The time you spend in college and university should be mainly devoted to your studies but it’s also important to make sure that you’re picking up the right skills. Employers of graduates place a high value on finding people with the necessary skills and abilities for their companies. There may be extremely specific talents, abilities, and knowledge required to execute the job depending on the employment sector and profession you choose.
Aside from having a good all-round knowledge of the subject you’re studying, it’s also a good idea to develop your general skills. These are the key employability skills – the fundamental abilities that will help you in any career success. They’re sometimes referred to as transferable abilities since you may develop them over time and use them as your career progresses; think of them as your ticket to career success.
To demonstrate these abilities, you’ll need to draw on your professional experience. These are skills that employers look for when choosing between candidates, and so being able to show you have them is crucial. Not only will these skills help you find a job after graduation, but they’ll also allow you to develop your career success.
Effective Communication
Being able to communicate effectively is a vital skill that will serve you well throughout your career and in your personal life too. Graduates in any field need to be able to properly articulate and explain their ideas to others in a workplace setting, and this is important throughout all industries.
Negotiation is also an important facet of communication, with effective negotiators able to present their ideas and work with others to reach an outcome that is satisfactory for all parties. A negotiation programme can teach you this skill and help you get more out of your career. In business, this skill is especially important, but negotiation and persuasion are important life skills in general.
Being able to communicate effectively will help you impress during an interview, work with others, manage people and gain trust. You must know how to establish trust in the workplace, whether you are a team manager or a member. Simple gestures like active listening, praising accomplishments, and active engagement can lead to career success.
Strategic Thinking Skills
Strategic thinking skills, also known as problem-solving skills, are needed to solve complex problems and plan for the future. They’re essential skills throughout life and your career, no matter what industry you’re working in. While some industries require strategic thinking skills more than others, you’ll find that being able to think strategically about problems will always help you. This includes being able to analyze a problem, come up with a solution and then communicate that solution to others.
Aside from dealing with problems as they occur, people with good strategic thinking skills also plan for issues that haven’t happened yet. This is an invaluable skill to many employers, as it reduces risks and leads to a more successful business. To demonstrate your strategic thinking skills in an interview, you can talk about a time when you had to analyze and solve a problem. If you were involved in helping a team overcome a problem, you could also use this.
Organization and Planning
Often, working is about juggling a lot of different responsibilities and tasks at once. This requires a high level of organization and planning, especially if you’re working under a company that doesn’t micromanage each and every employee. As a result, being able to demonstrate organization and planning skills is incredibly important when finding a job. Having these skills will also make you more likely to advance in your career, as it’s an important trait for managers and those with more responsibilities to have.
You can demonstrate your planning and organizational skills by showing that you’ve graduated with a degree, as this requires a lot of self-management and organization. Managing your time well is another good trait that shows you can plan ahead and is incredibly important across a wide range of industries.
