Employability Skills

1. Employability Skills Session 6 What do Employers want?

2. What do employers want? • Is it just about high academic achievement and technical skills?

3. What do employers think and want? • Between June and August 2011 the University of Huddersfield and Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University surveyed a range of employers to ask them their views on employability skills. One quarter of the UK employers surveyed were large (>500 employees) employers with three quarters consisting of small-medium sized employers. The breakdown of Chinese employers was roughly similar with around one third of the responses coming from large employers. • 217 responses were received from Chinese employers responding to Guangdong’s survey with 61 employers responding to the University of Huddersfield’s survey. • The results are on the slides following.

4. What do employers think and want? UK Score /5 Chinese Score /5 Employers were asked to rate the above personal skills out of 5 when recruiting new graduates. The greatest differences were in the areas of enthusiasm, adaptability and decisiveness which Chinese employers put less importance on, but they put more importance on social responsibility, ethicalvalues and tolerance to stress than UK employers.

5. What do employers think and want? Chinese Score /5 UK Score /5 Employers were asked to rate the above professional capabilities out of 5 when recruiting new graduates. This question revealed that Chinese employers rated teamwork, negotiation/persuasion skills as being more important when recruiting graduates. In contrast UK employers said that self-motivation and communication skills were more important when recruiting graduates.

6. What do employers think and want? UK Score /5 Chinese Score /5 Employers were asked to rate the above subject specific knowledge out of 5 when recruiting new graduates. This final question revealed that subject specific knowledge received less overall scores than the other two survey categories. There were only very slight differences between the importance Chinese and UK employers placed upon logical thinking, breadth of knowledge and IT (computer) application.

7. What do employers think and want? • Perceptions of UK higher education • Chinese employers place importance on rankings of UK universities – they currently place high importance on league tables produced by the Times and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. • There is a perceived lack of knowledge of UK HE institutions other than Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College and the London School of Economics (LSE). • The general lack of relevant work experience amongst UK educated Chinese graduates puts them at a disadvantage when returning home. • In the UK almost any work experience is seen as having some value whereas Chinese employers mainly value paid relevant work experience. • Chinese students planning to study in the UK need to be made aware of the help UK Careers Services can give them in helping to secure relevant paid work experience • Networking or making use of ‘Guanxi’ was seen as the main way of securing work in China. • UK Universities need to make use of alumni networks to help students maintain links with Chinese UK graduates. • Source: AGCAS/NASES China Visit report 14-20 March 2009

8. What do employers think and want? • Further points to note • Chinese employers also value English language skills, particularly large foreign companies where English can be the main language spoken. • UK experience is also valued if it is relevant, as is the possession of entrepreneurial skills. • Possession of a more vocational or job related degree is seen as having more value than a non vocational degree such as English, Humanities etc. • UK educated Chinese graduates were also seen as having gained the following from a UK education: • Broader thinking skills, greater independence, more confidence in doing business with other cultures, improved creativity, life skills, critical analysis, reasoning and self-motivation skills. Source: AGCAS/NASES China Visit report 14-20 March 2009

9. What else are employers looking for? • And, according to Kimberly Clark a major graduate recruiter: • ‘Demonstrating extracurricular activities is important ……………….a candidate should be able to demonstrate that he or she has wider interests and can contribute something more than pure intellect or technical skills…………….’

10. What else are employers looking for? • On the subject of the importance of academicachievements a major UK graduate recruiter Deloitte says: • ‘Obviously academics are important and people need to be able to meet the academic criteria but we’re looking for more than that ……… we’re looking for all-rounders, who are good at all sorts of different things ……………….’

11. Quotation • According to Anthony Hesketh author of How to get the best graduate job • ‘You need to put yourself in the shoes of the selectors. (and ask) Why are they looking for these skills? What attributes do I have which might trigger employers to think I have what they need? Employers are looking for much more than the skills they list. They are looking for a ‘’package’’. The more perceptive candidates work out what this package is and commodify (present) themselves accordingly’.

12. Research • So, to work out what the “package’’ is it is very important to do your homework about a company and understand the following: • The culture - will you fit in? • The company’s values – do they match yours? • Technical skills needed • Any academic entry requirements • Personal skills needed • The ‘additional contribution’ you can bring from your extra curricular activities and life experience.

13. What do Employers want? • Core transferable skills and qualities called COMPETENCIES • Knowledgeable applicants • Who are able to explain clearly why the job interests them, why they are suitable with examples of relevant skills, qualities and work experience that they have. • Applicants need to provide evidence for each of these requirements when applying for the position.

14. In summary….. It would seem that employers are not just looking for high academic achievement and technical skills. They want the complete ‘package’ which can include these but also ‘softer’ skills, relevant work experience and evidence of extra curricular activities.

15. What are employers looking for? • How to find out what skills are required: • Organisation’s website • See the personal specification for the job – sometimes employers refer to these skills as ‘essentials’ and ‘desirables’. • Look at the skills required for similar vacancies. • Use Prospectsjob profiles under ‘types of jobs’ – see www.prospects.ac.uk • Ask yourself what skills would be required in that role. • Will you fit in with the culture/ values of the organisation?

16. What are employability skills? • In 2002, according to research carried out by a Sheffield Hallam (UK) University’s Employability Working Group employability was defined as: • ‘Enabling students to acquire the knowledge, personal and professional skills and encouraging the attitudes that will support their future development and employment.‘ • These skills can be used in a wide range of tasks/situations within all subject areas, jobs and life experiences. • Consider what you have to offer to an employer in a much broader, more holistic way, and which reflectwhat is currently talked about in terms of the employability debate. • Being able to reflect and assess yourself at each stage of your career is vital if you are to remain employable, and develop your career rather than simply remain in employment.

17. Communication Self-motivation Time management Team work Leadership Problem solving Organisation Reliability Ethical values Languages Self-awareness Social responsibility Tolerance to stress Application of knowledge Commercial Awareness Numeracy Literacy I.T. The most commonly sought after skills are ……….

18. Skills definitions • Communication - ability to communicate orally, in writing, or via electronic means, in a manner appropriate to the audience; • Teamwork - being a constructive team member, contributing practically to the success of the team; • Leadership - being able to motivate and encourage others, whilst taking the lead; • Initiative - ability to see opportunities and to set and achieve goals; • Problem solving - thinking things through in a logical way in order to determine key issues, often also including creative thinking; • Flexibility/adaptability - ability to handle change and adapt to new situations; • Self-awareness - knowing your strengths and skills and having the confidence to put these across; • Commitment/motivation - having energy and enthusiasm in pursuing projects;

19. Skills definitions • Interpersonal skills - ability to relate well to others and to establish good working relationships; • Numeracy - competence and understanding of numerical data, statistics and graphs. • Reliability – can be trusted to complete tasks correctly and work co-operatively with others • Social responsibility – being polite, working well with members of the team and for the good of the company • Ethical values – behaving in a way which reflects the values of the company and country • Tolerance to stress – able to work effectively and under pressure • Application of knowledge – can use their knowledge effectively for the benefit of the organisation • Additionally, private sector employers like to see that applicants have some commercial awareness - an insight into how firms operate, what is happening in the business world and the impact this could have on their organisation.

20. How do you prove you have these required skills? • You can use examples from the following: • Your degree course • Your past/current work experience • Unpaid or voluntary work • Extracurricular activities • Try the Employability checklist - exercise 1 from this session. This will help you to produce evidence of these employability skills and provide you with other examples you can use for your future job applications.

21. Job vacancies – reading between the lines • Relating skills to opportunities • How do we know what skills to highlight when compiling a CV/Resume, covering letter or application? • Consider how your motivation, personal qualities and aspirations reflect the ethos of the recruiting organisation and the opportunity on offer. • Understand the skills and competencies required for the role. This will be transparent where a job specification is made available. It may be more difficult when there’s only an advertisement to look at. The latter is more common with small to medium sized employers. • Try the Exercise Reading between the lines which gives you hints on how to analyse job vacancies and then try the exercise for yourself. • Ultimately, you will have to decide on the best way to sell your skills. Which CV/Resume format will you use? What should you put in your covering letter? See session 7 Effective applications for more detailed advice on how to write CVs and covering letters.