Skills for work: Graduate employability skills you can learn at uni
29 May 2024By Amelia. A, Staff writer at Unite Students
University is about more than just getting an academic education. It’s also important for picking up essential skills that can help you get a job after graduation. These include hard skills and soft skills, and can provide a real boost to your CV. Everyone needs a combination of both hard skills, which are job-specific, and soft skills, which are more personality-based.
Read on to learn more about the types of employability skills you could be learning at uni.
What are soft skills and hard skills?
When hiring graduates, employers will look for not only technical expertise, education and training, but also the person who will fit the role best. They will usually look for the right combination of hard and soft skills.
Hard skills
Hard skills are those that are specific to a role, also known as technical skills. You’ll probably learn job-specific hard skills as part of your degree course. These can range from knowing how to speak a foreign language to programming and software skills. Some jobs might also offer an initial training period to teach new employees essential hard skills, like how to use a company intranet or specific internal software.
Job listings will usually include a list of which hard skills are essential. You should also include any technical skills you have on your CV to make it easier for employers to spot whether you’re a good match for the role.
Soft skills
Soft skills are more general personality characteristics. These are often transferrable skills that will help you be better at your job but are not always specific to that role. Some soft skills will appeal to all employers, like being a good team player, a good communicator or having excellent time management. Others may be more relevant for some positions and less so for others.
Required soft skills might also be listed on job postings. However, it’s at the interview stage that most employers will be looking to find out what soft skills you have. You might be asked behavioural or situational questions to see where your strengths and weaknesses are in terms of soft skills. This might involve a role play exercise, or being asked how you would deal with a hypothetical situation in the workplace.
Soft skills examples
Soft skills are varied and transferrable, so you can learn them almost anywhere and apply them to any job. The more soft skills you have, the more different types of jobs you might be able to apply for. While many jobs will require specific hard skills for you to be able to fulfil the role, soft skills are increasingly valued in the workplace.
The type of soft skills you might need will depend on the type of job you want. For example, networking and communication skills are highly important for sales, but less important for engineering.
Teamwork
Teamwork is the ability to work well with others at every level. A good team player is willing to take on new responsibilities, support other members of the team and share ideas. Teamwork also involves understanding the importance of effective communication, building rapport and trust, and being open to feedback from others.
At uni, you could develop your teamwork skills by joining a committee or student group, getting involved in group projects or volunteering for a charity.
Time management
The key focus of good time management is being able to meet deadlines and business targets. Time management can also include the ability to maintain a healthy work/life balance, delegate tasks so as not to become overwhelmed, and stay focused on the task at hand without becoming distracted. There are lots of tools and apps out there that can help you improve your time management.
Life at uni should help you prepare for having good time management skills. Balancing your work, study, social life and other commitments is good practice for the world of work. You’ll be able to easily demonstrate to employers that you can meet deadlines, for example.
Critical thinking
Critical thinking means being able to make informed decisions based on careful analysis of the available information. This can include recognising biases and considering multiple points of view. You can practice critical thinking at uni by asking lots of questions and analysing each side of any argument or idea. Look at where information is coming from – is it a reliable source, for example? Don’t be afraid to ask questions and put forward your own arguments, even if you end up being proved wrong.
Problem solving
Problem solving means using your critical thinking to get to the root of issues as and when they arise. Then you can use the information you have to reach a solution to the problem. This is essential in pretty much all workplaces, so practice problem solving as much as you can while you’re at uni.
Employers might test your problem-solving skills in various ways. They may ask you to give an example of when you solved a problem and how, or they might give you a hypothetical situation and ask you to resolve it. Or they could give you some exercises or tests to do that will let you show them how you solve different problems.
Adaptability
Adaptability means being able to adjust to change. This could mean working with different people, performing a task that doesn’t usually fall to you, or working in a new environment. To demonstrate you’re adaptable, you’ll need to be able to show you can think on your feet, change your priorities, be open-minded and learn new skills quickly.
There are lots of things you can do at uni to practice being more adaptable. Join a student society that’s completely different to what you would usually do. Get into competitive events, and find ways to be more creative. If you push yourself out of your comfort zone occasionally, you will soon learn how to adapt to almost any circumstance.
Self-discipline
Self-discipline is also an essential soft skill that will apply to almost any role you end up doing. This means being able to motivate yourself and be proactive. If you’re self-disciplined, you’ll be able to take the initiative, stay on track to meet targets and overcome obstacles, without losing focus.
You can practice self-discipline at uni by challenging yourself to meet specific goals and targets, even if you set them yourself. You can use technology to help you, or just write things down old-style with a pen and paper. Learn from your mistakes, reduce your distractions and reward yourself when you hit a target.
Creativity
Creativity helps with innovation and problem-solving. The more creative you are, the more you’ll be able to think outside the box and come up with interesting ideas. Creative people often approach problems from a different angle to others, which results in exciting new ways of working.
You don’t have to work in a creative industry to be creative at work – most employers value originality and innovation, no matter the industry. You can probably find examples of where you’ve used creative thinking at uni – maybe you came up with a new idea for a fundraiser, or you presented a project in an original format.
Communication
Communication is almost definitely going to be a useful soft skill in most industries, although some will value it more than others. For example, if you work in sales, good communication will be one of the most important skills you can bring to the table. Communication includes both getting your ideas across to others clearly and being an active listener.
Active listening means really paying attention to what someone else is communicating and being sure you’ve understood them. You might need to ask questions, which is good, but try not to interrupt anyone. Your questions can wait until they’ve finished speaking. You also need to be able to communicate your own ideas clearly and concisely, so other people can easily understand what you mean. Think before you speak!
Where can I develop soft skills for work?
There are lots of ways and places you can pick up soft skills while you’re at uni, such as:
Clubs or societies
Joining a club, society or team at uni not only means you’ll meet new people and have a lot of fun. Being part of a club can also help you develop soft skills that employers will want to see after you graduate. Teamwork, communication and good time management are all skills you’ll quickly pick up if you join in with extra-curricular activities.
Part time job
Part-time jobs are part of life for many uni students. If you work part-time, you won’t just be earning extra money – you’ll also be developing a range of essential soft skills. For example, if you work in a restaurant, you’ll learn how to communicate with a range of people, how to manage your own time and how to be dependable and adaptable. Problem-solving and decision-making skills will also be part of your role. You could find yourself with some great examples to give to future employers at interviews!
Uni course work
Just by doing your uni coursework, you can learn multiple soft skills that will stand you in good stead after you graduate. Group projects help with teamwork skills and communication. Presentation skills develop every time you have to speak in front of a class. You’ll also be practicing problem-solving, time management and more.
Internships and placements
Internships and placements will help you develop similar soft skills to those you’d learn in a part-time job. The key difference is that you’ll probably also be learning job-specific hard and soft skills that are most relevant to the industry you want to be a part of. You should find your confidence is boosted and you’ll have a better understanding of business etiquette.
Should I include soft skills on my CV?
As a recent graduate, you probably won’t have as much work experience to include on your CV as someone who has been working for many years. This means relying more heavily on your soft skills and qualifications than on practical experience.
Be creative about how you present your soft skills. You’re not restricted to writing a list. You could use graphs, charts or creative icons to tell the story of how you developed those essential soft skills. As you gain more work experience, you can adapt your CV, but you will still want to let employers know about your soft skills as well as your technical expertise.
