Developing effective 

relationships is a hallmark of professionalism, along with the ability to know

when to keep information (personal or professional) quiet (being trustworthy with sensitive
information). Accepting and applying critique demonstrates the ability to learn from mistakes and
ideally apply this new knowledge to future situations. Towards the end of the Professionalism rank
order is the selection of a mentor. Even through an informal relationship, this can be an important
way to develop and hone employability skills in a safe environment (Marsick and Watkins, 1990).
Ambiguity is last on the list, but this may be because of its inclusion with Professionalism. If it had
been in a different cluster, it might have been ranked higher. Another possible explanation is that
dealing with ambiguity is a high level cognitive skill that takes years of practice to develop. This is a
skill that needs to be studied further, especially in our increasingly complex and rapidly changing
world.

Dalton, R., Crawford, P., Weiss, L., & Fink, W. (2018). Exploring how women and
men prioritize employability skills for communication, decision making and
self-management. NACTA Journal, 62(4), 298-307. Retrieved from
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/exploring-how-women-men-
prioritize-employability/docview/2389217768/se-2?accountid=31259
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