Basic Skills

Yes, it is a bit ironic that the image has a typo (the spelling of the word design), but I don't think it detracts from the main message. Some listed skills are not applicable to every job (a high-tech farmer is unlikely to be doing video production), but most of them are.

The image offers you a list of Layer Number Two of 21st century literacy, which I think is quite accurate. I'd like to talk about the fact that way too often these days we don't have Layer Number One literacy, which consists of the original 3 Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. Way too often, not just with HS graduates but with college or university graduates, you see errors in basic literacy.

Spelling errors may seem fairly benign, but they usually relate to someone who does not read much. There is a high correlation between frequent reading and good orthography. One can conclude that a bad speller is a person who rarely reads...hence, how are they doing professional development? Only exception being, the language they made the typo in is not their native language - fair enough.

Writing skills are critical. Nobody is expecting you to be a Hemingway or Elmore Leonard, but clear communication is very important. Also, terseness is not always a virtue. If you have a lot to say, then say it. I'd estimate that 90 percent of my coworkers in the past decade have barely ever written emails at all. I don't know if that is because they dislike writing, or fear it. In any case, frequent and clear communication is a good thing.

Arithmetic: I have sat through more than one meeting where people botched basic math. We are not talking elementary calculus here, I mean people not quite understanding how compound interest works. And these are very well-paid upper middle class employees. I am just glad they are not the company accountants.

Next job interview: ask the interviewee to write a single page story, and do a dozen 12th grade math problems. The results may shock you.