Employers are looking for skills: technical skills and employability skills.

Employers look for more than just technical skills. They also consider employability skills, which are personal attributes like motivation and flexibility and abilities like communication, teamwork and problem solving, to be just as important as technical skills. These will provide you with the foundation for any job and your studies. Another important employability skill is adaptability.

With the nature of jobs changing so much everyone needs to be able to adapt to change and to learn continuously.

Recently government and business combined to develop a framework of employability skills and attributes which are important in the workplace and for life generally. You can monitor your own skills and attributes from the lists below, which will also help you put together a résumé or in job interviews.

What are you doing to add to and improve your own employability skills?

The eight key employability skills are:

• Communication

• Team Work

• Problem-solving

• Initiative and enterprise

• Planning and organising

• Self-management

• Learning

• Technology

Attributes employers value:

• loyalty

• commitment

• honesty

• enthusiasm

• personal presentation, common sense

• positive self-esteem

• sense of humour

• ability to deal with pressure, motivation and adaptability

LARMAK

This is an acronym that helps you to remember what skills/attitudes are important for you to be employed. Try these activities to help you remember what the letters mean. Activities here.

SENS

This is another acronym that helps you to remember the things you need to do when you meet someone for the first time. Eg When you go to a job interview. Activities here.