I’ve worked in career development for more than a decade and in higher education for even longer. Over the years I’ve encountered many students who did not think they had much to offer employers.

Sometimes students had spent their high school years and summers working retail or in the food services (for those of you who have work retail, count me right there alongside you) and didn’t feel that they had skills an employer wanted.

In other instances, students focused predominantly on their college classes and had caregiving responsibilities in their family.

Other times, students had balanced classes, campus involvement, and a part-time role that was seemingly unrelated to their future career aspiration.

Whatever the situation, these students felt that they just did not have the skills employers wanted.

But here’s the deal, some skills/competencies that employers most often value and seek in hires, are ones that students are developing in the classroom, through volunteer roles, as a part of campus organizations, and, yes, through part-time work outside their intended field.

Even if you feel like you’re not career ready, you likely have more to offer employers than you think.

The National Associate of Colleges and Employers, or NACE, launched a career-readiness initiative in 2015 to identify competencies that employers seek and their initial set of competencies has been reviewed and updated since that time.

Read about the competencies, reflect on the ones you have, think about the ones you want to develop, and think about how you can articulate your career readiness on your resume and at an interview. And, if you need help with this process, meet with a career advisor – we’re here to support you.