The Graduate Employability Skills:What Every Graduate should Posses

graduate unemployment

Recently on facebook, I had a lengthy chat with an old school mate who was narrating his ordeal of securing a decent job after almost three years of completing tertiary. On the other side of the coin; I know another good friend who  has changed jobs and is currently at post on his second job offer, just within a period of  three months. So, what makes the difference? Finding it difficult to juxtapose, I decided to research on what HR managers and recruiters look out for in fresh graduates who are looking for an entry level position in any reputable firm.

Today, I share with you some vital skills graduate must have in order to be employable. This insight is not purely based on my knowledge as I am a novice in the world of work, but I guess it would be good for someone out there. If you think you are the one, just have an open mind and let’s learn. Don’t forget to drop me your comment.

Skills Graduates should have in order to be employable

•    Knowledge skills

1. Every graduate should have a body of knowledge in the field(s) studied; 
2. Be able to apply theory to practice in familiar and unfamiliar situations; 
3. Be able to identify access, organize and communicate knowledge in both written and oral English; 
4. Have an appreciation of the requirements and characteristics of scholarship and research; and 
5. Have the ability to use appropriate technologies in furthering all of the above.

•   Thinking skills 

Are you  a Graduate or about to graduate, then you should posses the following thinking skills :

1. Be able to exercise critical judgment; 
2.  Be capable of rigorous and independent thinking;
3. Be able to account for their decisions; 
4. Be realistic self evaluators; 
5. Adopt a problem solving approach; and 
6.  Be creative and imaginative thinkers.

•  Personal skills

1.  The capacity for and a commitment to life-long learning; 
2. The ability to plan and achieve goals in both personal and the professional spheres; 
3.  The ability to work with others.

•   Personal attributes

1. Strive for tolerance and integrity; and 
2. Acknowledge their personal responsibility for: their own value judgments; and 
3. Their ethical behavior towards others.

• Practical skills

1.  Be able to use information technology for professional and personal development; and, where appropriate, be able to do following: 
2. Collect, correlate, display, analyze and report observations; 
3. Apply experimentally-obtained results to new situations; 
4.  Test hypotheses experimentally; and 
5.  Apply technical skills appropriate to their discipline.

What Next?

I plan to write a post on what employers expect from recent Graduates to enable them quickly fit into the working culture, but for now, I hope this helps you. Please drop me your comment. I would love to hear from you.