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These can be thought of as mostly those skills that become an extension of an individual’s personality and stay with them throughout your life. They build on positive attitudes and qualities, with the employability aspect of these skills relating to how well an individual can apply them to a work situation. These are also often referred to, but not always in the same way, as either transferable skills, transferable employability skills, life skills, work ready or soft skills.

If someone wants to develop a career in any job, improve their current job prospects or wish to apply for a new job then focussing on some of the skills which make people more employable and which might make that person stand out from other people who may also be competing for what is wanted, whether a promotion or another job.

Employers will frequently look for some additional value that potential employees can bring to their organisation.

Many applicants will have similar qualifications and will be at a similar stage in their career or working life, if a specific career path has not been followed. Highlighting and explaining some key employability skills which relate to the job in hand (these might have been stated or implied within a person specification) could make one application stand out more than others. This could get an individual an interview where they are in with a realistic chance of getting the job or promotion.

In 2008 the Learning and Skills Network suggested that just a broad understanding of the term employability skills was required. This would provide the general framework in which it would only need to be specified in more detail within a specific workplace situation. One main benefit of this broad understanding is that employers have a common general understanding of what is meant, and this would allow them to build on the term and apply their own specific requirements to suit the job role or work context, although there was also n important emphasis on there was a continuum of learning to support job development and progression.
(Reference Learning Skills Network Research Report ‘Employability Skills Explored’ (2008))

We can loosely define this term then as “General skills that are needed in the workplace that help get the job done properly.'

Having a positive attitude (such as enthusiasm, commitment and being self-motivated) is a primary quality which employers assume is something you will need before beginning to work on any of the other employability skills; in essence a positive attitude underpins all of the employability skills that are needed.

Even though there are numerous definitions and interpretations of the term, distinct themes and priorities can be identified as being what most employers are looking for.
Being able to focus on these, along with some of the lesser employability skill requirements will provide an individual with a much better chance of getting themself job ready, and this means not just for a first job, but also where individuals have taken a break from employment and want to get back earning and also where they want to move between different employers.

Employability skills should be thought of as a project that is ongoing because everyone is always adding new skills, enhancing established ones and gaining experience of applying employability skills in a range of different contexts.

At least 26 skills can be considered as employability skills, with each of the following having a separate entry in this document, including:

1. Adaptability and Flexibility.
2. Analytical Skills.
3. Business Awareness.
4. Communication.
5. Continual Learning Skills.
6. Creative Thinking.
7. Cultural Awareness.
8. Data Skills.
9. Decision Making.
10. Digital Literacy Skills (previously called ICT use).
11. Emotional Intelligence.
12. Ethical Awareness.
13. Foreign language Skills.
14. Leadership Skills.
15. Literacy Skills.
16. Negotiating Skills.
17. Numeracy Skills.
18. Planning and Prioritising.
19. Presentation of Self.
20. Problem Solving.
21. Self-management.
22. Sustainability Skills.
23. Team Working.
24. Technical Ability.
25. Valuing Diversity.
26. Working to Deadlines.

Finding out what is relevant
A good idea to help identify the types of employability skills that are particularly sought after within an industry sector is to look at a range of person specifications – these are easily found online – and pick out the skills employers are saying are essential and desirable.

You should write down all the words they describe and then study them to see a common pattern that develops; these are the most sought-after transferable employability skills in your area of interest.

What you now need to do is to identify your strengths and weaknesses and determine how best you can demonstrate your strengths and to work on your perceived weaknesses. It might be a good idea to ask someone else what they think of your employability skills; they might provide some useful insight which you have overlooked, so do not neglect the option of asking opinions of others.