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Skills Worksheet

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22 Mar 2018  Midlands  Business

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A group has been launched in Coventry and Warwickshire to tackle issues around employability and skills.

The Employability Group has been established by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce after discussions around a shortage of staff and skills at its mid-Warwickshire branch meetings.

The group includes representatives from business, education and councils.

Martyne Manning, a business coach and policy officer at the chamber of commerce, said: "The issue around the skills gap and the skills shortage has been a hot topic of conversation at our branches across the region for some time.

"The concerns around Brexit and what this may mean to hiring staff from the EU have exacerbated the problem and it led to the launch of this group.

"While it has come out of the Mid-Warwickshire branch at the instigation of branch chair David Myskow, it is relevant to the whole region and its work will benefit businesses and individuals across the patch.

"We know it's not an issue that can be solved overnight but this group is going to ensure that we look at every way possible to support businesses in their quest to grow and take on staff.

"The chamber itself can offer business coaching to companies around the search for new staff or, indeed, upskilling the current workforce to meet the growing demands of the company.

"There are lots of alternatives that businesses can look at to try to solve this issue - including everything from apprenticeships through to bringing in people who have, for one reason or another, been outside the workplace for some time. We can work with businesses to see what is right for them.

"That said there is no doubt that there are fundamental issues that need looking at too and we meet regularly with MPs across the county and the city and it's a topic we are going to keep firmly on their radar."

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A group has been launched in Coventry and Warwickshire to tackle issues around employability and skills. The Employability Group has been established by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce after discussions around a shortage of staff and skills at its mid-Warwickshire branch meetings. The group includes representatives from business, education and councils.

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8 top skills

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As well as skills specific to the job you're going for, employers are also looking for general job skills. These are sometimes called 'employability skills' or 'soft skills'. These types of skills will make you stand out.

Even if you don't think you have any job skills, you have these employability skills if you're:

dependable

easy to get along with

open to learning new things.

These skills might not be listed in the position description, but they are common skills needed to do most jobs. It's good to think about these skills when you're preparing for a job interview.

Different people define these skills in different ways, but generally they can be broken down into these eight categories:

communication

teamwork

problem solving

initiative and enterprise

planning and organising

self-management

learning

technology.

1. Communication

Depending on the job, communication means being clear about what you mean and what you want to achieve when you talk or write. It involves listening and being able to understand where someone else is coming from.

Communication skills also include non-verbal communication, such as the body language you use.

Examples of ways that you can develop or improve your communication skills include:

writing assignments and reports as part of your studies

blogging or using social media

making oral presentations as part of your class work

working in customer service (face-to-face or on the phone)

getting involved in a local club

being aware of how you hold your body.

2. Teamwork

Teamwork means being able to get along with the people you work with. It involves working together to achieve a shared goal.

Examples of ways that you can develop or improve your teamwork skills include:

3. Problem solving

Problem solving means finding solutions when you're faced with difficulties or setbacks. It involves being able to use a logical process to figure things out.

Examples of ways you can develop or improve your problem-solving skills include:

4. Initiative and enterprise

Initiative and enterprise mean looking for things that need to be done and doing them without being asked. This can also involve thinking creatively to make improvements to the way things are done.

Examples of ways you can develop or improve your initiative and enterprise skills include:

approaching organisations and businesses about work placements or internships

setting up a fundraiser in your community

making or proposing changes to the way a group you belong to does things

doing things around the house without being asked.

5. Planning and organising

Planning and organising mean working out what you need to do, and how you'll do it. Planning and organising involve things like developing project timelines and meeting deadlines.

Examples of ways you can develop or improve your planning and organising skills include:

6. Self-management

Self-management means:

being able to do your job without someone having to check up on you all the time

staying on top of your own deadlines

delegating tasks to other people to make sure things get done on time.

Examples of ways that you can develop or improve your self-management skills include:

7. Learning

Learning is about wanting to understand new things and picking them up quickly. It also involves taking on new tasks and being able to adapt to change.

Examples of ways to develop or improve your learning skills include:

8. Technology

Technology skills mean being able to use a computer for word processing, using spreadsheets and sending email, or knowing how to use office equipment like a photocopier.

They also involve using social media, working with design or video editing software or knowing programming languages. Other technology skills relate to hardware, like knowing how to use EFTPOS, a cash register, a camera or a recording studio.

Examples of ways to develop or improve your technology skills include:

doing a short course or online course

asking for extra training at work

finding out what technology is used in the job you want and how it's used

making a list of all the technology you're already using in your day-to-day life.

Highlighting your skills

Now that you've identified the employability skills you have, and ways you can improve them, you need to highlight them in your job applications.

To find out more about applying for jobs, visit our Applying for a job section.

To find out how to highlight your skills in a job interview, visit our job interviews section.

Links

Monash University Careers -Developing Your Skills
Advice on employability skills, including video interview with Monash graduates about how they got their skills.

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Employability Skills | Job Skills | Youth Central

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As well as skills specific to the job you're going for, employers are also looking for general job skills. These are sometimes called 'employability skills' or 'soft skills'. These types of skills will make you stand out.

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10 top skills

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Please be aware that resources have been published on the website in the form that they were originally supplied. This means that procedures reflect general practice and standards applicable at the time resources were produced and cannot be assumed to be acceptable today. Website users are fully responsible for ensuring that any activity, including practical work, which they carry out is in accordance with current regulations related to health and safety and that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out.

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Employability Skills are often based on knowledge, technical skills and attitude - skills which employers greatly value in their employees. This poster from STEM Learning highlights the 10 main skills that employers value. The accompanying guidance notes show you how to use the poster as part of a careers activity session with tips to get you started.

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It was not until I actually embarked on a community project and designed public engagement activities that I thought seriously about good practice as an academic rather than a PhD student. By organising the Enchanted Community art project, which reached more than 39,000 people, I noticed a transition in my understanding of responsibility and accountability.

In terms of my academic CV, organising events for the project increased my knowledge of research funding and embedding impact statements in applications. I also began to develop a valuable profile in the area of public engagement.

The work provided evidence of initiative, resourcefulness, gaining funding and creating educational materials. I co-designed and delivered a series of events, much like a scheme of research or a taught course. I developed teaching resources and schedules, and delivered events to the public. These have been useful features for my academic CV and for discussing in interviews.

However, the project also reached beyond the university. I developed professionalism, contacts and experience in many other areas.

Universities are becoming more concerned with employability and offering added-value activities for students, particularly at the postgraduate level. Added-value activities can include employability workshops and training in areas such as blogging, maintaining an online profile or CV writing.

In the arts and humanities, an academic CV will prioritise publications, crucial to academic advancement. However, there are many other elements that should also feature to showcase to potential employers who you are as a person. Such skills will develop you for academia as well as other forms of employment.

My project was founded on interdisciplinary and collaborative working. I demonstrated team-working and managing relationships with people - key skills for many industries. Employers will look for personality to ensure that you are the right "fit" for the team. Important qualities can include tact, being personable and being a team player. I could discuss the project in interviews detailing a breadth of skills and activities.

For example, self-reflection was a key component in our interdisciplinary methodologies during the project. After the first event, we created a form to record our reflections and best capture points of learning and development. There were challenges, such as time constraints, that were overcome and we had to accept events that did not go as well as others. Being able to reflect on performance, take criticism and continually develop are important abilities - often called transferable skills - for employment sectors.

Public engagement also allows you to demonstrate your powers of communication. Nationally commissioned research in graduate employability by the Australian government has described communication as a super-skill that can be developed through extracurricular activities. Other valuable skills include leadership and using initiative.

Just a few of the skills that I gained through this work include super-skills such as writing for different audiences and public speaking. I also learned financial management and project management. I could take a rich "skills toolbox" to employers! Public engagement activities can offer you these benefits and give you opportunities to build your portfolio, network and reputation.

But, having witnessed the huge amount of time that any outreach or public engagement activity takes to organise, I would recommend that you start small. Take advantage of funding possibilities. I found internal funding through The Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Warwick. Preferably, you should build on pre-existing contacts or communication channels.

Keep in mind that every interaction with an external institution can lead to something in the future, whether it is a research project, outreach activity, recommendation, reference, knowledge or insight, job or voluntary work. Absorb everything that you can from such experiences, including alternative perspectives and needs that differ from those that you have been accustomed to as a scholar. Managing different points of view through interactions with external partners will increase your confidence and emotional resilience.

Most importantly, develop projects that you believe in and are passionate about. These will best showcase your talents and provide personal development.
Alice Eden is an early career academic and academic tutor in the history of art department at the University of Warwick.

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How to build an employability 'toolbox' through public engagement

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It was not until I actually embarked on a community project and designed public engagement activities that I thought seriously about good practice as an academic rather than a PhD student. By organising the Enchanted Community art project, which reached more than 39,000 people, I noticed a transition in my understanding of responsibility and accountability.

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Graduate careers: the importance of employability skills

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Qualifications are fine, but most employers are now looking for a more human touch

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From turning up to the office in flip-flops, to struggling to make eye contact with co-workers or quitting after their first day, today's students often lack the personal skills, awareness and basic self-discipline that is essential in the workplace, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said.

Speaking to the Independent on Sunday the day after British students received their A-level results and against a backdrop of record numbers of university admissions, John Longworth called on schools and colleges to shift their focus from good grades to the broader issue of "employability". British businesses currently have 735,000 job vacancies, he said, and the biggest barrier to filling them was "matching skills with vacancies".

"Employers will often say that students at all levels - school, college and university level - haven't really got the essential elements that business is looking for," said Mr Longworth. He said BCC members had a great deal of "anecdotal evidence" that students were often ill-prepared for work, and cited resilience, communication skills - "so they can communicate in the workplace and with customers" - and motivation as some of the skills often lacking in new employees.

"It's about developing coaching skills in schools, and working with employers so people can experience and understand what the world of work requires of them from a very early age," Mr Longworth said.

Some institutions did a better job than others at preparing students for working life, and most employers recognise that new workers "don't come in as the finished product", he said Mr Longworth. But in general, the education establishment was "driven to focus on grades and academic ability" rather than producing rounded people with the skills required to thrive in employment at work.

The BCC wants to change the focus on grades by encouraging the government to assess schools and colleges in terms of employment outcomes. It could do so by using data from the HMRC to establish how many students from any educational institution have entered the workforce are in work. Some personal skills - an outgoing personality, for example - are prizes won in the genetic lottery. But while "you can't change who you are, you can change behaviour", said Mr Longworth. Teaching workplace skills in schools and colleges wouldn't necessarily resemble conventional management training. Disciplines such as sport and drama were important in terms of for building could build confidence and the ability to work as part of a team.

Mr Longworth is reluctant to say today's students have fewer basic workplace skills as a result of their deep involvement in digital media and the online world, pointing out that social media skills, for example, are extremely very attractive in areas such as marketing. At the age of 57, he also acknowledges that "careers advice was appalling in my day". However, most employers seem to believe that there has been a deterioration in preparedness for work in recent decades.

Young people need to realise that university is only one path to a good job, said Mr Longworth, who describes says the "Blair-ite obsession" with universities as the only solution option for young people with aspirations is "bonkers". "There are different talent pools and a variety of routes by which young people can succeed in life, such as apprenticeships and simply training at work."

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Students lack the skills and discipline essential in a workplace,

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From turning up to the office in flip-flops, to struggling to make eye contact with co-workers or quitting after their first day, today's students often lack the personal skills, awareness and basic self-discipline that is essential in the workplace, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said.