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Employability and careers advice
Not sure how to build employability skills, choose a career path, or prepare for graduate jobs in the UK? This careers advice toolkit brings together practical guidance to help you gain skills and work experience during your degree, communicate those skills clearly to employers, and plan your next steps after university.
Getting started with thinking about your career
Starting early can really pay off, giving you time to build skills and avoid unnecessary stress. This chapter from The Student’s Guide to Career Planning and Employability helps you explore your options, decide what you want from a career, and understand the skills employers value most:
- Commercial awareness
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Negotiation and persuasion
- Problem solving
- Leadership
- Organisation
- Motivation
- Ability to work under pressure
- Confidence
Building your skills
Authors of Employability, John Neugebauer and Jane Evans-Brain show how to go about developing early work skills and experience through activities including networking, employment sources like careers fairs, social media and internships.
Making your skills work for you
Take an inventory of your skills, find out how to boost them, and learn how to sell your skills in a CV, interview and online. Download a free chapter from Lucinda Becker and Felicity Becker’s book Seven Steps to a Successful Career for expert insights.
Finding your ideal work placement
So you want to seek a work placement, but what exactly are you looking for? The questions on the table will help you narrow down your search and decide if that opportunity is right for you and whether to apply.
Top tip: don't apply for something you have no interest in, and no skills for, this is likely to be a waste of your time and can lead to self-defeating behaviour.
| Consideration | Question |
|---|---|
| Practical Matters |
|
| Type of internship |
|
| Skills required |
|
| Eligibility criteria |
|
| Fit with my plans |
|
Extract taken from Work Placements, Internships & Applied Social Research by Jackie Carter
Using the STAR technique to get your message across
When describing the competencies employers require, it is very easy to ramble and not use the best example or include enough detail/information in the answer. The STAR technique (Byham and Cox, 1998) provides a framework to construct a relevant answer to open-ended questions asked during an interview or when completing an application form. The STAR technique enables you to structure what you have to say as follows:
S = Situation – outlines a situation that demonstrates that you possess a personal quality or skill
T = Task – describes a task which you have completed
A = Action – explains what you actually did in this situation
R = Result – reports the result of your actions
A STAR is really a little story, which you are proud of and which can be told to your advantage. The STAR technique gives you a format in which to tell stories about yourself.
Extract taken from How to Succeed at University by Bob Smale & Julie Fowlie
Boosting your employability with ease
What career would suit me? How do I ask for feedback? How can I make my experience count? If these are some of the questions going through your head, you're about to get your answers.
In this webinar, Felicity Becker will take you through your career journey, from choosing a path and applying for a job to acing your interview and finding work-life balance, and share her tops tips for landing your dream role.
Looking for a refresher? Find out how to write a great CV or become more employable in under two minutes.
