If you look at any job posting, most of the time the job ad will include a laundry list of bullet points of essential requirements for the position. However, when you are invited for an interview, it is entirely a different ball of wax. Quite often employers are looking for qualities that are not even mentioned in the job ad itself. This happened to me on several occasions in the past. I even questioned myself how I got shortlisted for the interview in the first place. Part luck, part karma.
With eportfolio, students can easily demonstrate to prospective employers their multiple skills, such as data literacy, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication and people management. According to the recent World Economic Forum reports, these skills are some of the top ten skills needed by individuals and companies to be successful in today’s industrial revolution society (Gray, 2016).
From the employer’s perspective, the digital portfolio provides concrete evidence of the student’s accomplishments. It also showcases the student’s diverse skills being applied in different coursework. Thereby, providing employers a more complete picture of an applicant’s capabilities and even personalities.
Given that Gen Zs are digital natives where 82% attach values to learning new skills (GlobalWebIndex, 2019), there may be an opportunity for me to incorporate eportfolio in the introductory accounting course. Example of eportfolio activities, such as asking students to create a vlog at the start of the course, posting their excel calculation assignments, and reflective writing on complex concepts.
Based on the recent employment report (Salisbury, 2019), 89% of employers report difficulty in recruiting individuals with the right skills while at the same time, 40% of recent undergraduates are underemployed. So why such a discrepancy? Employers have frequently reported that the school curriculum do not provide students with transferable skills. In order to solve this, it requires collaboration from schools, students, to employers. Eportfolio provides a platform to align the goals of all parties.
By empowering students to keep track of their own performances over time, it helps them to identify any gaps between their current skill sets and skills required for their targeted careers. In doing so, it will shine a spotlight and provide students with some directions on what courses they will need to complete in order to meet the employers’ hiring requirements. Likewise, it may help faculties and college administrators to stay focused and design and offer programs and courses that will meet students’ demands. Such collaborative effort of integrating real workplace and learning results in a win-win situation for all stakeholders.
References
GlobalWebIndex. (2019). Global Web Index Audience Report. Retrieved from Global Web Index: https://www.globalwebindex.com/reports/trends-19
Gray, A. (2016, Jan 19). The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Retrieved from World Economic Forum : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/
Salisbury, A. (2019, Mar 12). Education And Career Are Disconnected By Design -- Here Is A Roadmap To Fix It. Retrieved from Forbes.com: https://www.forbes.com/sites/allisondulinsalisbury/2019/03/12/education-and-career-are-disconnected-by-design-here-is-a-roadmap-to-fix-it/#5bb392081064
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