What makes you more employable?
Two recent overseas surveys posed questions to employers to find out what they
want from their graduate recruits. The consensus is that employers want
intelligent and enthusiastic individuals who can organise and plan their work
and interact with others effectively. Some of these skills are already honed in
the university or college, but others will need to be developed outside your
studies. Your applications will be more convincing if you can point to a range
of situations in which you developed the skills the employers seek and make
yourself more employable. Here then are the highlights of the surveys.
University of Central England’s Employer Satisfaction survey
Recruiters were asked to rank 60 skills in order of importance. The top 12
listed as most important were:
Willingness to learn
Communication skills (oral)
Communication skills (written)
Desire to achieve/motivation
Association of Graduate Recruiters
Another research gave the picture of a complete graduate as requiring the
following skills, which are rather similar to the UCE survey:
Able to identify your skills, values, interests and core strengths clearly, and
provide evidence of these abilities. Actively willing to seek feedback from
others. Able to identify areas for personal, academic and professional growth.
Able to define and promote own agenda. Can identify 'customer needs'
(academic/community/employer) and promote own strengths in a convincing way.
Able to identify, create, investigate and seize opportunities. Possess research
skills to identify possible sources of information, help and support.
Able to plan an effective course of action, such as implementing an action
plan, organising time effectively and preparing contingency plans. Able to
monitor and evaluate progress against specific objectives.
Aware of the need to develop networks of contacts. Able to define, develop and
maintain a support network for advice and information.
Matching and decision-making.
Understands personal priorities and constraints which includes the need for a
sustainable balance of work and home life. Able to match opportunities to core
skills, knowledge, values, interests etc. Able to make an informed decision
based on the available opportunities.
Able to negotiate from a position of powerlessness. Able to reach 'win/win'
Understands the hidden tensions and power struggles within organisations. Aware
of the location of power and influence within organisations.
Coping with uncertainty.
Able to adapt goals in the light of changing circumstances. Able to take a
myriad of tiny risks.
Committed to lifelong learning. Understands preferred method and style of
learning. Reflects on learning from experiences, good and bad. Able to learn
from the mistakes of others.
Able to apply skills to new contexts - a higher level skill in itself.
Has an underlying confidence in abilities, based on past successes. Also has a
personal sense of self-worth, not dependent on performance.