With the accession to the WTO Russian higher educational institutions have been involved in the competition that has arisen on the international education market, and their graduates - in the labor market. Specificity of organization of the educational process in Russia is in the fact that it is regulated by the state educational standards which, on the one hand, are firmly attached to the federal requirements of the basic educational program (the federal component of the discipline). On the other hand, the demands to the specialist in a particular field of activity are formulated in the form of professional competencies in the formation of which up to 50% of teaching time is given at the discretion of the particular institution of higher education (university discipline component). The use of this time resource allows to develop and conduct educational training programs reflecting the changes that are taking place in the labor market and the requirements of employers. Not the least role in the competitiveness of future graduates, in particular social work specialists, is played by such personal qualities as leadership, stress resistance, proneness to conflict, which in one way or another, are the basis of professional competence and are present in all application forms filled in when applying for a job. In a broad sense, leadership is the relations of domination and subordination, and the effect of copying in the system of interpersonal relationships. A leader is made by not so much the personal qualities or by their special combination but rather by the structure of relationships in this particular group. This system of interpersonal relationships is formed and defined by the objectives of the group, its values ​​and norms. And it is on the basis of these values ​​and goals a specific group leader is put forward. A leader, as it is, personalizes the system of objectives and values preferred by the group, and implements them to life. The leader is accepted and considered as the one whose attitudes and orientations are referential, that is, represent reference standards for all or most members of the group in their assessment of significant aspects of activities of daily living.

Personnel market experts believe that leadership qualities are now most needed in those areas where competition is high, making quick decisions is essential, where the specialists take the initiative, work with innovations.

In addition to leadership skills, in the column «personality» there are usually such words as: «accurate, inclined to think analytically, mobile, stress resistant» and so on. Virtually all resumes include the listed characteristics. But each job-seeker has his sense to invest into these words - depending on functional responsibilities of a particular post. Stress is a complex process, and it certainly includes physiological and psychological components. Individual severity of stress is largely determined by the person's knowledge of the responsibility for himself, for others, by determination to play his role in the current situation. The «Stress resistant» is ready to accept rather easily any change, whether momentary or of long-term character.

Stress interview is probably one of the most controversial methods to assess applicants for jobs in the arsenal of eychars ("HR managers"). The majority are of the opinion that it should be used only in exceptional cases when the stress resistance is really one of the key requirements. Given the urgency of the problems regarded in the department of "Social Work, Education and Psychology," of KSTU, a survey was conducted with the students enrolled in "Social Work", in order to identify their qualities such as leadership, stress susceptibility and proneness to conflict. The used methods determined the degree of individual leadership, attitude to stressful situations (how successfully the testee copes with the stress), stress susceptibility (emotional state relative to tolerance (stress resistance) ) and the degree of proneness to conflict (how conflict-habituated is the testee).

In accordance with the analysis of the personal qualities (leadership, stress resistance, conflictness) and with the results of the survey of students, we proposed changes in the structure and content of training of social work specialists, which provide more opportunities in the formation of professional competencies that meet the changing needs of employers and increase the competitiveness of graduates in the labor market.