What employers value in new grads
Each year, Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) surveys graduate employers about the skills, attributes and experience they value in new graduates. The top 10 for 2010 were:
- Interpersonal and communication skills
- Passion/Knowledge of industry/Commitment
- Critical reasoning and analytical skills
- Calibre of academic results
- Teamwork skills
- Work experience
- Cultural fit
- Emotional intelligence
- Leadership skills
- Intra and extra-curricular activities
There are a number of employability skills in this list - interpersonal and communication skills, critical reasoning and analytical skills, calibre of academic results, emotional intelligence and leadership skills.
A number of the University of Melbourne’s graduate attributes are in fact, employability skills including excellent interpersonal skills, critical and creative thinking and learning through information and communication technologies.
Employability skills are developed through many life experiences – study, extra-curricular activities, travel, committee work, student society activities, and of course - work experience.
Demonstrating your employability skills
There is little point in being ‘a motivated team player with great communication and creative problem-solving skills’, if you can’t communicate this clearly and convincingly to employers!
It is particularly important to be able to convey this in job applications and interviews. Make the most of the suggestions for presenting your employability in job applications and interviews.
Understanding employability skills
To communicate your employability to employers, you need to understand the skill. It is not enough to simply say ‘I have great communication skills.’ What are great communication skills? What do they consist of? How do you recognise them in yourself and others?.
Resumé Express: Module 2 - Analyse Your Skills gives examples of the micro-skills which make up these broad employability skills.
As an example, the list for Communication Skills includes:
- Writing skills – reports, articles, letters, websites etc
- Writing for different audiences
- Facilitating groups or teaching
- Listening sensitively and accurately
- Negotiating or debating skills
- Able to simplify and present ideas
- Presenting at a meeting
Resumé Express is available in Online Career Tools.
Keeping a record of your employability skills
It is a good idea to keep a record of your employability skills. This can be useful for job applications, and also for interviews where you might need to give examples of your competency in areas such as communication, teamwork and initiative - particularly in response to behavioural interview questions.
A simple format is to use a page for each experience and label them work, volunteer, extra-curricular or other. List the tasks and the skills developed. Update as you acquire new tasks and skills. Keep the key employability skills in mind, but don’t limit yourself to these.
Application Express: Module 1: Identify Your Skills includes a simple skills audit framework. Alternatively, you might prefer to create a spreadsheet or develop your own portfolio where you store information on experiences, skills and examples for behavioural questions.
Application Express is available in our Online Career Tools section.