Do You Have Employability Skills?
Assess your employability skills with our checklist. Learn about the 8 core competencies and how to improve them for career and life success.
If you cannot tick one of the boxes, that indicates a weakness you should work on. Many of the attributes are about behaviour and practice, so there's no reason why you can't improve your employability skills over time.
Why These Skills Are Important
Employability skills are about being effective in a work environment. They help you complete tasks, overcome challenges, and collaborate with others. A weakness in any skill can harm your productivity, affecting your career and job prospects.
Employers often assess these skills during job applications and performance reviews. Beyond work, they play a role in study, managing a household, and building family relationships. People with strong employability skills tend to be well-rounded, professional, and successful in many areas of life.
University students often underestimate the importance of these skills, focusing instead on intelligence or technical knowledge. However, in the workplace, your ability to communicate, solve problems, and work with others often matters more than raw intelligence. Developing these skills is essential for long-term success.
Employability Skills Training
The best way to improve your employability skills is to identify specific weaknesses to work on. The gaps determine what activities you should be doing. For example, if teamwork is a challenge, you might join a group project or volunteer in a collaborative role. For communication, presenting in class or participating in debates can build confidence and ability.
One challenge with employability skills is that they don't easily lend themselves to direct instruction. As National Board Certified Teacher Sandy Merz explains, “Picture yourself writing this objective: ‘When working on group projects, students will correctly demonstrate empathy on 75% of the opportunities that arise.’ How in the world could you ever measure that?”
Schoolwork and university courses routinely integrate activities to boost the employability skills of students however. For example, group assignments build teamwork, while class presentations strengthen communication. Problem-solving tasks are often woven into coursework to challenge students to think critically and creatively.
Demonstrating Soft Skills as a Student
To showcase employability skills on your resume, take part in activities beyond study. Join student organisations, volunteer in leadership roles, participate in sports teams, or complete internships. These experiences build key skills like teamwork and communication while providing examples for applications and interviews.
Employers assess soft skills during interviews, often asking for examples. Prepare stories that demonstrate qualities like initiative or collaboration, such as leading a project or handling challenges in an internship.
On your resume, highlight achievements that show these skills. For example, instead of saying "teamwork skills," write "Collaborated with a team to organise a university event for 500 attendees." Specific examples make your skills stand out.