Futures: What skills and attributes do employers want?

THE POSSESSION of a range of skills and personal and interactive attributes are at least as important, if not more important, to employers as the possession of qualifications.

Personal attributes
The personal attributes most employers want are:
• intellect - the ability to analyse, critique and synthesise information in order to solve problems;

• knowledge - an understanding of “basic principles” rather than large stocks of specialist knowledge;
• commercial awareness - an appreciation of workplace culture
• willingness to learn - the ability to learn and continue learning throughout life;
• flexibility and adaptability - the ability to respond to change, to pre-empt change and ultimately to lead change;
• self-regulatory skills - self-discipline, time-keeping, the ability to deal with stress, to plan and prioritise your workload and to ”juggle” several tasks at once;
• self-motivation - being a ”self-starter”, resilient, tenacious and determined;
• self-assurance - self-confidence, self-awareness, self-belief, self-sufficiency, self-direction and self-promotion.

Work experience is widely recognised as the most appropriate medium through which to develop these attributes and prepare students for work.”

Interactive attributes
The interactive attributes most employers want are:
• communication skills - the ability to communicate, formally and informally, verbally and in the written form, with a wide range of people both internal and external to the organisation;
• interpersonal skills - the ability to relate to, and feel comfortable with, people at all levels and to be able to make and maintain relationships as circumstances change;
• teamworking - the ability to work effectively in teams, often more than one team at once, and to be able to re-adjust roles from one project situation to another in an ever-shifting work situation.

Will I need the same attributes irrespective of job type?
There are innumerable studies that have shown that a set of “transferable skills” or “competencies” including communication, teamworking, problem-solving, leadership, numeracy, self-confidence, willingness to learn and flexibility, are widely required by employers generally. Furthermore these lists of attributes have changed little over time. There has been some slight shifts in emphasis, reflecting preferred ways of working, but essentially there has been very little change in the last 20–30 years.

I do not see management competencies changing significantly, what I see is that in some circumstances, in some stage of development, some of them will be more important than others, but skills such as commercial awareness, some basic intellectual capabilities, results orientation, interpersonal skills, will always be important.
(Senior Executive, large brewing company)

How do I develop the skills and attributes employers want?
Many undergraduates already possess some of the attributes employers want prior to commencing their degree. However, undergraduates can develop their skills further:
• through their programme of study;
• and through work-experience opportunities.

Development of skills through your programme of study
• University presents many new challenges for younger undergraduates which include becoming financially independent and meeting new people. These challenges are recognised and valued by employers as contributing to personal development and maturity.
• During their programme, students must learn to organise their workload and manage their time effectively in order to meet deadlines. Often this means organising their schedule to allow enough time to undertake paid work as well as study.
• Many programmes are assessed on the basis of coursework rather than exams. Students must therefore learn to “juggle” more than one project at once.
• Students are now able to choose from a diverse range of subjects on modular degree programmes. Students must, therefore, be flexible and adaptable enough to switch between subject areas.
• Through their programme of study, undergraduates learn to communicate information both verbally and in the written form through project work, report writing and oral presentations.
• Group work exercises and team sports develop an undergraduate’s teamworking skills.

In addition, students develop subject-specific knowledge and basic computer skills. Development of skills through work- experience opportunities
Some attributes are difficult to develop in the classroom. These include:
• the ability to present and sell oneself at interviews
• the ability to appreciate workplace culture
• interpersonal skills

Work experience is widely recognised as the most appropriate medium through which to develop these attributes and prepare students for work.

Increasingly, part-time work and voluntary work are being recognised as providing potential opportunities for undergraduates to develop skills and attributes. Although not highly skilled, this type of work, which often includes shop and bar work, requires students to communicate effectively and work with others in a pressured environment. These are all ‘transferable skills’ that graduates will use in future roles.

How do employers identify skills and attributes in potential employees?
Employers use a variety of recruitment procedures including:
• fast-track graduate recruitment, aimed at fulfilling future, often management, roles;
• direct entry recruitment designed to recruit new graduates into particular roles;
• job specific general recruitment uses job specific advertisements to attract more experienced graduates, non-graduates and postgraduates and;
• work-placement recruitment.

Employers utilise a range of practices to identify skills and attributes in potential recruits. Interviews are most commonly used either as a sole selection method or combined with assessment centres where candidates may be required to undertake psychometric, aptitude, numeracy and literacy tests. Assessment centres are most often used for fast-track recruitment.

For more information see: www.bcu.ac.uk/crq/publications/gws/gwsiden.html

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