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What is Employability

Employability is the ability to gain, maintain, and obtain new employment, relying on knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It emphasizes personal development, continuous learning, and the importance of being adaptable and professional in the workplace. Key employability skills include communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and commercial awareness, which are essential for success in any career.

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7 views4 pages

What is Employability

Employability is the ability to gain, maintain, and obtain new employment, relying on knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It emphasizes personal development, continuous learning, and the importance of being adaptable and professional in the workplace. Key employability skills include communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and commercial awareness, which are essential for success in any career.

Uploaded by

nguluwegift8
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is Employability?

Employability refers to your ability to gain initial employment, maintain


employment, and obtain new employment if required.
In simple terms, employability is about being capable of getting and keeping fulfilling work.
“Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes
that make a person more likely to choose and secure occupations in which they can be
satisfied and successful. Dacre Pool & Sewell 2007

Your employability depends on:


 Your Knowledge (what you know)
 Your Skills (what you do with what you know)
 Your Attitudes (how you approach things)

The way you use your knowledge and skills and present them to employers, and the context
(e.g. personal circumstances and work sector within which you seek work.

Important things to know about employability for your career


Career ownership - only you are responsible for your career development and management
(no one else can do it for you)
Continuous (life-long) learning and development of skills are expected by employers and
clients
Security lies in employability (that is, your ability to obtain and maintain employment)
rather than in employment (that is, a specific job)
Source: Schreuder & Theron. 1997. Careers: An organisational Perspective.

Employers want graduates with relevant subject skills, knowledge and understanding, but
in addition to this are looking for well-rounded individuals who have a set of personal and
Disclaimer: Information is provided in good faith by CIT’s Careers Service. CIT, the Careers Service, and any contributing third party shall
have no legal liability or responsibility for any individual’s decision made on the basis of this information.
general life skills that equip them to adapt well , learn new and specific skills of the job and
participate and contribute in a valuable way in their organisation.

You are constantly developing useful and marketable skills through managing college
work, assignments and projects, part time jobs, involvement in sports, Interests and
extracurricular activities.

Top 12 Skills that make you Employable


Personal Development – “Getting the most from yourself and others”
All employers will want to know that you’re committed to your own self-development.
There are many ways to demonstrate this. It might be that you’ve overcome a difficult
obstacle or you could have gone out of your way to learn a new skill. What is important is
that you have pushed yourself.

Communication – “Listening actively as well making yourself heard”


Employers look for people who know how to get their point across clearly, articulately and
professionally. Just as importantly, you should be a good listener – you’ll take other
people’s opinions on board and actively seek out feedback. You’ll also be comfortable in
talking to groups.

Creativity and Innovation – “Seeing newer and better ways forward”


Successful organisations are fueled by good ideas. Employers will want to know that you can
come up with interesting suggestions and that you’re always looking for better ways of
doing things. Good ideas come in all sorts of shapes and sizes – and the best ideas aren’t
necessarily the biggest

Teamwork – “Supporting other people to achieve success”


The ability to get along with others and to lead a team to success is vital to any organisation.
This means that you need to be able to demonstrate that you’re a natural team player and
that you can adapt your style to accommodate others if you need to.

Professionalism – “Taking pride in everything you do”


Employers will expect you to be committed to delivering the best standards, adopting the
right procedures and maintaining the highest levels of confidentiality. This means staying
Disclaimer: Information is provided in good faith by CIT’s Careers Service. CIT, the Careers Service, and any contributing third party shall
have no legal liability or responsibility for any individual’s decision made on the basis of this information.
motivated and for all talks and upholding complete professionalism, even in conflicts or
difficult conversations.

Organisational skills – “Juggling priorities and preparing for the unexpected”


In most jobs, you’ll be expected to take responsibility for your own workload. Employers will
want to know how you manage your course work and used your initiative to deal with the
unexpected.

Flexibility – “Being adaptable”


As an employee, it is vital that you keep pace with a constantly evolving workplace. You’ll
need to show that you respond to change positively and can adapt quickly while still
working productively to a high standard.

Commercial awareness – “Knowing how to add value”


Whatever sector you want to work in, it’s important that you understand how it operates
and the different issues that affect it. Look also at the skills sought by employers in your
sector and think about how you will show that you can apply them to add value to their
organisation.
Problem solving/analysing – “Looking at issues from a different angle”
In the world of work, things don’t always go according to plan. That is why employers need
to know that you can analyse information, identify any potential issues and come up with
effective solutions.

Initiative – “Thinking ahead and on your feet”


In any job, you’ll need to be able to take the initiative. Although it’s important that you
follow the right rules and regulations, you should also be confident when it comes to
suggesting new or different ways of doing things, or anticipating problems or issues before
they arise.

Ability to use new technologies


Technology is involved in almost every job. It is the 21st century way of doing and working:
whether this involves keeping records of information, communicating with others,
maintaining accounts or understanding a manufacturing system. Almost every job involves
using technology some sort. It is vital to be comfortable with it.

Disclaimer: Information is provided in good faith by CIT’s Careers Service. CIT, the Careers Service, and any contributing third party shall
have no legal liability or responsibility for any individual’s decision made on the basis of this information.
Commercial Awareness
Commercial awareness is the ability to understand what makes a business or organisation
successful, through either buying or selling products or supplying services to a market.
Does the organisation produce, sell, or buy products? Or is it in the services or ideas
business?
Who are its customers? Are they other businesses, or ‘ordinary people’?
What’s going on in the market sector? Are there legal or regulatory changes on the way, or
does the economic situation have a larger-than-usual impact?
Having commercial awareness is also as important for the Public Sector.

Why not assess the Employability Skills you currently have, you may be pleasantly surprised
to find out what you have to offer employers.

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillstest.html

Find out more:

http://myfuture.edu.au/getting-started/what-is-a-career/what-are-employability-skills

http://www.skillsyouneed.com/

Disclaimer: Information is provided in good faith by CIT’s Careers Service. CIT, the Careers Service, and any contributing third party shall
have no legal liability or responsibility for any individual’s decision made on the basis of this information.

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