ZIPD graduates celebrated for the skills employers want most

BLOOMSBURG — Commonwealth University’s Zeigler Institute for Professional Development recently honored its latest cohort of elite Zeigler College of Business students, recognized for their academic excellence, professional polish, and career-ready skills.

Terry Zeigler ’76, president and CEO of Datacap Systems Inc., reminded the graduates that while technical knowledge matters, today’s employers are looking for something deeper — professionalism, communication, reliability, and the ability to build genuine relationships.

He emphasized businesses cannot replace the value of showing up prepared, engaging respectfully, writing clearly, and representing an organization with confidence.

“Ten years ago, everybody wanted somebody with a college degree,” Zeigler said. “Today, they don’t care. What they care about is right here (in this room).”

What employers value, he explained, are the foundational behaviors and communication skills that shape day-to-day performance.

“The soft skills are becoming more important today than the education parts,” Zeigler said. “These are the things that really matter to businesses, because they can train you on how to do specific jobs.”

ZIPD’s model is designed to deliver exactly those outcomes. Through coaching, applied learning, and consistent professional expectations, students develop competencies that complement their academic disciplines and translate directly to workplace environments.

Zeigler emphasized that while technical expertise remains necessary — particularly in fields like accounting and finance — its relative weight is changing. He also addressed the growing influence of artificial intelligence, framing it as transformative but limited.

“The AI thing you hear about… is a really big issue,” Zeigler said. “But I will tell you that one of the things it will never replace is the face-to-face contact you have with business people.”

In particular, he pointed to relationship-driven fields such as sales and client management.

“AI will never replace, ever replace, business-to-business sales,” Zeigler said. “From the standpoint of actually developing a personal relationship… creating a value proposition and then closing that business … that’s all about face-to-face, in-person contact.”

Zeigler closed with a framework he regularly shares with business audiences, the “10-80-10 rule.”

“Ten percent of the population produces most of the value,” Zeigler said. “Eighty percent do exactly what they’re supposed to do, and ten percent cause all the problems. The key is you want to be in that top 10%.”

For the ZIPD graduates, his message was both affirmation and challenge.

“The value that you’ve created by doing this will be well, well worth it,” Zeigler said. “Five years down the road, you’ll look back on this and see the difference.”

As employers continue to recalibrate hiring priorities, ZIPD’s emphasis on professional development reflects a broader evolution in business education — one where distinction is increasingly defined not just by what graduates know, but by how effectively they apply it.

ZIPD Graduation Celebration '26