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  • Career Readiness
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Career Readiness Initiative

Ready to Work on Day 1

We are excited to announce the launch of the Northwest University Career Readiness Initiative. NU has identified a list of workplace competencies and certificates to prepare students even more fully for the workplace. This initiative bridges the gap that so many employers see when new hires are not completely ready to enter the workforce after graduation.

At Northwest, we desire for all undergraduate students to leave NU equipped and able to communicate to future employers that Northwest prepared them well; not just with courses and degrees, but with quantifiable work skills and certificates. We know that many professional skills are already being taught in our classes, but the modifications to NU's core curriculum through the Career Readiness Initiative will provide hiring managers with measurable evidence as to the abilities our graduates can bring to their teams.

The Integration of Education and Vocation

I'm Levi Davenport, I'm the Director of Career Development and Corporate Relations here at Northwest University. I'm really excited about the Career Readiness Initiative. What we found in higher ed, specifically liberal arts universities, is that students are getting out and getting into the workplace and the ramping on time for students to be work-ready, if you will, takes the employer a little bit of time to get that graduate to the place that they want them to be. So what NU has done is addressed that need. It's sort of bridged that gap that we've seen between graduation and day one at work. So what Career Readiness Initiative does is it eliminates that gap so that the student, when they graduate, has a list of core competencies for the workplace, a list of certificates, things that have trained them specifically to start day one. It's really going to benefit employers.

So we've done a ton of data analysis and meeting with business owners, C-level exes, presidents telling them about this initiative, asking for their input, recruiters from Amazon, recruiters from Microsoft. They love it. They say it's all about making the student have quantifiable skills on their resume. So employers really, really are behind this. They wanted this to start over the summer when we first started talking about it last year. And so we ramp it up to where we've really done due diligence, the faculty, because that's one thing that is sometimes difficult, is making sure that when you adapt the core curriculum, faculty are on board and all NU faculty thinks that it's amazing. And all employers are like, yes, we want this.

This initiative will set students up for success because they will be ready to work on day one. Their core competencies and the certificates that the students will be obtaining that will be in a separate document alongside their transcript will really show that they're not just saying I have conflict mediation skills. We're actually giving them a certificate that they've done the work to show that they do have it. The Career Readiness Initiative basically allows employers to hire with confidence because they know these graduates have the necessary tools to start work day one.

And then it also really allows graduates to graduate with confidence. Our NU students will be able to know coming into NU, I can graduate with confidence, knowing I'll be able to have all this access to employers with these competencies and certificates that I've obtained that put them head and shoulders above other graduates from other institutions. If you resonate with the Career Readiness Initiative and you want to hear more about it, whether it's you want to hire an intern, whether you want to be a mentor, whether it's you're a parent of a prospective student or a prospective student or current student and you want to hear more about it, please reach out to me, my office. I take all emails so you can just email me or call me. And I'd love to be able to assist you and give you more information on this incredible initiative.

Start Quotation

“We have two NU graduates who are now leading Operations and Investments for our firm. That’s tremendous value and growth for people who started out as interns. They have earned these roles through rolling up their sleeves and solving problems for our clients and for the business. They put other’s needs ahead of their own and act with integrity, and they’re passionate about constantly making us better.

We are making an investment in our interns, and this initiative helps us get a return on this investment sooner. We think that’s a win for students since it allows us to hire more interns, and we think it’s a win for the business because they are able to contribute sooner. Businesses like ours are built on trust, and the NU students we have hired have rapidly earned our trust. Individuals with integrity will always be in high demand, and when you combine character with tangible skills, that’s someone who can provide value to any business.”

Michael Greene

Michael Greene Advisor, VP of Operations
Highland Private Wealth

Professional Skills

Professional skills are organized under competency groups. A professional skill is made up of a minimum of six student hours of work (inside and outside of class) including some amount of reading and an associated assignment (or part of a larger assignment). We strategically identified a number of courses in the core curriculum to offer at least one professional skill.

Competency Group Professional Skills
Adaptability
  • Personal Assessment/Receiving Critique
  • Humility
  • Patience
  • Vulnerability
  • Imagination
  • Curiosity
  • Creativity
Group Communication
  • Networking
  • Presentation
  • Public Speaking
  • Social Intelligence
  • Social Media
  • Email and Letter Writing
  • Professional Writing
Interpersonal Communication
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Conversation
  • Cultural Competence
  • Listening
  • Positivity
  • Giving and Receiving Feedback
  • Purposeful Communication
  • Interpersonal Awareness
  • Relational Awareness
Critical Thinking
  • Analysis and Evaluation
  • Reconstructing Information
  • Sense-Making
  • Adaptive Thinking
  • Critical Thinking
  • Problem Solving
  • Reflective Learning
Cultural Awareness
  • Anti-Racism
  • Social Awareness
  • Humanitarianism
  • Self-Awareness
Empathy
  • Cognitive Empathy
  • Emotional Empathy
  • Empathetic Concern
  • Emotional Intelligence
Grit
  • Re-framing Failure
  • Accomplishing Goals
  • Growth Mindset
  • Resilience
  • Self-Motivation
  • Perseverance
  • Stress Management
Integrity
  • Discipline
  • Discipleship
  • Purposefulness
  • Worldview
Leadership
  • Leading an Organization
  • Student Leadership
  • Project Leadership
  • Supervision/Management
  • Leading Meetings
  • Motivating Others
  • Decision Making
Professionalism
  • Resume/CV
  • Interviewing
  • Understanding Applications
  • Time Management
  • Organization
  • Dependability
  • Demeanor/Presence
  • Ethical Behavior
Teamwork
  • Team Building
  • Collaboration
  • Group Projects
  • Social Intelligence
Technology
  • Office Suite
  • Digital Literacy
  • Web Design
  • Salesforce
Levi Davenport

Interested in joining the Career Readiness Initiative?

Contact Peter Carlson to become a mentor or to inquire about our graduates.

Peter Carlson

Director of Career Services
peter.carlson@northwestu.edu
425-889-5208

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