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FR APS Unit 1.2 PDF 2

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17 views1 page

FR APS Unit 1.2 PDF 2

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j9xv6jwqqh
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Unit 1.

2
What Does ‘Employability’ Mean?

Employability refers to the skills, knowledge, behaviours and personal attributes that makes people more likely to gain
employment and be successful in their chosen field of work. Employability is not only about getting a job. It is about
developing the skills, attributes, behaviours and knowledge that make people more likely to gain employment and then do
well when they start working. The skills, knowledge, behaviours and personal attributes needed to be considered ‘employable’
include applied personal skills.

There is often a gap between the knowledge, skills and behaviours that graduates and school leavers have and what
employers are looking for. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘employability gap’. If employers don’t think that candidates
have the right ‘competencies’ – that’s the knowledge, skills and behaviours – then they will not see them as employable or will
be concerned that they will have to put the candidate through significant retraining to make them employable. By developing
the right blend of basic knowledge, technical skills and personal skills, individuals become more employable and the
‘employability gap’ closes. Employers believe that this gap is most obvious in the area of personal skills – sometimes called
‘employability skills’. These are the transferable skills that every employee needs. Personal skills (or employability skills)
include things like communication, teamworking, leadership, problem solving, critical thinking, professionalism and so on. If
you are able to develop and demonstrate these skills – alongside the technical skills that a job role might require – then you
will be much more employable.

What are the differences between technical skills and personal skills?

Technical skills are the skills, knowledge and expertise you need to carry out specific tasks within a particular role. For
example, you may need to use specific tools or know how to work particular types of equipment. Other examples of technical
skills include coding, web development, copywriting or speaking a foreign language.

Personal skills are the broad range of abilities, traits, and behaviours that individuals use in various aspects of their lives.
Examples of personal skills are interpersonal skills, communication skills, problem-solving abilities, adaptability, resilience and
empathy.

Let’s have a look at an example of how an employer talks about an employee from a written reference:

“Daniel joined our company in June. He already had a certificate in web development, which was useful because he could
help us with the launch of our new website. He showed us quickly that he was great at communicating with others in the
team. A few months after Daniel joined, when we decided to change the roles of people in the team, Daniel did not cope
with the change very well. He could not adapt well to the shift in roles and his work started to suffer. Unfortunately, his
work did not improve and he decided to leave the company”

This example demonstrates that the employee has strong technical skills, which got them the job. We can also see that the
employee has some strong personal skills, such as communication. However, he also demonstrated his lack of resilience and
adaptability, meaning that the quality of his work went down. This meant he became less employable because he could not
cope well with the changes his role demanded of him. This is an example of why combining strong technical skills and personal
skills is important when we think about employability.

Employability skills also map very closely to the skills you need to be an entrepreneur – so even if you want to start your own
business, you still need the same set of core employability skills that you do if you are applying for a job to work for someone
else.

www.getfieldready.com

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