Skills for Employment
There are a wide range of skills for employment that can be acquired and developed for a particular occupation or activity.
Qualifications form part of these skills but employers are also looking for employees who have developed a wide range of Employability Skills
Skills for employment can be developed and practised from an early age e.g.
Work experience
Taking part in a school/college project
Duke of Edinburgh and similar schemes
Being a young carer
Being a member of a team (sports, enterprise)
Part time work
Volunteering
Partners from Hull and East Riding were asked what were the top 5 skills that made someone ‘Work Ready’. This was their response.
Self discipline and management
Social skills
Communication
Team working
Basic literacy and numeracy
To see individual responses use the links below
Work Experience
Work Experience provides young people with the chance to experience the world of work first hand.
Work experience is defined as:
“A placement on an employer‘s premises in which a pupil carries out a particular task or duty, or range of tasks and duties, more or less as would an employee, but with the emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience.”(DfES1997)
Work experience is an important part of any young person’s education.
Its many benefits can include:
- Experiencing working life and all that means
- To develop and practice employability skills
- Understanding how curriculum subjects link to work
- Developing networks with potential future employers
- Use the experience to update a CV or personal statement
Barclays LifeSkills – Virtual Work Experience: Freeformers
Scapegroup – Virtual Work Experience – Learning in Lockdown
Speakers for Schools – Virtual Work Experience
Siemens Mobility – Virtual Work Experience
Employability Skills
Employability Skills have been defined after extensive collaboration with business by the Confederation of British Industries (CBI). They are a set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy.
Employability skills include:
- Self-management – readiness to accept responsibility, flexibility, resilience, self-starting, appropriate assertiveness, time management, readiness to improve own performance based on feedback/reflective learning
- Teamworking – respecting others, co-operating, negotiating/persuading, contributing to discussions, and awareness of interdependence with others
- Business and customer awareness – basic understanding of the key drivers for business success – including the importance of innovation and taking calculated risks – and the need to provide customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty
- Problem solving – analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions
- Communication and literacy – application of literacy, ability to produce clear, structured written work and oral literacy – including listening and questioning
- Application of numeracy – manipulation of numbers, general mathematical awareness and its application in practical contexts (e.g. measuring, weighing, estimating and applying formulae)
- Application of information technology – basic IT skills, including familiarity with word processing, spreadsheets, file management and use of internet search engines
Part-time working
Do you have a part-time job?
A part-time job can help you develop your employability skills.
Information on working part-time can be found here
The laws governing child employment exists to ensure that children do so safely and free from exploitation. If you are employing or thinking of employing any 13–16 year olds, or you are the parent or carer of a school age child who wants to work part-time, you must be aware that:
- all young people of compulsory school age who work part-time must be registered with the local education authority and have a work permit;
- all young people who work or assist in a trade or occupation which is carried out for profit purposes are considered to be employed even if they receive no payment for that assistance;
- the young person must carry their work permit with them when working;
- the employer is responsible for the health and safety of the child while at work;
- there are limits to the times and days that children can work;
- and there are limits to the types of employment that children are allowed to do.
Skillsometer
“Skillsometer can help you discover what jobs you might like to do in the future. You will be presented with a series of statements. Select the emoji that shows how you feel about each statement. You will be given suggestions of jobs linked to what you most enjoy doing.”
Social Media
Have you updated your Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin profiles lately?
It’s easy to see why social media platforms are becoming so popular for recruiters – Digital 2021: The UK, a joint survey between We are social and Hootsuite, found that nearly 78% (53 million people) of the UK population is active on social media (January 2021), up by nearly 5% on the previous year.
With the average user (aged 16 to 64) clocking up nearly two hours of social media time per day, advertising jobs through this medium is fast becoming the quick, accessible way of reaching graduates as well as those who’d like to make a career change.
As over 89% of internet users watch videos every month, it’s no surprise that YouTube has now come out on top as the most popular social media platform. While TikTok is also moving up the list, more traditional platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are still are among the UK’s most popular sites.
The survey also found that just under a third (29%) of those questioned had used social media for work purposes – so where your career is concerned, it’s time to consider how you set up your various profiles.
Quick Facts
While social media platforms have become integral to our personal lives, they’re also a powerful recruitment tool – discover how your online presence could be the key to successful job hunting
High Fliers’ The Graduate Market in 2021 report has confirmed that many of the UK’s top employers are increasingly using social media as a means of finding graduate talent.
During the coronavirus pandemic, almost all employers had moved their graduate recruitment promotions online, with most (91%) stating that they had made use of social media over the past year to keep graduates informed about any available vacancies.
Skills Support for the Workforce
The Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) programme provides fully funded workplace training to SME’s to meet individual, employer and regional economic needs. The training includes bespoke and vocationally relevant qualifications that are responsive to the needs identified.
More information is available here: https://www.hull-college.ac.uk/study/fully-funded-training/ssw-humber
Useful Links
The site provides a range of resources and clips that could be used by learners
The Hull and East Riding 14-19 Prospectus and Common Application Process (CAP)
