Do Interns Know What They Think They Know? Assessing Business Communication Skills in Interns and Recent Graduates

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie G. Schartel Dunn ◽  
Peggy L. Lane
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Business Communication ◽  
Business Curriculum ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
Recent Graduates

This article extends a dialogue regarding how (and what) communication skills are stressed within business schools, which should be regularly examined and updated. Specifically, this article addresses which skills interns and employers perceive as important. Results indicate that interns and their supervisors have similar perceptions of which communication skills are most important. Furthermore, emphasis placed on communication skills in the business curriculum did not necessarily translate to perceived importance by the interns. Skills employers perceived to be important were compared with adequacy of interns’ skills. Writing, proofreading, interpersonal skills with customers, and listening were among the skills interns lacked.

Accounting students’ perceptions of important business communication skills for career success

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Atef Oussii ◽  
Mohamed Faker Klibi
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Business Communication ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Graduate Unemployment ◽  
Accounting Graduates

Purpose This paper aims to examine the business communication skills that accounting students see as having the highest importance for career success. It also explores the current levels of development of these skills and analyzes them through a comparative study between three Tunisian business schools. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a questionnaire sent to180 students from three business schools to provide insights into the development of communication skills perceived important for a successful accounting career. Findings The results indicate that all students are conscious of the importance held by communication skills for career success in the accounting profession. However, they feel that their aptitudes are sometimes poorly developed, especially when it comes to proficiency in French (as a language of business in Tunisia) and written skills. Practical implications The paper’s findings offer important guidance concerning the communication skills that accounting students consider most needed by the Tunisian labor market. The findings of this study may be useful for curriculum development in local and international contexts. Originality/value This study is conducted in a developing country where the graduate unemployment rate is about 30 per cent. This high unemployment often affects service professions like accounting. Moreover, in Tunisia, accounting education focuses particularly on technical aspects. So far, no studies have been conducted to show whether students nowadays are aware of the increasing importance of generic skills in accounting practice. As a result, the conclusions of this study could provide Tunisian stakeholders with insights into ways of potentially improving accounting graduates’ employability.

scholarly journals Street law for Czech and Slovak young Roma musicians

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Michal Urban ◽  
Hana Draslarová
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
School Students ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Recent Graduates ◽  
Law Student ◽  
Law School Students

<p align="JUSTIFY">For almost seven years, Street Law has been a part of the curriculum of the Prague Law School. Over the years, law students have taught law at public and private grammar schools, high schools, business schools and also some vocational schools, mostly located in the Prague region. They were all secondary schools and predominantly ethnically homogenous, since members of the largest Czech minority, the Roma, for various reasons hardly ever attend these schools. Last summer, however, a group of Prague Law School students and recent graduates travelled to Eastern Slovakia to organize Street Law workshops for Roma teenagers. This text tells the story of their journey, reflects their teaching methodology and experience and offers a perspective of a law student participating in the workshops.</p>

Integrating Business Communication Skills into a Buyer-Behavior Course Project

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Alan P. Wunsch ◽  
Chuck Tomkovick
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Team Teaching ◽  
Business Communication ◽  
Buyer Behavior ◽  
Electronic Communications ◽  
Business Courses ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Hiring Criteria ◽  
Marketing Educators

Marketing educators have long recognized the need for strengthening their students' business communication skills. Recruiters routinely consider superior communica tions skills as essential hiring criteria when filling entry- level marketing positions. Additionally, marketing students consistently rate communication-intensive business courses as among those most helpful to them in preparing for their business careers. This paper discusses an undergraduate buyer-behavior course project targeted at improving stu dents' business communication skills through a team- teaching project. The paper highlights the value of integrating written, oral, and electronic communications pedagogy with buyer-behavior course instruction and then outlines the project from a "how-to-do-it" perspective.

The role of volunteering in finding a job from the perspective of employers

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 119-140
Author(s):  
Paulina Tetwejer
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Group Cooperation ◽  
The Relationship

The article is a presentation of a part of the results of research conducted during work on the dissertation. In the introduction, theoretical references to understanding volunteering from various perspectives were indicated. It also emphasizes the understanding of volunteering as an opportunity to develop professional competences of a volunteer. Consequently, the next part of the article is an argument on the relationship between volunteering and professional competences. The author indicates specific skills, knowledge and attitudes that, according to the literature, can be acquired during volunteering. Subsequently employers’ expectations towards the characteristics of future employees, as well as their attitude to volunteering are described. This part is based on research conducted, among others, by the Warsaw School of Economics. Then, the author presents the results of her own research conducted among employers of social sciences students and their perception of volunteering and the opportunities it creates for the development of competences. The analysis of the research results allows us to believe that volunteers, during their activity, gain mainly practical and industry knowledge. Among the skills indicated were group cooperation, interpersonal skills and effective communication. The attitudes that volunteers acquire thanks to their actions are: resourcefulness, responsibility, sensitivity and empathy. At the end, the results of the author’s research on competences acquired by volunteers were compared with the competences desired by employers and the existing competency gap. The analysis of all answers confirms that communication skills, openness, teamwork and industry knowledge are competences that are desirable in an ideal graduate, who most often has a competency gap in this area. At the same time, these are competences that can be acquired through volunteering. The research results may suggest that people entering the labour market, but also employers, are interested in volunteering as a way to increase their chances on the labour market.

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