Recognising and Developing Employability Skills in an Educational Context

1
Recognising and Developing Employability Skills
in an Educational Context

• Facilitated by Stuart Moss
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• s.moss_at_leedsmet.ac.uk

2
A Familiar Story?

• There were four people named EVERYBODY,
  SOMEBODY, ANYBODY and NOBODY.
• There was an important job to be done and
  EVERYBODY was asked to do it.
• EVERYBODY was sure that SOMEBODY would do it.
• ANYBODY could have done it, but NOBODY did it.
• SOMEBODY got angry about that, because it was
  EVERYBODYS job.
• EVERYBODY thought ANYBODY could do it but NOBODY
  realised that EVERYBODY wouldnt do it.
• It ended up that EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY when
  NOBODY did what ANYBODY could have done..
• (Denny, 1993, p.89)

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All about me and my Lifelong Learning

• From Yorkshire
• Disliked school
• Failed A Levels
• Worked and saved
• Went to Australia
• Worked in telecoms and saved lots more

• Moved to London
• Became a mature student at Leeds Met in 1997
• Became a lecturer in 2001
• Became a Senior lecturer in 2003
• Published a book in 2005, second book in 2009
• Still developing, still learning

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Time to WAKE UP

• Move yourself around the room to join a study
  group of 5-6 people.
• Put your chairs in a circle, and re-introduce
  yourselves.

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Each Team Needs

• 1 sheet of A1 paper.
• 1 Felt Tip Pen.
• Divide your paper up into 8 sections and number
  them as below.

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Task 1

• Consider the term employability what does it
  mean to you?
• How might you define employability?
• As a group, write the title
• Employability is and then give a definition in
  box 1.

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Definition

• Employability relates to a graduate's
  achievements and their potential to gain a
  graduate job. Achievements relates to the degree
  itself but importantly also includes transferable
  skills gained from studying at university.
• (University of Reading, 2008)

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Definition

• A set of achievements, understandings and
  personal attributes that make individuals more
  likely to gain employment and be successful in
  their chosen careers.
• (Knight and Yorke, 2003)

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Definition

• Employability is about having the capability to
  gain initial employment, maintain employment and
  obtain new employment if required.
• For the individual, employability depends on
• their assets in terms of the knowledge, skills
  and attitudes they possess
• the way they use and deploy those assets
• the way they present them to employers
• and crucially, the context (eg personal
  circumstances and labour market environment)
  within which they seek work.
• (IES, 2008)

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Employability skills

• Ultimately skills that make you more employable.
• Skills embedded in your curriculum and
  demonstrated through your assessments.

Career Management Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Personal Skills
Management
Entrepreneurship
Study Skills
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Developing Employability Skills

• Five stage process
• Awareness
• Practice
• Feedback
• Reflection
• Further practice post-feedback

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Task 2

• In your groups, think about how you might develop
  employability skills in your university / college
  environment.
• Write the title Developing Skills and some of
  your shared thoughts down in box number 2.

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When are Your Skills Developed?

• Specific modules relating to skills development.
• Management classes.
• Consultancy classes.
• Work based learning.
• Work placements.
• All of your assessments.

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How do I know what skills I am developing?
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Historically

• Experience has showed us that this has been an
  undervalued subject area.
• Poor attendances and low achievement in class.
• Knock-on effect on other modules.

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Task 3

• Consider a standard written piece of work that
  you have carried out, such as an essay or a
  report.
• In box 3 write the title Skills Developed, and
  list as many skills as you can think of.

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Skills Gained from UndertakingWritten Assignments

• Scheduling work planning Information gathering
  research note-taking referencing literacy
  time management computer skills critical
  thinking working to deadlines.

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Developing Skills Through Assessment

• Presentations
• Scheduling work planning Information gathering
  research note-taking Harvard referencing
  literacy time management ICT critical
  thinking public speaking confidence thinking
  on your feet!
• Exams
• Some of the above memory and revision
  techniques working under pressure.

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The Employer

• A survey of over 250 managers in the UK
  conducted by the Chartered Management Institute
  found that graduates whilst in the main were
  competent with Information Technology (IT) were
  lacking in basic communication and interpersonal
  skills, including teamwork, presentation skills,
  and problem solving
• (DoctorJob, 2002, p.4).
• The Association of Graduate Recruiters
  ascertained that over half of graduates recruited
  into the workplace lacked team working and
  communication skills, as well as cultural
  awareness
• (BBC, 2006).

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Task 4

• On the following slide is some text from an
  actual job advert.
• In box 4 on your sheet, can you write the title
  Skills Identified and then list all of the
  skills that the employer is looking for.

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The Job Advert

• The successful applicant will be determined and
  energetic, with a high level of numeracy, ICT,
  literacy, research and presentation skills.
• They will be capable of working effectively as an
  individual and as a part of a team.
• They will have the ability...proven or
  latent...to manage people now or in the
  not-too-distant future, and make things happen.

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The Job Advert

• The successful applicant will be determined and
  energetic, with a high level of numeracy, ICT,
  literacy, research and presentation skills.
• They will be capable of working effectively to
  deadlines as an individual and as a part of a
  team.
• They will have the ability...proven or
  latent...to manage people now or in the
  not-too-distant future, and make things happen.

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Task 5

• In box 5 can you write Skills Practiced and
  give examples for when you have demonstrated the
  skills in box 4 in the past.

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So lets study some of those terms

• Determined
• Through thick and thin times of stress meeting
  deadlines Getting a first.
• Energetic
• When did you last go the extra mile?
• Numeracy
• Statistical analysis of quantitative data.

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So lets study some of those terms

• ICT
• Every assignment you DO have good ICT skills.
• Literacy
• Reading and writing when did you last do that?
  
• Research
• Academically taught and finely honed research
  skills when didnt you last have to research?
  The D word.

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So lets study some of those terms

• Presentation skills
• PowerPoint and beyond public speaking the
  presentation of your work your professional
  image.
• Working effectively to deadlines
• Most of the work that you undertake.
• Individual
• Working alone.
• Working effectively as a part of a team
• Group work sports employment.

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So lets study some of those terms

• Manage people
• Group working responsibilities relationships
  with those around you organisation and managing
  self.
• Make things happen
• Innovation creativity problem solving
  achievement.

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Work Placement

• You need to put together a team, who will be
  given the task of organising a party at a
  night-club. The party will be on a particular
  date, it must have a theme, there will be a
  financial budget.
• What sort of skills would you want people in your
  team to have?

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Task 6

• In box 6 on your sheet, can you write the title
  Skills needed and underneath this write a short
  advert to recruit people into your team. Your
  advert must list the skills that you need team
  members to have.

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Selling Yourself

• Selling and negotiating skills are essential for
  managers
• You probably already utilise these skills without
  even knowing it
• Ultimately they result in one person doing
  something at another persons request.

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Selling Your Skills

• Whenever you are presenting yourself to an
  audience you are selling to the audience
• Your ideas
• Your ability
• Your integrity.
• Remember an audience can be as large as
  infinity or as small as one person.

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Professionalism is Paramount

• Presentation style and technique.
• Integrity.
• Composure.
• Knowledge.

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Know your enemy

• Sun-Tzu (The Art of War)

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The Pitch

• Introduce
• Develop
• Conclude

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The Funnel
Know the requirements
Introduce yourself
Get their attention
Build your credibility
Maintain interest
Instil desire
Fine details
Negotiation
Sale
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Feedback

• Everyone SHOULD receive feedback, especially
  after interviews.
• Read your feedback BEFORE your grade.
• What does it tell you?
• Consider it as constructive, build upon your
  mistakes.
• Stay clear of the crumple zone.

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Task 7

• In box number 7 on your sheet, write the title
  Feedback, then stick your sheet to the wall
  using Blue-Tack.
• Take your pen, and go around the room as a group
  looking at everybody elses sheet write some
  feedback in each box number 7.

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Further Action Post Feedback

• Stay motivated.
• Talk to other people.
• Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of
  others.
• Carry out the task(s) again using your feedback
  as guidance.

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Developing Your Employability Skills is a Cyclic
Process
Awareness
Practice
Further Practice
Reflection
Feedback
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Task 8

• In box number 8 write the title Reflection
  then write how you feel about the feedback you
  have got.

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Thankyou

• Dank u, Danke, Merci, Grazie, ?????, ?????, Sa?
  e??a??st?, Gracias,
• ??
• Any Questions???

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References

• British Broadcasting Corporation. (2006) Graduate
  demand outstrips skills. Internet London, BBC.
  URL available from lthttp//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/edu
  cation/4687030.stmgt Accessed 1st November, 2006.
• Doctorjob. (2002) Ill Communication. Doctorjob.
  Summer 2002, p.4.
• Hind, D. and Moss, S. (2005) Employability
  skills. Sunderland, Business Education Publishers
  Ltd.
• Institute for Employment Studies. (2008)
  Employability developing a framework for policy
  analysis. London, IES. URL available from
  lthttp//www.employment-studies.co.uk/summary/summa
  ry.php?idemplbltygt Accessed 23rd November, 2008.
• Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2003) Learning,
  curriculum and employability in higher education.
  London, Routledge.
• University of Reading (2008) Jargonbuster.
  Internet Reading, UoR. URL available from
  lthttp//www.rdg.ac.uk/internal/freshers/fr-jargonb
  uster.aspgt Accessed 20th November, 2008.