Developing your skills
Why is it important to think about skills?
We talk about skills all the time – and that’s because that’s what employers want to see you demonstrate when applying for roles, and what they need from a person working in a particular role. You’ll see a whole range of skills listed on job descriptions and person specifications as you start to apply for different roles. So, how do you work out what skills you already have? And, how do you develop and practice the skills you want to make stronger?
The key skills employers are looking for evolve and change over time – AI, digital, data-related and human-only skills have moved up the agenda in recent years, while skills like resilience, working with others and career management skills hold steady importance on most employers’ lists. You can keep an eye (or an ear) on what employers are looking for through the Career Zone Podcast, which regularly contains episodes related to Labour Market Information (this just means, what’s happening in the world of work, what jobs are in demand, and, as a result, what skills are needed too). For now, you might want to listen to this episode ‘Developing the skills you need for a placement, internship or graduate role’, a conversation between our Employment Schemes Manager and a Student Campus Partner, exploring a student’s experience of developing skills, and what employers are looking for (start at 6minutes, 10 seconds).
- How have you enhanced your skills so far? Are there any opportunities to develop your skills you came across in Create Your Future (or beyond!) that you can now put into action? Return to your Create Your Future journey on Handshake to find your Skills Analysis.
- If you are a postgraduate, or on one of the programmes that doesn’t have Create Your Future, you can access a similar Skills Analysis here.
This guide will help you explore how your values, skills and experience might align with what employers are looking for and want to see from candidates.
Visit Profiling for Success and complete the Type Dynamics Indicator (TDI) psychometric assessment to gain a deeper understanding of your preferences in ways of working. At the end of the assessment, you will be presented with a detailed report, if you want to discuss it, you can come and chat to us in the Career Zone and book an appointment with one of our Careers Consultants.
Watch this video on How to identify your skills.
How can I develop or practice my skills?
Once you have identified your current skills and any skills gaps, you will want to start thinking about how you can practice and enhance these skills, or develop in areas you have more limited experience. We’ve got lots ideas for how you can do this.
At the Career Zone we run over twenty different workshops and webinars to help you develop your employability skills and prepare you for the graduate job market. You can attend these sessions as stand-alone sessions or as part of the Exeter Award and Exeter Leaders Award.
You can visit the ‘personal and professional development’ page for more information about each of these workshops.
You can gain insights into a range of different companies with the Virtual Experience programmes at Forage. You can use these virtual experiences to put your skills to the test and begin to reflect on how you have utilised and enhanced your skills.
- The Career Mentor Scheme is one of the largest and most successful employability schemes in the UK. Since 2008, the scheme has supported thousands of students and graduates like you to make more informed choices about their careers and boost their confidence, and explore their skills.
- The Professional Pathways programme is a suite of sector specific training courses and paid 35 hour internships that usually take place after summer exams.
- The Green Consultants programme is open to all students, designed to provide you with the additional skills and experience required to work in the highly competitive environmental and sustainability sector. No prior experience required!
- The Aspiring Teachers programme is a combination of guidance sessions and online resources designed to help you to gain an insight into the education and teaching sector, to help you understand the skills and experience required to work in this sector.
Link to playlist to be added
How do I showcase my skills to employers?
We know employers are looking for different skills, and we have explored how to research these skills and how to develop them.
As part of your degree you will likely come across the University of Exeter’s Skills to Succeed model, and your modules will have been mapped to different skills. This is a great starting point to help you identify some of the key skills you are developing as part of your studies. Now you need to think about how you will showcase your skills (from your degree and beyond) to employers. Let’s think about how we articulate our skills.
When tailoring your CV to a particular role, it’s important to align your experience with the skills an employer is looking for. Say your CV contained experience working in retail and you were applying for a role that required communication skills, rather than saying ‘serving customers’, you might say ‘communicating with a range of customers to ensure their needs were met, adjusting communication style to suit the situation’.
We have lots of resources on CVs, which can all be found on our ‘Help with CVs and applications’. We also run regular 1 hour workshops all about creating successful CVs and getting your skills across, you can book via Handshake.
One of the best ways to demonstrate your skills in application forms and interviews is to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique. This simple formula enables you to clearly demonstrate (show not tell) how and when you have used a particular skill effectively.
This Handshake resource outlines how to write a STAR example that can really stand out to an employer. You might also find it useful to explore the CVs and applications page.
Our ‘Effective Applications’ workshop (1 hour) is another great way to explore articulating your skills to employers, hearing from one of our Careers Advisers and often learning from other students too. This can be booked on Handshake.
Next Steps
As you understand, explore and develop your skills, you might find your career decisions evolve, this is completely normal! You might find it useful to attend careers fairs, employer talks or alumni panels to find out more about what skills look like in different settings.
Need more help? Contact the Career Zone.