OCEANSIDE - MiraCosta College should teach its students the "people skills" they will need to succeed in the world of work, business leaders told college trustees yesterday.

Workers are getting fired not because they lack basic skills but because they don't have "soft skills," such as how to get along with people and how to work as a team, two dozen college officials were advised by a like number of business leaders assembled on campus.

Students need a "personality assessment," Gary Knight, president and chief executive officer of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, said.

"They're so focused on 'me,'" he said, that they have no concept of team.

Maria Suggett, regional manager for the National Academy Foundation, a nationwide organization with programs to help high school students succeed in college and careers, said that if she were to design a program it would be one to help students learn "where do I fit in this world?"

Other business leaders voiced similar opinions.

They said the college should also help young people shed the expectation of becoming Bill Gates overnight without working their way up the ladder.

Those attending the session included chamber of commerce executives and city economic development directors as well as representatives of such diverse interests as the County Farm Bureau, Del Mar Fairgrounds and Racetrack, Camp Pendleton , Belly Up Tavern, Tri-City Medical Center and Toyota Carlsbad.

Among their suggestions:

 Courses in "basic business Spanish" or "Spanish as a second language," especially for people working in agriculture or the hospitality industry.

 A partnership with Tri-City Medical Center to offer classes, preferably evenings or weekends, to help licensed vocational nurses step up to become registered nurses, who are in demand.

 Training for scientific, security and clerical-administrative jobs at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, where the work force is aging.

Besides being asked what MiraCosta can do for them, the business leaders were asked their views on the economic future of the region. They responded that, except in the city of San Diego , the region's bright future is fogged only by the increasing lack of affordable housing and efficient transportation for employees.

In San Diego , the mayor has resigned, the city's pension fund is in trouble and two council members have been indicted on criminal charges.

MiraCosta College President Victoria Muñoz Richart said she will have an action plan incorporating as many of the suggestions as possible ready for trustees' approval in June.

She told the business leaders they should return on the first Tuesday in May next year "to see what we've accomplished."