The article is devoted to improving the competitiveness of young people in the labor market. The authors conducted a series of empirical studies among students and employers in the following areas: the level of social activity of students; the requirements of the modern labor market; the attitude of employers to the experience of social activity of young people; skills of the future. The aim of the article is the authors ‘ attempt to justify the positive impact of social activity on the competitiveness of University graduates. The authors used methods such as group face-to-face questioning, formalized expert interviews, statistical and grouping, comparative data analysis, abstraction and generalization. The total sample size was 976 people aged 18-23 years. 115 employers were interviewed. The authors analyzed 34 Federal state educational standards of higher education implemented in Urfu. The main idea of the article is as follows. The authors consider the social activity of young people as an effective technology of formation of values of young people and increase their motivation for self-development, to active creative participation in the development of society, which should be provided with innovative approaches in the educational process at the University. The results of the study showed that the personal qualities of students formed in the process of socially active activity, together with General cultural competencies, can and should be considered as components of the competitiveness of University graduates.