Prior to creating an employability profile for your CTE program of study, it would be helpful to review NYSED information and view the brief video on the Employability Profile.

What Is an Employability Profile?

An employability profile documents a student’s growth and attainment of technical knowledge and skills, work-related skills, endorsements, and licenses throughout the CTE program of study. Each student must have an employability profile.

Components of an Employability Profile

  • An employability profile identifies:
    • Technical knowledge and skills (practical knowledge and skills specific to a particular CTE career area)
      • Reflects the program of study and aligns with program content, skills acquired from work-based learning experiences, and skills from the technical assessment
    • Work-related skills (knowledge and skills for employment that do not depend upon technical knowledge and are applicable to any career, e.g., communication skills, teamwork, work ethic)
    • It contains a clear rating scale with measurable indicators for student achievement
    • It identifies end-of-program outcomes, such as endorsements and/or licensure.

 Tips for Success - Employability Profile

  • Employability profiles are typically two to four pages in length.
  • Knowledge and skills on the profile should be aligned to the expectations of future employers and post-secondary partners.
  • For ease of use, it is helpful to organize technical knowledge and skills by unit, content area, and/or course, and organize work-related skills in a meaningful manner.
  • Consider including space for additional information, such as work-based learning hours and experiences, post-secondary credits, successful completion of industry-related assessments/certificates, professional licensure, certifications, special honors, awards, etc.
  • Evaluation of the technical knowledge and skills and work-related skills must be completed by the instructor and may also be done in conjunction with a WBL coordinator or other appropriate faculty, where applicable.
  • The employability profile must be reviewed on a regular basis with the student throughout the program.
  • Students must have access to their employability profile and should be encouraged to use it to share their strengths with potential employers and post-secondary school admissions personnel.
  • The profile should include a rubric with a clear rating scale of measurable indicators for student achievement:
    • For example:
      • Rating 2•Developing: Demonstrates some (or inconsistently demonstrates) knowledge/skills required for entry-level position; more growth needed.
    • Rather than just:
      • Rating 2•Developing
    • The Life/Career Competencies Framework is a useful tool to create a rating scale for the employability skills section of the profile.
    • Include space for teacher feedback that will give an employer an accurate picture of the student’s skills.
    • Include space for students to self-evaluate their skills.
    • Decide on the process that will be used to review and update employability profiles throughout the program of study:
      • How will both parties evaluate the student (e.g., Google doc)?
      • What is the plan regarding who/when/where the employability profile will be reviewed, updated, located, and maintained with student records?
      • How will this plan be communicated to all appropriate personnel?
    • See if there is a sample or template of an employability profile that would work for your program.
    • In creating an employability profile, many schools/BOCES find it helpful to see some examples. NYSED has three sample profiles and three templates that illustrate employability profiles may look like.
    • Best practice is to involve business, industry, and post-secondary partners in the development and regular review of the profiles.
    • It may be helpful to indicate whether the employability profile will be used as part of a CDOS 4+1 Graduation Pathway.
      • If so, you might want to include the employability profile as part of the Technical Assessment (Technical Assessment Part 3: Locally Developed Portfolio).
    • Blank profiles may also be used to provide school counselors a quick view of the competencies in each program.
    • A blank copy of the employability profile for your program must be submitted with both the initial approval and re-approval application.

Resources - Employability Profile