What do employers look for when making a hire? It is something we as faculty should be asking. It actually isn't very difficult to find the answer. There are a number of surveys that provide us with the data.  Here are a few. A poll by USA Today reveals that grades still matter but there are ways to  get an interview despite a lower GPA. NACE's Job Outlook 2016 survey, tells us that employers are looking for leaders who can work as part of a team. More than 80 percent of responding employers said they look for evidence of leadership skills on the candidate's resume, and nearly as many seek out indications that the candidate is able to work in a team. Employers also cited written communication skills, problem-solving skills, verbal communication skills, and a strong work ethic as important candidate attributes. Monster tells us that critical thinking is one of the five things employers are looking for and not finding in college graduates. That may not make sense. We know that in order to be a successful student, students must learn how to learn. Being a critical thinker means that you can solve problems. You know where to go to find the different approaches that will allow you to come up with solutions. But in this complex world, being a critical thinker has to be paired with being able to work on teams. That means our students should be able to work with a diversity of people. They must also be able to have frank and open discussions where differences will be explored. Being able to hold a civil discussion is becoming a lost art. Students are very likely to mimic what is happening on their televisions (or even on the streets now) and resort to attacking the speaker rather than the idea, using a slippery slope argument, or resort to begging (for example). These are all logic fallacies that students need to be exposed to if there are to be productive in the work world. That is why the Center for Teaching+Learning Enhancement is offering three professional development sessions about the active learning method of using debate in your classrooms to help them develop critical thinking skills. Join us to add your voice to this important topic.