular degree program. Each and every program at Bryant & Stratton College includes a heavy focus on real world skills that are vitally important in creating employable graduates. Bryant & Stratton College builds these skills from your very first day in class, working to connect the classroom to real world expectations of employers every step of the way.

The infographic below helps to illustrate the different facts and figures surrounding the importance of not just earning a degree, but translating real world skills into your job search. Be sure to right click and select view image to zoom in and see a full size version of the infographic.

For many job seekers, higher education has become a requirement in order to land a job. There is a lot of talk about career-readiness and the “skills gap” that has put a halt to many recent grads’ job searches, while employers struggle to find adequate candidates. But this issue also exists in the “middle-skills” range – or, so-called \”non degree jobs\” that require more than a high school education but less than a four-year degree.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, experts estimate that as many as 25 million, or 47 percent, of all new job openings from 2010 to 2020 will fall into this middle-skills range. Employers claim that vacancies in these positions are already piling up, including fields such as computer technology and healthcare. But what does this mean for students pursuing these positions? Even for a non degree job, some job skills training is required.  

Whether your job skills training involves earning an associate’s degree or a professional certificate, it’s important to have career-readiness on the mind. Here are a few ways that Bryant & Stratton College students are being set up for success

If you’re already enrolled in one of Bryant & Stratton College’s associates degree program, you may be on the right track without even knowing it. Bryant & Stratton College’s programs are aligned with careers that are in demand right now, and our Career LifePrep program ensures that coursework is directly tied to what employers want. Input from industry leaders helps guide curricula, and each program integrates real-world experiences and opportunities to build career skills so students can easily transition from the classroom to the workplace.

Technical skills are a necessity, but so are interpersonal, or “soft” skills. It’s important to learn how to be a team player, communicate, solve problems and think critically in order to fit into any workplace environment. Look for opportunities in group projects and other class assignments and activities to develop these attributes during your time in the classroom.

It’s no secret that connections play a key role in finding a job. Bryant & Stratton offers career resources and job placement services to help graduates take the next step. Don’t miss out – take advantage of the opportunities in front of you as you prepare to for the not-to-be-dreaded job search.

Your education experience is what you make of it. As you prepare for your new career, don’t be afraid to get out there – and mind the gap.

Are you looking to get in on the demand for workers with middle-skills? Check out all the programs available at Bryant & Stratton College.

In today’s job market, it’s not enough for recent graduates to simply have a strong academic record. Companies are looking to hire individuals who can grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of their workplace over time.

Skills like critical thinking, problem solving and the ability to communicate effectively are now a crucial part of any job applicant’s resume. The higher education community has taken note – colleges and universities are looking for ways to better prepare students for careers after they graduate. At Bryant & Stratton College, we’ve launched our EmployableYOU program to do just that.

Making Connections: An important part of this program is the connections we’ve made with industry experts to understand what employers want. These efforts include the college’s Employability Summit, which brought together top employers to discuss current job market challenges and how recent graduates can overcome them. (Watch a recording of the Summit here.) We’ve taken those learnings and embedded them into our programs in meaningful ways to ensure our students are job-ready:

Curricula that matters: Every program’s curriculum is aligned to current workplace needs. Input from the employer community drives these decisions so that you can more easily launch your career post graduation.

Creating a real-world experience inside the classroom: Our instructors aim to help draw connections between everything you learn in class and what you will actually be doing and experiencing on the job. EmployableYOU combines course content across the College with real-world activities and workplace competencies to develop skills you need.

A career services center that actually helps: Bryant & Stratton offers career planning services for students, including career counseling, career search advisement, interview preparation and resume reviews, as well as online professional development tools and webinars. It’s up to you to pursue these opportunities – don’t let them go to waste! The most important take-away from employer input is that having strong technical skills in your field need to be matched with the ability to think, adapt and work well with others. It’s never too early to start building these skills. In fact, we make a conscious effort to ensure that students are doing so throughout their education, every step of the way.

The realm of information technology (IT) is constantly evolving, which is why more students and professionals choose to complete their information technology degree online.

There was a time when IT professionals could learn the skills they needed without a formal education. However, in the current market, an IT degree shows business owners, and clients, that an individual has the education, skills, and credentials proving s/he is a professional. Plus, online degree programs are a convenient choice for those who are already working in the field, and want to continue their education without sacrificing their work or family life. Here are some of the top reasons why more information technology professionals are turning to online degree programs.

Universally recognized credentials While some IT professionals work for a company or a corporation, many are choosing to work from home as independent contractors. Either way, the more powerful your resume is, the more likely you are to be considered for prospective jobs. An IT degree, or a degree in networking and/or security technology, is an academic credential recognized across the national and global workplace. While work experience is a valuable asset, a degree is a mark of achievement every HR department and prospective client understands. In many cases, an online degree will move your application into the interview pile because it shows you have chosen to hone your skills, and are dedicated to becoming an expert in the field of IT.

A degree at your convenience For many adults, attending a full-time campus is not an option. Many IT professionals are already working full-time and/or have families. You may already have career using your AOS in Information Technology, but are interested in specializing in mobile application technology, security, or networking. Getting your information technology degree online is the best way to maintain your current work and family schedule while simultaneously prioritizing your academic and career goals. Online classes can be scheduled around your working hours and family obligations.

Keep your education current Mobile technology and the increasing presence of cloud computing, means current IT professionals have to update their education on a regular basis. A basic knowledge of hardware and software programming is no longer enough. With the right information technology degree online, you can take courses that will bring you up to date on the newest computer, mobile, and cloud computing innovations. In addition to our fundamental hardware and software programming and network management courses, Bryant & Stratton College offers online IT courses that include beginning and intermediate internet and Android programming, Java programming, network security, computer forensic fundamentals and ethical hacking. These degree programs allow our students to remain competitive in the IT job market.

Increase your salary potential It\’s a fact that an education increases your earning potential. Those who have a college degree earn more, experience lower unemployment rates, and have access to better job opportunities. If you are interested in promoting from within your company, or applying for a new job that is higher on the career ladder, obtaining an information technology degree online can help you to achieve those goals, and will increase your net worth. If you would like to learn more about our information technology degree programs, please contact the Admissions Office at Bryant & Stratton. We look forward to helping you achieve your academic and professional goals.

You’ve had it! You’re sick and tired of your supervisor’s behavior and you’re not going to tolerate it anymore. He gets on your nerves with micromanaging, perpetual grumpiness, ineffective work processes and he just gave someone else the assignment you really wanted.

Well, despite your frustration, don’t constantly head off to the human resources department to complain about him unless you want to risk being labeled a troublemaker. But, know that there are some perfectly legitimate reasons to request help.

“I wouldn’t recommend going to HR the same way you would to go a manager at a restaurant when you get bad service,” said Deb Cohen, senior vice president of knowledge development at the Society for Human Resource Management. “It really should be something of a more serious nature.”

If your supervisor engages in illegal activities, like not complying with equal employment opportunity laws, it would be the kind of HR problems that allow you to report him to human resources. EEO laws protect employees from discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex and disability. They also protect employees from being retaliated against when they report discrimination, file a charge of discrimination or cooperate with an EEO investigation. (see EEOC at http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/index.cfm)

Other illegal activities are associated with workplace health and safety. Some include physical, mechanical, and chemical hazards as well as workplace violence and occupational stress. (visit the Department of Labor’s (DoL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) web site at https://www.osha.gov for specific details) Although in some companies HR may not actually handle workplace safety issues, it is a good place to start to find out who does.

Questions about compensation and benefits are also in HR’s arena.

So what do you do when your HR problems are not as serious as these, but are still important, like when your co-worker gets that plum assignment over you?

“Go to your supervisor and ask if there is a reason you were not chosen and what you can do to improve your chances of getting the assignment later on,” said Cohen.

There could be a very good reason.  Perhaps you don’t have the level of knowledge, skills or seniority that are required. Document those reasons or requirements and the actions you take to improve them.

“Then, if you are passed over three more times that may indicate a pattern of behavior for which you might seek counsel from HR,” Cohen said.

Any time you request HR help, be prepared with evidence of when and how a supervisor crossed the line with inappropriate or unprofessional behavior.

The bottom line, according to Cohen, is that “It comes down to whether you have evidence that there is a problem. You can’t just have a feeling there is one.”

Finally, if you can’t pinpoint a legal issue, figure out what specifically bothers you and try to fix it.

In any of these cases it may be a perfect time to develop your interpersonal skills, if you want to advance.  HR can usually provide information on job training and professional development resources as well as advise you about applying for other internal jobs.

Memorized the course work. Aced the exam. Passed the test to become licensed in your field. Graduated at the top of your class. Think you are ready to be hired? Being technically proficient in your field may no longer be enough.

Bryant & Stratton College is working to give students an edge in the job market. We’ve asked employers what skills they want new hires to have, and we are making sure our students are learning them. Employers today are looking for staff members who are critical thinkers, problem solvers and team players, said Bryant & Stratton College Director of Career Services, Robyn Cannata.

“We weave those components right into our classes so that students can learn those skills and experience something as close to real world workplace as possible,” she said.

The college has integrated lessons into the classroom experience to help students build these skills long before they graduate rather than on the job. Cannata also said the Career Services department urges students to build their work history by volunteering in their field. Once they have graduated her department works with each student to help sharpen their resume, advise them on job search strategies, network and prepare for the actual interview.

“Our students stand out because we have worked with them on how to best present themselves and do some of those extra things that the average student doesn’t think to do when applying for jobs,” she said. “We hope that matters to students because we really do provide them with an in depth experience that goes well beyond academics! We act as a true partner to them and we are with them all the way,” Cannata said.

Are you ready to jumpstart your career by returning to school and obtaining a degree? You might want to turn your sights towards a BBA in Accounting. When students complete their degree in accounting at Bryant & Stratton College, it’s about more than just the numbers. In addition to learning the fundamentals of accounting, our graduates are also provided with a solid business foundation, having completed courses including management, marketing, strategic planning, and business law. Our accounting students are also required to take courses in business-related computer applications, teaching them to analyze business data, communicate the results, and solve technology challenges. Combined, these skills provide the perfect launch pad for adults who are ready take their career to the next level.

Here are some of the ways a BBA in Accounting from Bryant & Stratton College will help advance you on your accountant career path:

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (PDF), the average American holds 11.3 jobs between the ages of 18 and 46. This means students need to be prepared to work in a variety of environments. Your accounting degree will provide a tremendous amount of versatility. Every business is designed to turn a profit and it takes a solid accounting department in order to make that happen. A BBA in Accounting will allow you to work in virtually any industry as a bookkeeper, auditor, accountant, tax preparer, budget analyst, financial manager, and more. You may be the sole accountant for a small business or the manager of a large accounting department for a multi-national corporation. Either way, your accounting degree will provide the foundation you need to increase your earning potential and climb the career ladder. There are many jobs you can get with an accounting degree.

Statistics show that adults who have a college education earn more, and are unemployed less often, than individuals with a high school diploma. While a few Quickbooks computer courses or an AA in accounting may be all you need to obtain a ground-level accounting or bookkeeping position, what happens when you are ready to take your job to the next level? The BLS Occupational Handbook states that most businesses require accountants and auditors to have a BA in Accounting or a related field. Your employer may expect you to continue your education if you want to increase your earning potential via promotions. The more education and job experience you have, the greater your lifetime earning potential.

Have you always wanted to own your own business? While experience and/or a great idea is important, you will also need capital. Your BBA in Accounting will show prospective investors that you have the basic business and financial know-how required to understand the bottom line. It will lend you a certain amount of credibility that, paired with your experience and acumen, can help you secure the loans you’ll need. Once your business is up and running, your accounting degree will provide a wealth of information to draw from as you begin to make the decisions that will determine the future of your business.

Are you ready to jumpstart your career by obtaining a BBA in Accounting or a related field? Contact the Admissions Office at Bryant & Stratton College. Our accounting department provides a supportive environment where returning students can achieve their academic goals.

Are you ready to jumpstart your career by returning to school and obtaining a degree? You might want to turn your sights towards a BBA in Accounting. When students complete their degree in accounting at Bryant & Stratton College, it’s about more than just the numbers. In addition to learning the fundamentals of accounting, our graduates are also provided with a solid business foundation, having completed courses including management, marketing, strategic planning, and business law. Our accounting students are also required to take courses in business-related computer applications, teaching them to analyze business data, communicate the results, and solve technology challenges. Combined, these skills provide the perfect launch pad for adults who are ready take their career to the next level.

Here are some of the ways a BBA in Accounting from Bryant & Stratton College will help advance you on your accountant career path:

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (PDF), the average American holds 11.3 jobs between the ages of 18 and 46. This means students need to be prepared to work in a variety of environments. Your accounting degree will provide a tremendous amount of versatility. Every business is designed to turn a profit and it takes a solid accounting department in order to make that happen. A BBA in Accounting will allow you to work in virtually any industry as a bookkeeper, auditor, accountant, tax preparer, budget analyst, financial manager, and more. You may be the sole accountant for a small business or the manager of a large accounting department for a multi-national corporation. Either way, your accounting degree will provide the foundation you need to increase your earning potential and climb the career ladder. There are many jobs you can get with an accounting degree.

Statistics show that adults who have a college education earn more, and are unemployed less often, than individuals with a high school diploma. While a few Quickbooks computer courses or an AA in accounting may be all you need to obtain a ground-level accounting or bookkeeping position, what happens when you are ready to take your job to the next level? The BLS Occupational Handbook states that most businesses require accountants and auditors to have a BA in Accounting or a related field. Your employer may expect you to continue your education if you want to increase your earning potential via promotions. The more education and job experience you have, the greater your lifetime earning potential.

Have you always wanted to own your own business? While experience and/or a great idea is important, you will also need capital. Your BBA in Accounting will show prospective investors that you have the basic business and financial know-how required to understand the bottom line. It will lend you a certain amount of credibility that, paired with your experience and acumen, can help you secure the loans you’ll need. Once your business is up and running, your accounting degree will provide a wealth of information to draw from as you begin to make the decisions that will determine the future of your business.

Are you ready to jumpstart your career by obtaining a BBA in Accounting or a related field? Contact the Admissions Office at Bryant & Stratton College. Our accounting department provides a supportive environment where returning students can achieve their academic goals.

A: This can be a bit of an intimidating subject for students because they really haven\’t studied anything outside of their education and can be unsure about the way businesses operate. When I say think like a hiring manager or think like the employer, I mean the only reason anybody in business hires a person is to solve a set of problems that they\’re faced with. Employers are only going to hire someone if they find someone who can help them solve those problems faster, better, and less expensively than they could doing it on their own. So, if a student can get themselves in a position where they deeply understand what I\’ve just said and believe that\’s why employers hire, the question then is: What kind of problems are the job seeker trying to solve? They could be things like growing the business, developing new products, treating their customers more effectively and retaining them, improving their cost structure, building their online marketing capacity, improve their image in the marketplace, buy another company, integrate the people from one company with another, dealing with governmental regulations, on, and on, and on. Once a student figures out that those are the problems their potential employer faces, the question then becomes one of: How do you take your skills, whatever they may be, and begin to offer some advice on how this target employer can solve some of those problems with you helping them do it? And the minute you can connect with somebody at that level, you begin to develop a relationship. And, if you can continue building that, it could culminate in a great job

A: First students have to figure out what their strengths are and, once they do, they have to convert those strengths into a language that employers understand, namely job titles and descriptions. As a student reads job descriptions, it will tell them about what\’s expected from that job and will confirm that that\’s the right job for them. By converting their strengths to align with job titles and descriptions, students show themselves as having some, if not, a lot of the qualities that are being looked for in that job description. For example, say I want to be a project manager, what I really should be saying is, \”not only do I want to be a project manager, but I know how to bring projects in on time and on budget and work interdepartmentally with people to ensure that we have a good relationship and, ultimately, achieve what the business is trying to achieve.\” If a student can articulate these characteristics versus, \”I just want to be a project manager,\” then they are going to get the attention of the hiring manager because, although they need to hire a project manager, that\’s not what they really want; they want somebody to do be able to say how they\’ll accomplish the job.

A: The students I work with first of all don\’t know the job they want specifically. So, they have to refine that and know exactly the job titles that they\’re interested in. If you don\’t know that and you\’re just firing off résumés, the chances of getting a job are reduced significantly. Most companies don\’t hire generalists. They hire people with specific skills for a specific problem. So a lot is riding on a college graduate\’s ability to understand the connection between what skills they have and what employers are looking for, then focus their job search on that particular skill set and corresponding job title. The second is they stick to the classic résumé. There\’s wonderful career services in a lot of universities, and they teach their students – their graduating students – how to put together a résumé. But that résumé is the same résumé that everybody else is putting together, so at career fairs or when submitting a résumé to an employer, it\’s just one in a stack of maybe 100 with no differentiation. By putting some creative thought behind a résumé a student is more likely to stand out. I recommend making what I call a one-sheet that is written in the language of the hiring manager. A one-sheet addresses the solution a student can provide a company on the front and on the back offers the information about what a student has done and what his or her degree is in and maybe past work experience.

 A: I think it\’s essential to hiring managers because the hiring manager these days doesn\’t have the luxury of having additional people on staff. They only hire the people they absolutely need and most of the people they have are doing more than the normal job because they\’re overworked. Therefore, they need to ensure that whomever they bring into the organization has the ability to work well with other people, understand nonverbal cues and understand the impact they might have on their co-workers, how to facilitate conversations and how think creatively to create win/win situations. The ability to have that dialogue and interaction with people in addition to all the technical skills or your specific area of expertise is essential in business today.

A: Never ask for a job. What the student should be doing is networking with people. And, when you network with people, the goal is to tell them the area that you\’re interested in and not ask them for anything other than who do they know who might be able to put me in contact with someone who might be interested in having me work for them? So, I never put the person on the spot that I meet with. I only ask them if they know others that I should spend time with. And, could they introduce me to them? Using your network in this very sophisticated way is the most powerful thing you can do because getting a referral from someone is far better than sending in a blind résumé.

In many ways, online degree programs are very similar to traditional learning – you learn the same concepts, and you study from similar materials. But a common misconception about the difference between online and traditional education is that the student engages in less interactions with instructors and classmates. In fact, virtual learning might just be more interactive. If you are considering getting a degree online, here’s what you can expect from the online classes at Bryant & Stratton College.

Attending class over the internet means participating in a non-traditional, “virtual classroom” environment. While you won’t meet your instructor or classmates in person, this does not mean the quality of your learning experience will suffer.

The development of education technologies allows for online programs to be more interactive. Instead of in-class discussions, students post their thoughts and respond to others in a web forum. Virtual students are required to post in discussion a minimum of three times a week in Bryant & Stratton College’s classes. This ensures every student is interacting with the entire class throughout the week. Many students find themselves posting in the discussion forum multiple times throughout the week, far surpassing the minimal requirement of three posts.

Learning new material becomes more dynamic, as instructors can more easily incorporate videos and other media into coursework. Having access to information wikis allows students to have even more information at their fingertips. All of these elements make online learning just as engaging as a traditional classroom setting.

One of the main draws of online schools is that they allow students to have a more flexible schedule. While there are deadlines for assignments, discussion participation and other academic activities, each individual student gets to decide when class is in session.

On a typical day, you might log in to your virtual classroom to check if your professor has made any new announcements, or posted grades for your previous assignments. Later in the day, you might read a few chapters, post your thoughts in the discussion board and take some time to respond to other classmates’ posts. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, working part-time or full-time, there is always the opportunity to get work done at your own pace.

However, it’s important to note that off-campus students must be even more mindful than on-campus students of how they schedule their time. The flexibility of self-paced learning makes it easier to fall behind. An online student must be self-motivated and organized in order to get work done.

Each week, online classes run from Sunday to Saturday. This allows students to map out how they are going to take care of their work each week. Most students develop a schedule for completing their discussions, course work and necessary reading for each week. Tools and resources provided in every classroom – like the Tracking Calendar – allow students to create a plan of attack that suits their learning style, ensuring greater success for all learning styles.

If you are interested in pursuing an online degree, Bryant & Stratton College might be right for you. We offer a variety of associate and bachelor programs for online learners. For more information, call 1.800.895.1738 to speak with an admissions representative.