What do employers want?
Employers ask for evidence that you have:
* motivation for the role;
* the ability to adapt to and share the organisation’s vision and ethos;
* relevant skills and competencies.
Many roles are open to graduates of any discipline as employers are often interested in your potential rather than your existing knowledge. Even for those jobs that require specific technical or scientific expertise, the successful candidate will be the one who demonstrates motivation and the personal and transferable skills needed to succeed.
The application procedures of many major graduate employers have become explicitly focused on motivation, organisational fit, and competency. It is not uncommon to find that a personality profile is a part of the initial application process and to be asked to provide very detailed examples of competencies such as ‘teamwork’ or ‘problem solving’ on the application forms.
For information about the graduate recruitment cycle in the UK, see finding vacancies.
Transferable skills
The competencies or transferable skills that are particularly popular with graduate recruiters include:
* communication - ability to communicate orally, in writing, or via electronic means, in a manner appropriate to the audience;
* teamwork - being constructive and willing to take on less attractive tasks, contributing practically to the team’s success;
* leadership - being able to motivate and encourage others, whilst taking the lead;
* initiative - ability to see opportunities, to set and achieve goals and act independently;
* 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;
* interpersonal skills - ability to relate well to others and to establish good working relationships;
* numeracy - competence and understanding of numerical data, statistics and graphs;
* IT knowledge - a basic understanding of common office equipment and programs and the ability not to be daunted by a change in the technology.
In addition, private sector employers like applicants to have some commercial awareness and knowledge of the business world and its relevancy to their organisation. You should therefore research the companies you apply to. Knowledge of their competitors can also provide you with a deeper level of understanding.
It is not enough to mention that you are a good communicator, or a team player, on your CV - you need to qualify it with a description of relevant experience. For further information on competencies, refer to what do graduates do?
Employers often have set criteria when selecting applicants. These may be laid out clearly in the person specification or be identifiable from the job description, advertisement or the organisation’s web pages.
Alternatively, if there is little information about the role, you could draw up your own list of the competencies likely to be required. The job profiles in types of jobs, have useful sections on the skills and qualities usually needed for entry into particular careers.
Relating skills to opportunities
How do you know what skills to highlight when compiling a CV, covering letter or application?
You should focus on presenting evidence of the skills and qualities that the employer is seeking, including your academic projects and achievements and also responsibilities you have held during work experience or voluntary activities, involvement in societies, or management of sporting activities.
Recruiters want to see skills and qualities that match their selection criteria. When examining your past involvements more closely, consider:
* What exactly have you done?
* What were you responsible for?
* What were the outcomes?
* How did you achieve success?
* Is there evidence of ‘how’ you have demonstrated relevant skills?
Although it is important to be concise, it is not enough just to list your skills. Where is the evidence? Employers cannot simply take your word for it.
Thinking about how to express the evidence for your experience can also be a challenge. Focus on active verbs. Go to power words for descriptors of responsibilities and language suggestions that may help.
* Consider how your motivation, personal qualities and aspirations reflect the ethos of the recruiting organisation and the post you are applying for.
* 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 is only an advertisement to go on, as is more commonly the case with small to medium-sized employers.
* Decide on the best way to sell your skills. Which CV format will you use? What should you to put in your covering letter? See CVs and covering letters for advice on making effective appl
Analysing job adverts
The following two advertisements are typical of the opportunities you’ll see advertised in graduate directories. Imagine this is the only information you have on which to base your CV application. See beneath each vacancy how they can be analysed in terms of skills, attributes and qualities.
www.prospects.ac.uk
careers, Jobs Indonesia, Indonesia Vacancy
Employers ask for evidence that you have:
* motivation for the role;
* the ability to adapt to and share the organisation’s vision and ethos;
* relevant skills and competencies.
Many roles are open to graduates of any discipline as employers are often interested in your potential rather than your existing knowledge. Even for those jobs that require specific technical or scientific expertise, the successful candidate will be the one who demonstrates motivation and the personal and transferable skills needed to succeed.
The application procedures of many major graduate employers have become explicitly focused on motivation, organisational fit, and competency. It is not uncommon to find that a personality profile is a part of the initial application process and to be asked to provide very detailed examples of competencies such as ‘teamwork’ or ‘problem solving’ on the application forms.
For information about the graduate recruitment cycle in the UK, see finding vacancies.
Transferable skills
The competencies or transferable skills that are particularly popular with graduate recruiters include:
* communication - ability to communicate orally, in writing, or via electronic means, in a manner appropriate to the audience;
* teamwork - being constructive and willing to take on less attractive tasks, contributing practically to the team’s success;
* leadership - being able to motivate and encourage others, whilst taking the lead;
* initiative - ability to see opportunities, to set and achieve goals and act independently;
* 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;
* interpersonal skills - ability to relate well to others and to establish good working relationships;
* numeracy - competence and understanding of numerical data, statistics and graphs;
* IT knowledge - a basic understanding of common office equipment and programs and the ability not to be daunted by a change in the technology.
In addition, private sector employers like applicants to have some commercial awareness and knowledge of the business world and its relevancy to their organisation. You should therefore research the companies you apply to. Knowledge of their competitors can also provide you with a deeper level of understanding.
It is not enough to mention that you are a good communicator, or a team player, on your CV - you need to qualify it with a description of relevant experience. For further information on competencies, refer to what do graduates do?
Employers often have set criteria when selecting applicants. These may be laid out clearly in the person specification or be identifiable from the job description, advertisement or the organisation’s web pages.
Alternatively, if there is little information about the role, you could draw up your own list of the competencies likely to be required. The job profiles in types of jobs, have useful sections on the skills and qualities usually needed for entry into particular careers.
Relating skills to opportunities
How do you know what skills to highlight when compiling a CV, covering letter or application?
You should focus on presenting evidence of the skills and qualities that the employer is seeking, including your academic projects and achievements and also responsibilities you have held during work experience or voluntary activities, involvement in societies, or management of sporting activities.
Recruiters want to see skills and qualities that match their selection criteria. When examining your past involvements more closely, consider:
* What exactly have you done?
* What were you responsible for?
* What were the outcomes?
* How did you achieve success?
* Is there evidence of ‘how’ you have demonstrated relevant skills?
Although it is important to be concise, it is not enough just to list your skills. Where is the evidence? Employers cannot simply take your word for it.
Thinking about how to express the evidence for your experience can also be a challenge. Focus on active verbs. Go to power words for descriptors of responsibilities and language suggestions that may help.
* Consider how your motivation, personal qualities and aspirations reflect the ethos of the recruiting organisation and the post you are applying for.
* 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 is only an advertisement to go on, as is more commonly the case with small to medium-sized employers.
* Decide on the best way to sell your skills. Which CV format will you use? What should you to put in your covering letter? See CVs and covering letters for advice on making effective appl
Analysing job adverts
The following two advertisements are typical of the opportunities you’ll see advertised in graduate directories. Imagine this is the only information you have on which to base your CV application. See beneath each vacancy how they can be analysed in terms of skills, attributes and qualities.
www.prospects.ac.uk
careers, Jobs Indonesia, Indonesia Vacancy
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