Posted by : ncstoney (Careers Coordinator) Time : 17/05/2017 13:02
Employment skills
Watch TopicWhat 'soft' skills do recruiters think current students are particularly lacking in and how can schools work on improving these? (allowing for the constraints of time!)
1 mitesh 7 years ago
The AGR (Association of graduate recruiters) produced a report on the skills they felt graduates lacked most. The report can be found here:
https://www.agr.org.uk/write/Documents/HE_Green_Paper_AGR_Submission_-_Jan_2016.pdf
If you're trying to help students understand what this means check out employability skills advice - https://successatschool.org/advice/employability-skills
2 Sharna.Matson (New Talent Programme Manager) 7 years ago
I believe these have probably shifted a considerable amount over the last 5 years, and also it really does depend on the role that you undertake. In general we look for individuals who can:
Collaborate and work well with others
Understand different individuals’ perspective, opinion, skills and needs
Communicate effectively with others (that really is built on the last 2 points)
Think ahead and think innovate about different problems and scenarios
Understand the goals of the organisation they are working for and understand the impact that they can have.
Throughout your time in academia, it’s clear from an employer’s perspective that more needs to be done pre-employment to support individuals working as part of a team towards an end goal. Projects are a good way to initiate this but I am not sure how much the word ‘project’ is really understood when applied.
I am not sure how schools necessarily tackle this but if an individual is focused and driven I am sure there are lots of opportunities outside of academia such as volunteering or being a member of a club that can help bridge these gaps.
