Abstract:

Background:
Competency-based learning is a response to the needs of our contemporary society. Competencies translate the knowledge into observable behaviors and can be of two types: generic (transversal), that is, competencies that are common to all positions in the organization; and specific, which are the appropriate competencies for a specific job. Although it could be assumed that specific skills are the most valued in the educational process and in subsequent job performance, data from the University Employability and Employment Observatory stablishes that, among the requirements to apply for a job, generic skills had a weight of 33.49%, while specific skills had a weight of 32.49%.
Organizations highlight a certain lack of generic social skills. The University, as a training agent for future professionals, has the responsibility of developing not only specific skills but also generic skills the labor market requests. Since, the objective of this project was to find out how to improve the employability and preparation for access to work world of social work university students, identifying the generic competences demanded by the work environment and the degree of training in these competences.

Methodology:
A cross-sectional study was carried out through a survey collecting the following variables: variables related to the entity (type: public/private, local/regional/national or international; scope of action; seniority of the company; number of workers and social workers hired), fundamental hard skills and soft skills for a social worker (choosing 3 from a list of 15 hard skills and 16 soft skills), and grade of training of the selected skills. This survey was distributed by mail using google forms, through a directory of social entities and professional associations of social workers. A descriptive analysis and comparative analysis using Chi square statistic were performed.

Results:
393 answers were collected, being public entities 43,03% of them, and focused on basic/community, or specialized social services the 48,6% of them. The median of years of existence was 20 (Interquartile range (IQR):24); the median of workers and social workers hired was 14 (IQR: 41) and 3 (IQR:7) respectively. The generic hard skills considered most relevant were: reasoning and critical thinking, work skills from ethical commitment, and oral and written communication in native language. The graduated social worker are better training in work skills from the ethical commitment, and basic computer knowledge; and they are worse training in critical thinking and reasoning, and in self-awareness and self-criticism skills.
Regarding soft skills, the most valued are the resolution of conflicts and problems, the capacity for organization and planning, and the ability to work in a multidisciplinary team. It is considered that the graduates are better trained in working in a multidisciplinary teamwork, and capacity for organization and planning, and worse prepared in the resolution of conflicts and problems. There are no significant differences in these results depending on the type of organization.

Conclusions:
There is an imbalance between the skills that are considered fundamental for a social worker by the labor market and by academics; and the training the students have.

Keywords:

Generic competences, training, labor market, social work.