Readiness is described as understanding and competencies to keep  learning after graduating from high school, first in the formal environment, and then in the workplace throughout their careers, in order that they are able to adapting to unpredictable modifications and new financial situations and opportunities.”

What is college readiness?

College readiness, in a broader sense, refers for your stage of preparedness for any academic or instructional achievement after high/senior school that ends in a credential (along with a diploma/ professional certificate, or bachelor’s degree). So, College readiness is the cap potential for college students to illustrate the expertise and abilities required to effectively whole primary freshman stage university courses. Graduating high/senior school students need to have a strong basis of lifelong learning abilities, as “a collection of personal, cognitive, and interpersonal abilities that allow college students to each accumulate and act on expertise.” 

You’re college ready- if you are confidently walked in the college classroom, complete college requirements and don’t need any remediation classes for that.  Remedial categories, additionally called basic skills courses or developmental processes, are “catch-up” classes that don’t offer credits toward your degree. Instead, these classes offer you the chanceto boost your skills in order  to tackle college-level coursework.

What is career readiness?

To prepare for a career, you need both knowledge and skills to work in the desired career. For example, suppose you plan to become a math teacher in a high school. In order to achieve your goals, you will need: a good understanding of mathematics applications, an understanding of education policies and practices, taking the courses required for an undergraduate degree, and passing the exams required by the Education Council to obtain a teaching certificate. Career preparation prepares students to enter and succeed in the workplace, and have a career and financially promising career path while engaging in work that is important to that person. Professional preparation is important to all students, whether they are for a degree or a certification program.

Career readiness requires:

• knowledge of work- that is work environment and career 
• understanding of yourself
• the ability to settle on a career that aligns with one’s talents (aptitudes), interests, values, and temperament (personality)
• the ability to formulate realistic educational and career goals and build an idea to realize them

Linking College Readiness to Career Readiness

At instances, students turn out to be disengaged from high/senior school and college courses because they can't see the connection between college and career. When students can imagine a career that matches their abilities,skills and interests, academic motivation will increase. Parents, teachers, coaches and other adults can help students prepare for a fulfilling future by helping students understand the relationship between college preparation and career preparation. 

Therefore, preparing for your career begins with preparing for the university. That means, career readiness starts with college readiness. You need to navigate the pathways to combine education and employment to pursue a fulfilling and meaningful career.

What skills are required to be college ready?

Knowledge - Although the details of university knowledge vary from state to state, it usually includes general core subjects: mathematics, language arts, science, and usually a foreign language. Even if the student does not take inventory and focus on specific topics by taking additional courses or advanced courses, a well rounded and comprehensive training is required.

Skills- College-ready or University preparation skills include things like writing well-structured papers, using mathematical formulas, being able to use scientific methods, and so on.  Additional abilities that schools won't explicitly teach, however assist in each college- and career-readiness (and life!), encompass: Problem solving, critical thinking, decision making, time management, networking and communication.

Behaviour- Being in college is not easy, it is really challenging on many grounds. Students must have a certain attitude to meet the challenge-and succeed! These behaviors and habits may include things like self-motivation, 100% pursuit, maturity, etc.

Why is College Readiness Important? 

Students aren’t the only people who benefit from college ready programs.  High/senior  schools use it to determine the quality of students’ education and determine whether they need to make any modifications to the curriculum or coaching staff. Colleges can also determine whether a letter of admission should be issued to the student or not. Even employers should pay attention to college readiness, because many skills can also affect career preparation and various competencies can translate to profession-readiness properly. 

A latest research suggests the effect of college and university readiness on students’ chance of persisting in university and finishing a diploma. The possibility of students going to university and earning a degree can be viewed from four perspectives: 

• Students with a higher academic level preparing for university are more likely to go to university and earn a degree. 
• Using multiple college readiness indicators will help determine the probability of a student’s college success.
• Considering college preparation, the performance gap between racial/ ethnic and  family income has narrowed. ·
• Early commitment to college and university readiness is related to higher university achievement.

Hence, successful learning is essential to achieving future career goals. it encourages them to explore relevant career opportunities based on their skills, interests and ambitions. It also provides useful information and resources about college admissions, as well as the process of providing financial support for yourself and your parents and assisting them in these processes.

More specifically, college readiness is comprised of three distinct elements: college awareness, college eligibility, and college preparation.

College Awareness is about imparting college students and their parents with well timed and correct facts approximately about all factors of college attendance. College awareness is a universal aspect or is an overarching element of college preparation, which should emerge over time and involve different groups of people.

College eligibility refers to completing the necessary academic and relevant courses required for college admissions on basic levels.

College preparation refers to the emotional, social, and academic preparation of students to succeed in university by using their consciousness skills in university. These three elements are essential for college readiness and must be combined in the student's high/ senior school education plan.

College readiness calls for having all three elements (college awareness, college eligibility, and college preparation) work collectively in a synergistic however balanced style to make certain post-secondary student success. The basis of the system is constructed from the underlying beliefs and excessiveexpectancies that all college students must and may be organized to be team of workers and college-ready. 

What Makes a Student College Ready?

In many schools, preparing students for college has become a priority because parents, business leaders, and politicians all emphasize the importance of having a highly skilled workforce and citizenship. But what steps should schools take to prepare more college ready and career ready students?

A complete college readiness program must address four distinct dimensions of college readiness: cognitive strategies, content knowledge, self-management skills, and knowledge about postsecondary education.

1. Cognitive Strategies- 

Colleges count on their college students to reflect on consideration on what they learn. Students coming into university are much more likely to be succeeded if they are able to formulate, investigate, and recommendanswers to nonroutine problems; apprehend and examine conflicting causes of phenomena or events; Understand and analyze contradictory explanations of phenomena or events; evaluate the validity and usefulness of the original data, and then appropriately integrate the original data into the document or project; think analytically and logically, evaluating and contrasting differing philosophies, techniques, and positions In order to understand a subject or concept; and workout precision and accuracy as they follow their techniques and product development.

2. Content Knowledge- 

Several independently carried out studies and improvementactivities can help us determine the key knowledge and skills that students need to master in order to make the most of the university. These reviews or reports are strikingly comparable in terms of understanding the expectations of what is described. They all define a set of easy-to-manage big ideas, key concepts, and organizational principles. These ideas shape the structure of each discipline and emphasize the importance of learners to establish connections between big ideas. This method of knowledge structure enables students to build their understanding and thus can develop tertiary education.

3. Self-Management Skills

In colleges/ universities, students must track a lot of information and organize work according to competitive deadlines and priorities. You needto plan your time carefully to complete these tasks. You should be able to study independently in formal and informal study groups. When to seek help from academic support services, when to reduce losses and withdraw from the course. These tasks require self-management, which is a skill that people must constantly develop through practice and trial and error.

4. Knowledge About Postsecondary Education

Choosing and applying to a college/ university, securing monetary resource, and then adjusting to university lifestyles require an incredible quantity of specialisedunderstanding. This knowledge includes the correspondence between personal interests and faculty areas and courses; understand government and private college/ universitymonetary aid packages and the way and timeline to complete suitable forms; registering for, getting ready for, and taking required admissions exams; applying to college/university on time and filing all necessary information; and, possibly more important, understand how the lifestyle of university isn't like that of high school.

Students usually have unequal skills in these four important dimensions. . It is important for secondary schools to meet the needs of all students seeking higher education, but some students need more targeted and comprehensive courses, which should be carefully tailored to their needs.

Why is career Readiness Important? 

Career readiness is the technique of preparing college students of any age with the essential skills they need to find, retain, maintain, and develop within a job. 

Career readiness consists of such vital subjects as

• critical thinking
• communication
• emotional intelligence
• financial literacy
• time management
• stress management 

Managing pressure to prepare students for life after school also includes tuition and apprenticeships, internships, internships and cooperatives. These activities encourage students to use their newly acquired skills, and even acquire new practical skills that they may not necessarily acquire. Vocational preparation training is essential in schools because it prepares students for post-university life in the early stages of their careers and equips them with the skills needed to manage the workforce. Career preparation skills, or we can also say that they are transferable or professional skills, "enable students to gain current and future career competitive advantages in interviews and internships" and "can distinguish the difference between outstanding employees and outstanding employees." These key skills are not always a priority in schools, they provide students with the advantages they need to get a job.

What Is the Skills Gap and How Does Career Readiness Address It? 

The skills gap refers to “an essential mismatch among the competencies that employers depend upon in their Staff, and the competencies that job seekers possess”. Such gaps make it difficult for people to find jobs, and it is also difficult for employers to find skilled workers. Employers are simply not willing to devote time and energy to train the workers. They need skills and knowledge to work independently.There is a huge contrast between how employers perceive students entering the job market and how students perceive themselves entering the workforce 

 For example, “employers regularly rate the skill abilityof latest university graduates lesser than the students themselves,” whichshows that unlike students, employers see a large skill gap. By including career preparation in the curriculum, schools can help fill this gap, because teaching practical skills can prepare students for work after school.

College and career readiness goals

In order to prepare for college or university and career, students must master a wide range of knowledge and skills, from knowledge of specific content in specific academic and technical fields to knowledge of university and career paths, conditions and qualifications, collaboration and resilience.  You should consider all aspects when making plans to improve college and career preparation in your field. Guided by state and national economic and job needs, forecasted needs, and personal professional interests and expectations; College and career readiness goals and expectations and corresponding policies should be based on expectations set by university and industry standards.

If we see, this lifelong learning skills thread, there are four major components and these are- social and emotional skills, high order thinking skills, academic success and employability skills and lastly, civic or life skills.

Under social and emotional skills come, self management, responsible decision making, self awareness, social awareness and relationship skills.

Under high order thinking skills come, problem solving, critical thinking, reasoning, synthesis and precision.

Under academic success and employability skills come, inquisitiveness and intellectual openness, organization, study and research skills, attendance and engagement, teamwork and collaboration, effective communication.

Under civic and life skills come, civic engagement, financial and literacy management, information technology and social media skills

For More details on the following points, subscribe to “College and career Readiness Course”

• Goals of college and career readiness.
• Goal setting process for Highschoolers 
• Key strategies
  • How do I Think?
  • What do I Know?
  • How do I Act?
  • How do I Grow?