Employability – a great word describing what we need to be.
Transferable and employability skills are those talents we have that we can take from job to job. Some of these skills can help you be successful in your career as well as in your personal life. They are used and developed in all areas of your life.
You start to learn these employability skills as early as school, in sports teams and at home. The knack is to transfer them to your career.
Why are employability skills important to you?
No matter what career you have these skills are critical to all employers and employers consider these employability skills as important as job specific or technical skills. Most working people make numerous career changes during their lifetime. [pullquote]Recognising your employability skills and understanding how you use them will make the difference between getting the job, pay rise or promotion or not.[/pullquote]
Twenty employability skills you must have
In no particular order
- Communication and interpersonal
- Learning
- Teamwork
- Computer & IT
- Time Management
- Listening
- Problem-solving
- Creativity
- Organisation and planning
- Leadership
- Self motivation and initiative
- Working under pressure and to deadlines
- Numeracy
- Valuing diversity and difference
- Negotiation
- Decision making
- Adaptability and being flexible
- Business awareness
- Researching information
- Prioritising
For each of these employability skills, you the job seeker need to consider how often and how adept you are at using them and remind yourself of a STAR story that shows how you have used these transferable skills successfully.
Take self-motivation for example. When do you use your own initiative? What ideas have you had and carried through? Can you give an example of your personal drive and how you completed something by not waiting to be told what to do?
Need help? Contact us and we’ll support you getting your STAR stories straight and ensuring that you have the employability to get that job!
photo credit: High School Negotiation Program via photopin (license)