How can you ensure that your CV stands out from the other applicants? There are a range of attributes and experiences that employers look for. This article will focus on employability skills, what they are and how to improve yours.
What are employability skills?
Often called ‘Soft Skills’, these are the building blocks of your career, they are transferable skills that are useful in nearly every job. Some people will focus on these skills being things such as CV writing, Covering letters and interview techniques, which are vitally important, but not what we are covering today!
We will be focussing on:
Interpersonal Skills
Reliability and team work
A willingness to learn
Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills or communication skills as they are sometimes called allow you to participate as a team member. Being able to communicate effectively with colleagues, clients and customers will allow you to empathise and build a rapport and be successful in your workplace.
The best way to improve your communication skills is to communicate as much as possible. You should also practice awareness of your facial expressions and body language.
Reliability and team work
Being able to evidence your reliability and ability to work in a team will increase your hiring chances. Working harmoniously with your colleagues to achieve a shared goal, taking responsibility for your share of the work and helping others to achieve goes a long way.
If you have not had any work experience to be able to provide examples of this then think about other activities you have taken part in, it may be volunteering within your local community, playing in a sports team or a collaborative project at school.
A willingness to learn
Having strong learning skills or a willingness to learn means you will be able to adapt to change, take on new tasks and understand new concepts or methodology quickly.
Employers find this trait desirable as it shows the want for personal development and an openness to new ideas and technology.
This list is by no way exhaustive, there are lots of resources out there to help you from Indeed to LinkedIn and also our own Alchemy resources.