# Employability Skills (EMP) courses College of the Desert · 2026-2027 Catalog · 31 courses Source: https://catalog.collegeofthedesert.edu/courses/emp/ "Offered" lists sections in this catalog year's class schedules: Fall 2026. ### EMP 010 — New World of Work Skills: Adaptability - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** Fall 2026, 1 section (/c/college-of-the-desert/schedule/fall-2026/emp.md) - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your Adaptability strength in the workplace by seeing change as an opportunity; being open to new experiences; considering a variety of viewpoints; and being able to handle a normal amount of stress and accept feedback in a positive way. ### EMP 011 — New World of Work Skills:Self-Awareness - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** Fall 2026, 1 section (/c/college-of-the-desert/schedule/fall-2026/emp.md) - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your Self-Awareness strength in the workplace by knowing your own personality, skills, and knowledge; recognizing habits that can be improved; looking for opportunities that are a good match for your strengths; maintaining self-discipline; taking personal responsibility for your actions; and improving your professional manner. ### EMP 012 — New World of Work Skills: Digital Fluency - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** Fall 2026, 1 section (/c/college-of-the-desert/schedule/fall-2026/emp.md) - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your Digital Fluency by becoming familiar with a variety of technology tools that are available to assist in the workplace; by understanding the moral and legal consequences of sharing documents and pictures; and by developing competence with online research tools to find data and information. ### EMP 013 — New World of Work Skills: Communication - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** Fall 2026, 1 section (/c/college-of-the-desert/schedule/fall-2026/emp.md) - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your Communication strength in the workplace by understanding appropriate content and professional delivery; learning to use technology tools like PowerPoint effectively; recognizing where and how social media is appropriate for the workplace; learning tools for effective listening and appropriate body-language. ### EMP 014 — New World of Work Skills: Collaboration - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** Fall 2026, 1 section (/c/college-of-the-desert/schedule/fall-2026/emp.md) - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your ability to Collaborate in the workplace by recognizing the benefits of a diverse team; respecting people's differences; sharing leadership; gathering ideas; offering help; encouraging others; and finding positive ways to resolve conflict. ### EMP 015 — New World of Work Skills: Empathy - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Understand the difference between Empathy and Sympathy and learn how to improve your ability to connect with others; develop good relationships with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds; work with clients and customers; make decisions based on client and customer needs; and understand the importance of client satisfaction. ### EMP 016 — New World of Work Skills: Analysis and Solution Mindset - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Learn to become an effective problem solver in the workplace by developing analytical skills, examining data and information, considering different viewpoints, and looking at the bigger picture. ### EMP 017 — New World of Work Skills: Resilience - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your Resilience in the workplace by understanding the importance of personal growth; setting priorities and goals; creating contingency and back up plans; being able to bounce back when things go wrong and learn from mistakes; listen to other's views. ### EMP 018 — New World of Work Skills: Entrepreneurial Mindset - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Learn how to develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset by becoming self-motivated and seeking greater responsibilities; accepting risk and learning from mistakes; developing new ideas by drawing connections, comparisons and combinations differently; recognizing the importance of customer satisfaction. ### EMP 019 — New World of Work Skills: Social Diversity/Awareness - **Units:** 0.5 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 9 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Improve your Social Diversity Awareness by recognizing the benefits of diverse backgrounds and cultures in the workplace; understanding the new "normal" in the workplace; learning how to develop and improve relationships with people of different backgrounds and beliefs by improving self-awareness; and how to be sensitive to others' feelings. ### EMP 020 — General Employability Skills - **Units:** 4 - **Hours:** Lecture Hours: 72 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: No - Grading: Letter - Degree Applicable: AA/AS Develop or improve your knowledge of skills required for general employment, such as: adaptability, self-awareness, digital fluency, communication, collaboration, empathy, analysis and solution mindset, resilience, entrepreneurial mindset, and social diversity/awareness. Employability skills include fundamentals of workforce readiness and career exploration that links skills, abilities, interests, values, needs, and work environment preferences as part of the process of obtaining experiential learning opportunities. ### EMP 310A — New World of Work Skills: Recognizing Change as Opportunity - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Twenty-first Century workers need to be tolerant of inevitable changes in the work environment and adapt accordingly. Improve your Adaptability strength in the workplace and learn to manage stress by seeing change as an opportunity, being open to new experiences, and learning to manage job stress caused by the need to learn new technologies or new responsibilities on the job. ### EMP 310B — New World of Work Skills: Facing Challenges - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 310A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Improve your Adaptability strength in the workplace by learning how to face challenges; being open to considering a variety of viewpoints and suggestions to get the job done; learning techniques to handle a normal amount of stress; accepting feedback in a positive way and learning from things that go wrong. ### EMP 311A — New World of Work Skills: Self Awareness at Work - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Self-Awareness strength in the workplace by knowing your own personality, skills, and knowledge and looking for opportunities that are a good match for your strengths. ### EMP 311B — New World of Work Skills: Personal Assessments - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 311A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Self-Awareness strength in the workplace by assessing your own personality, skills, and knowledge; recognizing habits that can be improved; maintaining self-discipline; taking personal responsibility for your actions; and improving your professional manner. ### EMP 312A — New World of Work Skills: Online Presence and E-Resumes - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Digital Skills becoming familiar with a variety of technology tools that are available to assist in the workplace and developing competence with online resume tools. ### EMP 312B — New World of Work Skills: Online Accountability - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 312A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Digital Fluency by understanding the moral and legal consequences of sharing documents and pictures; and developing competence with online research tools to find data and information. ### EMP 313A — New World of Work Skills: Communication Etiquette - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Communication strength in the workplace by understanding appropriate content and professional delivery; recognizing where and how social media is appropriate for the workplace; learning tools for effective listening and appropriate body-language. ### EMP 313B — New World of Work Skills: Communication Effectiveness - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 313A. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Communication strength in the workplace by understanding appropriate content and professional delivery; learning to use technology tools like PowerPoint effectively; recognizing where and how social media is appropriate for the workplace; learning tools for effective listening and appropriate body-language. ### EMP 314A — New World of Work Skills: Team Building - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your ability to Collaborate in the workplace by recognizing the benefits of a diverse team; respecting people's differences; and sharing leadership. ### EMP 314B — New World of Work Skills: Transformational Leadership - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 314A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your ability to lead in the workplace by recognizing the benefits of a diverse team; respecting people's differences; sharing leadership; gathering ideas; offering help; encouraging others; and finding positive ways to resolve conflict. ### EMP 315A — New World of Work Skills: Listening and Mirroring - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Understand the difference between Empathy and Sympathy and learn how to improve your ability to connect with others by employing communications skills based on honesty and mirroring positive nonverbal communication to build trust. ### EMP 315B — New World of Work Skills: Customer Service - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 315A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Understand the difference between Empathy and Sympathy and learn how to develop good relationships with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds; work with clients and customers; make decisions based on client and customer needs; and understand the importance of client satisfaction. ### EMP 316A — New World of Work Skills: Solving Problems - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Learn to become an effective problem solver in the workplace by developing analytical skills that identify the problem, collect relevant information, develop alternatives, evaluate alternatives, select the best alternate and implement the selected solution. ### EMP 316B — New World of Work Skills: Design Thinking - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 316A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Learn to become an effective decision maker in the workplace by developing techniques for recognizing inspiration, ideation and implementation opportunities. Understand the importance of ethics in the decision making process. ### EMP 317A — New World of Work Skills: Growth Mindset - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Resilience in the workplace by understanding the importance of personal growth; setting priorities and goals; understanding consequences and the need for back-up plans; and actively listening to feedback and criticism. ### EMP 317B — New World of Work Skills: Learning from Failure - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 317A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Resilience in the workplace by being able to bounce back when things go wrong and learn from mistakes; listen to other's views; and understand the importance of back up and contingency plans. ### EMP 318A — New World of Work Skills: Modern Workforce - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Learn how to develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset by becoming self-motivated and seeking greater responsibilities; accepting risk and learning from mistakes; developing new ideas by drawing connections, comparisons and combinations differently; and recognizing the importance of customer satisfaction. ### EMP 318B — New World of Work Skills: Intrapreneurship - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 318A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Learn how to develop an Intrapreneurial Mindset by becoming self-motivated and seeking greater responsibilities; accepting risk and learning from mistakes; developing new ideas by drawing connections, comparisons and combinations differently; recognizing the importance of customer satisfaction. ### EMP 319A — New World of Work Skills: Gender and Ethnicity - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 5 - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Social Diversity Awareness strength in the workplace by recognizing the benefits of diverse backgrounds and cultures both locally and globally. ### EMP 319B — New World of Work Skills: Disabilities and Generations - **Units:** 0 - **Hours:** Noncredit Hours: 4 - **Prerequisite:** EMP 319A or concurrent enrollment. - **Offered:** not on the Fall 2026 schedule - Repeatable: Yes - Grading: Pass/No Pass - Degree Applicable: NONC Develop or improve your Social Diversity Awareness strength in the workplace by recognizing the benefits of working with multiple generations and recognizing the value of providing accommodations for disabilities.