We all go through challenging academic qualifications that promises higher career opportunities and make us job ready, to know someday that’s not the only thing the employer wants in prospective candidates. So if you’re yet to land a job, it's a good idea to start working on your employability skills now. Here I’ve curated a list of some employability skills that are crucial for every role there is in industry. This checklist will help you get job ready. Also, taking the time to assess and re-assess your employability every once in a while gives you the best chance of keeping up with the job market. These skills are required for most of the job roles. You’ll need many more skills than these, which are specifically required for the kind of tasks you perform in your role. Then we’ll see some essential resume writing tips.
7 Employability Skills That Are Essential For Every Role:
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.
2. Written and Oral communication
3. Professionalism and Strong Work Ethic
4. Self-Management
5. Teamwork and Collaboration
6. Leadership/Initiative
7. Technology
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.
This is your ability to use facts, observations, and knowledge to reach the correct conclusion. It is important to suspect every opinion until you have at least some information about any situation.
How will you develop it?
Doing research assignments as part of your studies
Dealing with complaints at your workplace
Talking to other people about how they solved the problems they faced
Fixing broken things around the house by looking up YouTube to find out how to do it.
Oral and Written Communications Skills
This enables you to communicate your thoughts clearly and concisely, and to create focus, energy, and passion.
How will you develop this skill?
Writing assignments and reports as part of your studies
Blogging or using social media
Making oral presentations as part of your class work
Working in customer service (face-to-face or on the phone).
Professionalism and Strong Work Ethic
All employers are searching for is the person who comes to work on time, performs his duties well. You’ll be asked about your previous work almost in every job interview, even if you are fresher. So, for freshers-
Work ethics and professionalism can be developed by
Doing a work experience placement or internship
Joining a volunteer organization
Doing part-time jobs or freelancing
Self-Management
This enables you to manage your emotions, actions and take better decisions. You’ll in charge of your actions, and better prepared take accountability of it with this skill.
How to develop this skill?
Asking for new responsibilities at work
Developing a study/work schedule and sticking to it
Prioritising your responsibilities.
Keeping your room tidy.
Teamwork and Collaboration
It simply means getting along well with people, and this requires a good communication skills as well. Every thing you do will feel easier with this skill, no matter how hard that task is. And this is why it’s one of the most wanted skill.
How to develop this skill?
Doing group assignments as part of your studies
Volunteering for a community and not-for-profit organization
Joining a sporting team
Organizing events with friends or communities.
Initiation/Leadership
Initiation is doing the right thing without being told. You simply think for yourself and take action. Initiative demonstrates a sense of self drive, self awareness and personal motivation.
How to develop this skill?
Approaching organizations and businesses about work placements or internships
Making or proposing changes to the way a group you belong to does things
Doing things around the house without being asked.
And taking on challenges
“Initiation is doing the right thing without being told.” - Victor Hugo
Technology:
Technical skills may include basic things like using search engines to registering your services online, from SEO to cloud technology and lot more. It's important to be able to handle required devices or tech with ease in order to perform your job efficiently. Below list is completely subjective, and you’ll know better what tech skills are required for your role. Again, skilled in any technology doesn’t assure you a stable job, since continuous evolvement of new versions and tech, you’re required to update your skills periodically.
How to develop this skill?
Asking for extra training at work/college
Finding out what technology is used in the job you want and how it’s used
Making a list of all the technology you’re already using in your day-to-day life.
Join online communities/platforms like Kaggle, where you can learn/compete/contribute(for data science and ML).
Essentials of Resume Writing
The purpose of writing resume is to get you an interview, or even better — a job. It includes all information about you which is required to show the employer that you’re employable and have the right qualifications and skills. Not to forget the right level of professionalism.
A lot depends on how you present yourself in this single document. I have tried to list some useful resume writing practices here.
Here’s what to include in your resume?
Contact details: true and active.
Opening statement: honest, clear and engaging
List of key skills: Ordered by relevance
List of technical/software skills: Ordered by relevance
Career overview: brief
Educational qualifications: Try to include what you did. Your roles of responsibility, projects and achievements, if any.
Employment history/volunteering/internships: write briefly what you learned, what skills you developed, and how this experience makes you a good fit.
References/referees: Name, Job Title, Contact details.
In addition to these, you can add testimonials(one or two is enough, more than two is too much!)
Note: Order need not be the same, and better if you order these lists based on which section you want to highlight.
Best practices of writing a resume that stands out from the crowd.
Start with opening statement and make sure it's engaging. List your most relevant skills first, and include specifically relevant keywords and phrases, because some organization which are using old tech to screen your resume
won’t find you a good fit if you’ve “wrote users’ manual for software package” unless you specifically list “technical writer” as your skill . Review your resume to make sure that you have highlighted the skills and experience required for the job. Spellcheck and proofread before you click send. Ask your friend or family member to check your application/resume for mistakes. Error free resume shows you have attention to detail. Use good filename. Recruiters get hundreds of applications. Instead of sending a file called “resume.doc” you can use your surname or initials with position title. Try to use underscores or dash instead of spaces in your filenames. If you’re asked to send other documents as well, make it clear from the filename what each document is. Re-read the job advertisement and make sure you have done everything you have been asked to do. Contact your referee so that they know you have provided their details in your job application, and tell them what job you have applied for, so they could give relevant answers. You can also ask them to emphasize certain skills and personal attributes. Ask volunteer coordinator if they will referee for you.
Thank you for reading! I would love to hear from you what you liked the most about this article. Please share your thoughts on the same in comments.
