Employability SKILLS

What are employers looking for in an employee?

Developed by Careers, Employability & Welfare

Welcome!!Your future starts here

01 What Skillsunderstand what employability skills are

Today we will look at…

02 Your Skillscreate a list of your own skills

03 skills you already haveexamples of where you have used skills

04 Opportunities and Progressionseek out opportunities to bridge a skills gaps

05 Being the bestbecome more competitive in the labour market

Everything we are talking about today links with THE DEAL

As we discuss, think about…

• Respectful• Collaborative• Proactive• Committed• Responsible• Ambitious• Professional

What are employability skillsLets come up with a definition together

Employability Skills are defined as……“A group of essential abilities that involve the development of a knowledge base, expertise level and mindset that is increasingly necessary for success in the modern workplace.

Employability skills are typically considered essential qualifications for many job positions and hence have become necessary for an individual's employment success at just about any level within a business environment”.

Business dictionary 2018

But what are they?What do you think

What are the important skills?The most important …. ENGLISH and MATHS

InitiativeCan you take the lead on projects.

CommunicationCan you speak with others on

all levels

Customer ServiceCan you deal

with customers and the public.

TeamworkCan you work

with others

AttitudeCan you act professional

ITDo you have a good IT level

EntrepreneurshipCan you drive an

idea forward

Problem SolveCan you find

solutions

What course are you doing and what skills will you gain

What course

Are you involved in Student Council or other events in College

Activities in College

What skills will you need in the future for the job you want

Future employment

THINK!Having a good understanding of your skills will be vital when applying for jobs and any future courses. For example if you already have a part time job, what skills are you developing, also look at what opportunities you can seek, to improve these skills?

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU HAVE?

Some factsHere's you chance to test your Maths skills

Consider this

It is important that you prove to an employer that you can self evaluate and continueto develop. They make their decision early in the interview as to whether they want tohire you or not, so a good impression is essential. Remember they can only assesswhat you tell them. Make sure you have examples of your skills.

Make sure that you seek out opportunities to expand your skills and evidence these.This gives you topics to discuss at interview, it also helps you build rapport. Bothcommunication and rapport are essential for the world of work.

According to the findings of a 2015 study, “the majority of interviewers (60 percent)said they had made their decision within the first 15 minutes of the interview. Of thatgroup, nearly 26 percent made theirs in the first five minutes”.

Question:If you applied for 5 jobs, how many employers would have made their decision within the first 15 minutes of the interview?

The STAR method

What is it?

The STAR method is a way of highlighting skills you may wish to speakabout in an interview, based on the preferred skills needed.

Its your account that evidences where you have solved a problem inyour personal, college or professional life and highlights what skills youused to do it.

Remember to target your story to the required skills needed for the job.For example, a marketing executive may require problem-solving skills,or a job in customer services may require conflict management. Yourstory can evidence more than one skill and if you have a number ofdifferent stories with a variety of skills this can help you further.

S.T.A.R

SITUATIONExample above

set the context for your story. (background)

TASKExample above

what was required of you in the task.

ACTIVITYExample above

what you actually did in the activity.

RESULTExample above

What was the outcome, positive,

negative.

“We were due to be delivering a

presentation to a group of 30

class students. Stuart, had a section

to deliver but he got stuck on a train.”

“It was my responsibility to find an alternative so it didn’t reflect badly

on the group and we didn’t waste

the opportunity.”

“I spoke with the group to find out if

we could change the running order.

They agreed, so we had more time. We

also decided, anothermember of the team,

could step in if he didn’t make it.”

“Stuart didn’t make it but we explained the problem to the tutors and we attempted to

talk about Stuarts section. Stuart

arrived to answer questions. As a result

we passed

What skills were used in the example

Problem solving So by following this method, just one task gave you four essential skills you can talk about and give an example

of how you used them effectively.

Communication

Time management

Prioritising and organizational skills

Now its your turn to practice STAR

Have a go at using STAR and write your story.

Pick a task that you have done and see what skills you

used to complete it.

EMPLOYERSThe reasons why employers need to know about your skills

You may have an abundance of qualifications, however if you have limited experience how will the employer know that you’re capable?

If there are two candidates with the same qualifications, your skills will set you apart. For example if you have done a work placement, this shows you have some experience in the workplace and skills and are also capable of responsibility. Both these traits are essential in employment

Employers need to know you can deal with people, they need to know that you can build rapport with different ages, backgrounds and cultures.

Next StepWhat can you do to improve your skills

• Do more volunteering to address any skills gap

• Complete a case study using the STAR method

• Keep a record of examples to use in job applications and interviews

• Practice interview technique with friends, family or tutors

Your progression…. Where are you now? Where next?

Applying skills to a subject area

Level 1

To improve English, Maths and IT

START ESOL and Pre entry

Professional Level qualifications

Higher Education

Building skills in subject areas

Level 2

Even though the campuses are closed, the College is still operating remotely with students. The Achievement Tutors, Personal Tutors, Tutors and careers and welfare are busy speaking to students to discuss progression and next steps.

HigherEducationLevel 4,5,6ACCESS

19+Level 3

16 to 18Level 3Year 1/2

Level 2Level 1

ESOL

Pre Entry

For 16 to 18 year olds getting ready for higher education or employment

Level 3

For 19+ students getting ready for higher education or employment

Level 3

You should be working towards GCSE 9 to 4/ level 2 English and Maths throughout your journey If you are

unsure what course you wish to progress to, speak with an advisor

Employment opportunities

Remember: Not all courses at a higher level will be at a university. Professional sector courses such as AAT

accountancy and some Teacher Training courses at level 4 and 5 can be studied in college.

Opportunities to gain skillsWe have lots of ways you can gain new skill in the College

Talk to your Tutor

Work placements

Talk to the Student Experience Team

College ambassador

Talk to your Student Council

Student council

Talk to your Student Council.

Creative writing group

Talk to your Student Mentor

Peer mentoring

Talk to your Student Mentor

Debate club

Speak to your Tutor

Class representative

Lets look at Johns journeyYEAR 01 ESOL entry 3John came to the UK from Spain to work and fulfil his lifelong ambition to be a doctor. Coming from Spain he could only speak limited English so it was vital to start his journey by improving his language skills

YEAR 02 Level 1 Health and Social Care with Level 1 functional skillsNext, John started to build up skills in the subject area he was interested in. In addition he wanted to continue to improve English and Maths.

YEAR 03 Pre Access Health with GCSE English and MathsJohn in now progressing and building up knowledge in the health care professions and working towards his ambitions of going to university. Part of this will be to gain the correct level of English and Maths for university entry.

YEAR 04 Access Medicine John will be spending this year preparing for university or life in Higher Education. Building on knowledge and now taking part in practical lab sessions. This will be the year John will make an application to Higher Education and looking at any University entry tests for Medicine such as UKCAT or BMAT.

YEAR 05 HNC applied biology (Higher Education with UCEN) At this point John decided he needed more experience and the advantage of smaller class sizes together with more one to one teaching and support. John came to UCEN Manchester to study Level 4 Biology so he was event more prepared to start a career in the field of Medicine.

YEAR 06 to 10 Medicine degree (Higher Education) John is now at University studying Medicine and is specialising in Oncology

YOU

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Did John do this on his own?John had the passion, skills and the goal to drive him forward, but there was a team of specialists supporting him:

• Careers Advisors• Tutors• Welfare and finance Advisors• Student Experience• Library Staff• Personal Tutors• Administration services

Summary

We hope that you can now…

• Understand what employability skills are

• Create a list of your own skills

• Have examples of where you have used these skills

• Seek out opportunities to bridge skills gaps

• Become more competitive in the labour market

HOME WORKING

You can now complete the workbook…

• Work through the 5 modules

• Work with an advisor if you need support

Once you have completed the workbook, your advisor will send you a certificate of completion.

Thank you