Where do I start?
Make a record of your experience
Start by using the following document to make a record of the experience you've gained to date. In simple terms this will list what you've done, who for (if relevant) and when.
Record your qualifications, employment experience and extracurricular activities (GTK01, word 90kb)
Using this basic record you can then start to assess your skills and experience and recognise your strengths and selling points as a potential employee.
What do employers look for?
When considering a job application, employers will assess your employability. Employability encompasses your skills, experience and personality - everything they believe is required for you to do a job well and fit in to their organisation.
We undertook a survey of 500 local employers to find out their preferred skills. From their responses we created the following list which underpins the Career Planning Agreement and studentfolio:
Each of these pages looks at a range of specific employability skills, suggests ways you can evidence those skills and gives you tools record, assess and develop them.
How employable am I?
Consider what skills you’ve developed so far in your academic career and your personal life. What are you good at? How do you know? What do you need to improve? Now is a good time to assess yourself, identify areas you need to improve and start keeping records.
Employability Skills Grid - assess your employability skills; where are you now? (GTK02, word 67kb)
Use this to record and rate skills gained in your education, voluntary or paid work, interests and hobbies. Update it as and when your experience and skills develop. that way you'll have a current record of your skills, with supporting evidence, at your fingertips.
You can then use this to write CVs, application forms and online profiles. Record as much detail as you like, you can always edit for future use.
Before going any further try using the Employability Skills Grid to rate your skills and experience as you currently view them.
How did you score?
Perhaps you didn't rate yourself too highly in many areas. In our experience students and graduates have far more to offer employers than they initially think. The Graduate Toolkit isn't just about finding ways to develop new skills, it's about recognising the skills you already have and knowing how to relate these to your chosen career.
What's my next move?
What follows is an in-depth look at how to assess, improve, evidence and market your skills and experience to potential employers.
We'll look at how you can evidence a whole range of skills from the experience you already have, and find ways to improve your skills and acquire new ones.
We'll start by looking at self-management.
Employability describes a set of achievements, skills, understandings and personal attributes that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations; which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.