As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, employability skills for students are more important than ever. This article breaks down the key skills students and graduates should develop to become more employable in the future job market.
The term “employability” refers to the skills, knowledge, and behaviours needed to get a job or promotion. While many jobs require specific qualifications to demonstrate knowledge, such as an undergraduate degree or diploma, your skills are often the deciding factor.
Indeed, many employers value candidates’ soft skills, work experience, and a successful interview above formal qualifications. As such, students who emphasise their employability skills during the recruitment process will likely have much more success finding a graduate job.
What Are Employability Skills For Students?
Let’s start by looking at what employability skills are. In a nutshell, employability skills (also referred to as soft skills or transferable skills) are skills that can be applied to a wide range of job roles. Generally speaking, they are developed through experience, making them difficult to train.
Since employability skills aren’t easy for employers to train, they are highly desirable. In fact, a LinkedIn report found that 92% of hiring managers think soft skills are equally or more important than technical skills. As the global workforce continues to evolve, studies show that training in soft skills increases productivity by 12%. Thus, developing employable skills as a student is a great way to boost your career prospects.
Examples of Employability Skills
We’ve put together a list of some key employability skills for students that will look great on your CV. Here’s a closer look.
- Communication
- Interpersonal skills
- Ability to deal with pressure
- Teamwork
- Problem-solving
- Integrity
- Resilience
- Time management and organisation
- Negotiation
- Flexibility
- Determination
- Leadership
- Initiative
- Learning
- Self-management
Employability skills are the personal characteristics you possess that make you more employable to a business. While technical skills can be taught relatively quickly, soft skills take years to develop. Put another way, soft skills inform how you will work and fit in with the company culture.
It’s never too early to start thinking about job skills for students. What’s more, the earlier you start developing your skillset, the more prepared you’ll be for the workforce. Even if you change your mind about your career path.
Soft Skills vs. Hard/Technical Skills: What’s The Difference?
To make yourself as employable as possible, you should develop a wide range of both soft and hard skills. In doing so, you will become a well-rounded professional who can successfully take on various roles and responsibilities.
But, what’s the difference between hard and soft skills? Let’s take a look.
What are Hard/Technical Skills?
Basically, technical or hard skills are specific skills or expertise needed to perform a certain task or job role. Generally speaking, these are on-the-job skills you learn by doing.
Developing hard skills as a student can be tricky, as you will require access to technology, data, or information. However, students can build technical skills such as:
- Computer skills (eg, learning the basics of computer software)
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Suite
- Social media skills
- Video editing skills
- Marketing skills
What are Soft Skills?
While technical skills are more about what you know how to do, soft skills are about how you work. As we discussed above, soft or transferable skills refer to the attributes that make you a well-rounded employee. For example, they include interpersonal skills, creative thinking skills, and positivity. Developing soft skills as a student is essential to prepare yourself for the workforce. As such, the sooner you start, the better.
How To Identify Your Employability Skills
Now for the most important step. Identifying your employability skills and learning how to showcase them is crucial for students or graduates looking for job opportunities. The good news is that it’s easier than it sounds; simply follow the steps below.
1. Make a List of Your School, Work, and Extracurricular Experiences
Start by listing everything you’ve done throughout your time at school, university, and work, including extracurricular activities. By doing this, you can pinpoint the skills and knowledge you have developed.
2. Identify the Skills You Developed and Responsibilities You Had
Now, analyse your list carefully and list all of the skills, knowledge, and experience you have garnered. We recommend including the skills you learned during school, such as presentation skills, research, and collaboration. The key is to be specific and use real-life examples that demonstrate your skills.
For instance, have you done work experience or an internship? If so, you have already developed plenty of valuable skills such as managing projects, building case studies, or strategic thinking.
Do you have a part-time student job or a summer job? Make sure you include the skills you learned and practical examples of those skills in action. For example, leading a sports team, customer service skills, organising events, handling angry customers, etc.
3. Refine Your List, Focusing on a Few Key Employability Skills
As the saying goes, less is more. As such, focusing on a handful of core employability skills is more effective than a list as long as your arm. That’s why the 3rd step is to refine your list.
From your list, choose 5 employability skills that are relevant to the career path you want to pursue. Next, ensure you have a tangible example demonstrating a time you used each skill. This will form the basis of your graduate CV when you finally start searching for graduate schemes or jobs.
4. Update Your CV
It may seem too early to write a CV when you’re still at school. However, it’s never too early to start putting together a list of your work experience, qualifications, and employability skills. Having all that information to hand will come in handy when applying for university, internships, or work experience. Plus, you can use this information to write an impactful cover letter when applying for jobs.
If you don’t know where to start, be sure to check out our CV writing tips. You’ll find practical advice on how to build a student or graduate CV from scratch.
Our final piece of advice is to keep updating your CV throughout your studies. That way, you have a detailed list of all the employability skills you have picked up and contextual examples of how you applied them. As a result, it will be much easier to nail your first graduate interview when the time comes.
Final Thoughts
Employability skills for students are the personal attributes, experiences, and knowledge that you have picked up throughout your life. They are a unique set of skills that make you employable. As a student or recent graduate, it’s essential to identify your employability skills and learn how to sell them. Not only will this set you apart from other job seekers in the future, but it will boost your confidence too.
Developing a Student has many valuable resources for students and graduates, including CV writing tips and cover letter writing tips. If you have specific questions, feel free to contact us or sign up for the free Developing a Student email newsletter with the form below.
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