Employability Matters

WHAT JOB SKILLS ARE EMPLOYERS LOOKING FOR?

Employers are often looking for skills that go beyond qualifications and experience.

While your education and experience may make you eligible to apply for a job, to be successful at the job you will need to exhibit a mix of skills: ‘employability skills’.  This means that the specialist, technical skills
associated with different roles may be less important than the 'soft skills' that can be transferred between different jobs and different employment sectors. 

For employers, getting the right people means identifying people with the right skills and qualities to fulfil the role and contribute to the organisation's success.  Candidates may have the qualifications and 'hard skills' needed to be able to manage the job role but without a well-honed set of 'soft skills' employers are less inclined to hire.

In times of high unemployment, employers have more choice of applicants and will favour those with well-rounded employability skills.

Employability skills are those skills necessary for getting, keeping and being successful in a job. Below is a list of some of them: 

Interpersonal Skills

Communication Skills

Critical Thinking Skills

Personal Development

Presentation Skills

Leadership

Numeracy 

IT Skills