Employability Skills
What exactly does ‘Employability Skills’ mean? It is more than just preparing for an interview or tailoring your CV for a suitable vacancy; it is about your values and personal qualities that may not be included as part of a job description. They are things like:
- Reliability/dependability
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Resilience
- Emotional control
- Follow instructions
- Motivation
- Initiative
- Communication
While some of these traits are sector-specific, the majority are applicable to any position or industry of employment. Transferable skills, also referred to as employability skills, will help you stand out to a potential employer and set you apart from other applicants.
How can you develop YOUR employability skills?
Your employability skills can be developed through:
- Volunteering or internships
- Hobbies
- Community or other group activities
- Paid work
Employability skills are nothing to fear and come down to common sense. Be aware of your qualities and opportunities to demonstrate them. NO employment is ever a waste of time, think of the transferable skills you will gain. You are on your way to your perfect job!
How can employability skills benefit employers?
Barclays conducted a survey (“How employable is the UK?”) with over 10,000 16-65-year olds, 600 employers and 500 educators from across the UK in 2018. It found that nearly 57% of over 16s failed to demonstrate all the core employability skills needed for the future world of work: proactivity, adaptability, leadership, creativity, resilience, communication, and problem-solving.
A third of employers are not planning to offer training in these skills in the near future, meaning people will need to take control of their own lifelong learning.
If you want to succeed start by showing you have used these skills on your application. For example:
To demonstrate your written communication and presentation skills.
- Make sure that your application has no spelling mistakes, that it is brief and clear.
- Make sure it is in a format to fit the employer.
- Researching the company beforehand, study the job description and ask questions, e.g. about the interview process. It shows initiative and enthusiasm. It’s also showing that you are resourceful and proactive and that you have telephone communication skills.
In times such as these; that we are facing with COVID-19 and high unemployment, employers are spoilt for choice of candidates and they will favour those with more rounded employability skills.
You will have a better chance of getting hired if you have employability skills.
With KBC Career Coaching you have the opportunity to develop your employability skills either one to one or as a part of a group. If you have any questions contact us at [email protected] or 01685 700946
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Followed with One to One Career Coaching with one of our very experienced coaches. Contact Us
