Illinois Essential Employability Skills on Illinois workNet

Our Job Skill Guide to includes the Illinois Essential Employability Skills (IEES). In collaboration with the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and various employers throughout Illinois, Illinois workNet has created a set of essential employability skills that all workers should possess. The purpose of the IEES is to establish a standard of these skills while matching your skills to the exact needs of employers. 

This standard applies to all career fields. IEES mostly includes “soft skills” that you can transfer to different jobs.

Different state agencies worked together to create the IEES Framework. Among the list of state agencies is the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

Why Use the Job Skill Guide?

Our Job Skill Guide is a great way to get familiar with the skills under IEES. It takes the skills you will need to use as an employee and puts them into an easily scannable format. Generally, it covers important topics such as Work Ethic, Communications, and Problem Solving. Once you are familiar with IEES, you can also use the guide to highlight other useful skills.

Moreover, the guide groups skills by importance, with clearly defined sections for IEES, as well as other useful job skills. This lets you quickly find and review the most important skills you will need. 

While a variety of skills are essential, employers are finding skills gaps. Give yourself a competitive edge and make sure you do not have any skill gaps. It is necessary for employers to see job applicants who are competitive and possess these skills. You should incorporate these skills in your resume and job interview to demonstrate you have the appropriate skills for the job you are seeking.

How Is It Organized?

As stated above, we have organized the Job Skill Guide into an easily scannable format. This way it should be easier for you to use. Each article has a short introduction and a few lists of skill examples. Each of these articles includes related resources such as:

• Documents that let you test yourself on the skills in each topic.
  
• Videos from Illinois employers on why they consider these skills important.
  
• Videos that show how these skills apply to the career fields in Illinois Pathways.
  

What’s Next?

In addition to the Job Skill Guide, workNet has many other resources. For example, you can find more articles, surveys, and guides that provide more information on employment opportunities. We also offer the NOCTI assessment for people who want to test themselves on job skills.