Employability skills: What they are and how to demonstrate them.
Discover what employability skills are and find examples of how to build them into your CV and cover letter.
Employability skills are general attributes, character traits and capabilities that can help you perform well in any job. These core skills could make you more attractive to prospective employers, whether you’re hunting for a job after school or university, or simply want to further your career.
Read on to learn what employability skills are in detail and why they’re so important in today’s competitive job market. Explore some helpful employability skills examples for your own CV with Adobe Express today.
What are employability skills?
As the name suggests, employability skills are personal qualities that can make you more attractive to employers. They’re not specific to a particular company, industry or role. Instead, these transferable skills should help you to succeed in any workplace.
You may see employability skills referred to as ‘soft’ skills. This simply means that they’re general character traits and values, rather than ‘hard’ technical skills specific to a particular sector or job.
Recruiters often look at both technical and employability skills during the hiring process. So, highlighting them on a CV or cover letter can show everything you offer, beyond the basic job description.
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What is the importance of employability skills?
Employability skills can be important for students, school leavers, and people returning to work. But they’re also useful to current employees eyeing new opportunities or a chance to climb the career ladder.
Here are some of the main ways these types of skills support jobseekers.
Help you stand out to employers.
All job applicants should have the technical and practical skills to succeed in the advertised role. This may include experience with certain software, tools or machinery, for example. But employability skills help you build on this, giving you a potential edge over the competition.
Show you’re actively thinking about your career.
Flagging key employability skills can bring your CV to life, going far beyond a basic, black-and-white list of technical capabilities. It gives you the chance to mention real-world examples and show your commitment to career development – especially if you’re still in school or college.
Adding some personality to a job application.
Offering employability skills examples in a job interview or application form can show employers what else you’d bring to their team and business. They’ll want a candidate who instantly gets on well with colleagues and brings fresh energy. Listing employability skills can showcase this side of your personality.
Key employability skills list.
An employability skills list can include everything from clear communication through to strong leadership. Here are some of the main ones to keep in mind.
- Communication. Any role can benefit from clear communication. You could be a project manager overseeing multiple stakeholders and contractors. Or a supervisor on a busy construction site. Either way, smooth communications can boost efficiencies, reduce delays and keep everyone on the same page.
- Adaptability. They say if you don’t bend, you’ll break. Showing some flexibility can reassure employers about your willingness and ability to change.
- Ability to work in a team. The last thing an employer wants is friction between new recruits and existing team members. Providing examples of your past team successes could ease any concerns.
- Leadership. Even if you’re not going for a managerial role, many employers will welcome a sense of initiative and ownership.
- Time management. Hitting deadlines, attending meetings, and showing up on time are all key employability skills – whatever your line of work.
- Critical thinking. Thinking outside the box and offering a fresh perspective should add further strings to your bow.
- Reliability. Trust is a value you earn over time. But you can lay the foundations with prospective employers by flagging how you’ve gone above and beyond in previous roles.
- Ability to follow instructions. This is a basic but invaluable skill that tells employers you won’t upset the apple cart.
- Problem-solving. Identifying problems is one thing – solving them is another. Recruiters often appreciate a proactive, can-do attitude.
- Organisation. In the modern world, most jobs have some degree of admin, with different tasks and deadlines to juggle. Administrative skills may not be the flashiest thing on a CV, but they could still help you win over recruiters.
CV ideas to highlight your employability skills.
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How to bring your CV to life.
How to demonstrate your employability skills to an employer.
You can easily showcase your employability skills at different stages of the recruitment journey. Here are some tips to get you started.
Include a skills section on your CV.
Consider adding a specific skills section to your CV that lists some key employability skills. This could be as simple as a bullet-pointed list.
Add descriptions and action words to a CV.
You can also bring a CV to life by vividly describing your personal qualities and positive work experiences.
Write an attention-grabbing cover letter.
A cover letter works in tandem with your CV, expanding on why you want a particular job and the skills you can bring to the table. Consider offering real-world examples of your employability skills, showing how they’ve worked in action.
Increase engagement during interviews.
Try to sprinkle some of your skills throughout your interview answers too. Just make sure they’re relevant to the question and avoid overdoing it.
Make the most of work experience placements.
Work experience can also help when learning how to develop employability skills. Placements and internships could give you a clearer idea of what’s expected in the modern workplace. This may prove valuable if you’re just leaving school or university, for example.
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