7 Effective Skills To Improve Your Employability

7 Effective Skills To Improve Your Employability

by GT Scholars What's new?

Obtaining a degree and having a qualification behind your name is no longer enough to guarantee you the job you were dreaming about. In fact, with each year that passes by, the job market becomes increasingly competitive as new graduates from various universities and institutions enter the workforce. 

To sift through the huge amount of graduate applicants, employers now have to look beyond your education history. They also want to ensure that their potential employee possesses all of the necessary and sufficient skills to work for their company and with their team. This means that having good employability skills will increase the prospect of you getting the job that you want while also increasing your self-worth and reputation.

Employers look for a range of skills in each employer, with some skills more suited for specific careers. However there are general skills that most employers will look for, so if you are looking to enhance your employability, consider working on these 7 simple but effective skills:

Technology Skills
The digital age demands good technology and computer skills, no matter which career field you’re in. Basic computer skills are a general requirement in any workforce environment and it increases your efficiency in the workplace which many employers are looking for. Learning these computer skills is also quite a simple task as there are many free online and offline computer literacy and coding courses available today. You can also extend your knowledge of technology and learn new technical skills by subscribing to technical magazines or watching technical videos. This can also give you a useful perspective on various technical insights and innovations that you can apply to your career and personal life.

Communication Skills
In any working environment, you will be working with people, whether in a team or interacting with clients or customers. One of the most important skills to have when it comes to working with people is communication skills. Good communication skills allow you to get your points and ideas across easily and effectively, which makes it easier for your employer, colleagues or clients to understand you. You can easily improve your communication skills by joining public speaking forums such as a debate group or society. Beyond public speaking, you can work on recording and assessing yourself, looking out for things like body language, too many ‘um’s’ or inaudible words or other things you can improve on.

Networking Skills
The art and science of building authentic relationships are very useful to fast track your journey to success. Networking offers both you and the company you work for valuable ways to develop meaningful business relationships that can be leveraged for greater success. It’s often true when they say “it’s not about what you know, but who you know” as networking can open up many doors for you at any stage of your career path. You can develop networking skills by getting involved in charitable organisations, attending career fairs and being part of youth board or committees. You can also research your career field and job market to ensure that you stay on top of your what’s happening in your career field and get insider information about what a certain profession or career field will demand of you.

Teamwork Skills
A majority of your time spent in the workplace will be working with and interacting with your colleagues in a team setting. Even if you work solely on a specific task or as a specific role, you will still interact with other people in the company to effectively complete each project. At the end of the day, a company is basically a team as well, so this is why it is important that you have sufficient teamwork skills. The best way to learn teamwork skills is to join a sports team, dance class or music or choir group. Volunteering also offers many ways to build solid teamwork skills while also building your experience and other skills. 

Organisational Skills
Good organisational skills mould you into becoming more proficient, reliable and punctual, which are all values that any employer would seek out for. Companies need to run properly like a well-oiled machine, so employers will avoid any sense of disorder or unreliability. This is why you need to ensure that you build your organisational skills now so that you will be effective and valued in your workplace. Many young people will find building organisational skills to be challenging, especially if you learn in a more sporadic and spontaneous manner. One way you can counteract this is to make organising and planning fun, for example, you can take the opportunity to plan a trip or an event with your family or friends. This will test and improve your ability to plan and carry out activities effectively.

Self-Motivation
Together with teamwork, an employer also wants to see that you are able to work well independently. Independent working takes self-motivation and the willingness to take initiative, and without this, many tasks cannot be accomplished properly. The best way to improve your self-motivation is to boost your self-confidence. This can be done by taking the opportunity to learn independently and setting personal goals and coming up with strategies to achieve them. You can also learn to take more initiative by getting involved in community service and social activism, which also has the added benefit of exposing you to real-world situations and learning valuable skills.

Adaptability
The only constant thing is change, and this applies to the workplace as well. Being able to adapt to change and being flexible allows you to think quickly on your feet and to work well under pressure. Employers look out for this and they ensure that you are open to change and able to adapt with a positive mindset and a desire to learn. You can learn to be adaptable by exposing yourself to new and fast-changing situations such as working for a voluntary organisation or signing up for work experience programmes. You can also develop your creative skills which will expand your learning and thought processes so that you are able to come up with creative solutions, especially under pressure. 

These employability skills will help you to be successful in any profession while also making building your CV and experience to open up many more doors on the pathway to your dream career. 

GT Scholars runs enrichment and skill-building programmes that help you to develop these and many more employability skills. Our programmes also include tutoring and mentoring for young people aged 11-18. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.

Communication tips for volunteer tutors and mentors

Communication tips for volunteer tutors and mentors

by GT Scholars Volunteers What's new?

Good communication is usually taken for granted in environments where adults work together since there is the assumption that everyone has the necessary communication skills to interact with people on a daily basis. However, when engaging with young people, one needs to pay close attention to good communication as it is an essential part of ensuring successful outcomes for them.

Good communication is central to working with young people as it fosters trust, and trust is necessary for building and maintaining relationships with them. This will allow them to reach their full potential as they will feel supported because they trust that you have their best interests at heart. So understanding what good communication involves is essential when working with young people.

Good communication is an active process
This entails being responsive and engaging when working with young people. More specifically, good communication requires active listening. Active listening is responding to cues while restating and drawing out the meaning of what the person is saying, combined with the expression of warmth, empathy and acceptance. Being responsive and making an effort to understand what the young person is communicating results in the young person becoming more confident as they feel that their thoughts and feelings have value.

Good communication does not just refer to the words we use
Good communication also refers to how we say things as the tone in which something is said can sometimes communicate more to a young person than the words that were used. There are also several forms of communication such as visual communication, body language, and sign language. The responsibility lies with the volunteer to identify which form of communication the young person is most receptive to. This will ensure that they understand the tasks they are given.
It is also important to note that the young person’s preferred form of communication may be influenced by personal factors such as culture or language. It is key that volunteers take the young person’s context into consideration when identifying the best form of communication for them, and be able to adapt communication styles as necessary.

Good communication involves being non-judgemental and approachable
It is important to be aware of how our attitude can affect young people. One should be supportive and reaffirming when communicating so that the young person does not feel judged and become closed-off or difficult to communicate with. When a young person feels comfortable, they are more likely to express themselves. In order to create an environment where the young person can openly communicate, a volunteer can use open questions. Open questions are a great communication tool as they encourage the young person to open up since they do not require definitive yes or no answers. Open questions encourage the young person to discuss their answer instead of giving one worded answers, and this helps develop good communication. You can learn more about open questions here.

Consider what stage of development the young person is in
To be able to develop communication styles and work strategies that encourage the young person’s participation, it is necessary to be aware of the needs of the young person. For example, if a young person is at risk of under-achievement, it is important to use language that does not intimidate the learner or make it seem that it is impossible for them to achieve their academic goals.
Conversely, if the young person has been working well and their levels of understanding are improving, the volunteer must communicate with them in a way that reflects that they recognise the improvements that the young person is making. This encourages good communication and helps develop the young person’s confidence when engaging with their work, as they will be able to recognise that they are making improvements and that they are capable.

Be aware of the barriers to good communication
There may be barriers to good communication which often discourages the young person from wanting to communicate. Firstly, ordering a young person to do something discourages communication. This is because young people do not like feeling as though they have no choice in the decisions involving them. A better way would be to discuss options with the young person or explain why they need to do something. This allows them to feel like their opinion matters and develops their self-confidence, which can foster good communication in the long term.
Another barrier to good communication is speaking with a threatening tone. An example of this would be saying something like: “If you keep doing this, you will fail the year” or “You better do this or else that will happen”. Communicating this way is negative and very discouraging for the young person which decreases their confidence in their abilities. So it is important to remember to use reaffirming and encouraging language that motivates the young person to keep working hard.

Your communication skills can influence how the young person will continue to communicate going into their future. Good communication with young people can help develop their self-confidence, which goes a long way in developing a positive attitude. So it is important for the volunteer to always be aware of how they communicate with young people by adopting and adapting the appropriate communication style for each young person they work with.

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity. We run after-school and weekend programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations. Our programmes include tutoring, mentoring and enrichment sessions for young people aged 11-18. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.

7 Reasons Why State School Pupils are Still Not Getting into High-Income Careers

7 Reasons Why State School Pupils are Still Not Getting into High-Income Careers

by GT Scholars Educational inequality Narrowing the gap Parents Social mobility What's new?

There is still an increasing trend of educational inequality that affects young talent attempting to enter into the job market. A recent study from the Social Mobility Commission concluded that young people from more advantaged socio-economic backgrounds, including those who’ve attended private school, are more likely to be in top jobs. 

What is the root cause of the increase in this trend and what can society do to prevent us from slipping back into an age of educational oppression?  

Here are a few reasons as to why privately-educated pupils are getting the benefit of the doubt when going head to head with a state-schooled pupil:

  1. Untimely graduation – Few state school pupils who make it to college complete their studies on time. Pupils from low-income backgrounds may have access to grants for tuition, but they still have to make provision for living expenses. Many pupils cannot afford to study and work part-time and they end up being forced to seek full-time employment. Of course, there is the argument that working and learning at the same time can result in better education and stronger career prospects and future options, especially when working in jobs related to subjects studied, however, working too much can reduce completion rates for low-income and first-generation college pupils. A spokesperson for The National Union of Teachers said their report “gives a sombre warning to Government that unless investment and the correct interventions are in place, the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers will continue”.
  2. Career threshold – Most employers have strict recruitment procedures that ensure all aspects of a new job application is covered. When considering job applications from new candidates, they look at educational background including the school attended, academic attainment and the university attended. What they fail to realise is the fact that ticking these boxes is not an accurate prediction of the applicant’s strength. A more adept way to interview would be to focus on non-academic factors such as articulacy, assertiveness and other important soft skills. Employers that access a wider pool of diverse talent will provide real benefits for employees and the business alike.
  3. Not enough equivalent experience – When employers refer to equivalent experience in a job posting, they could be referring to experience as a substitute for not having the educational requirements or they could be referring to unpaid experience, such as volunteer work or an internship. Most state pupils are obviously not able to meet this requirement due to time or financial constraints that prevent them from taking on volunteer work or unpaid internships.
  4. Incorrect business destination and intent – Many employers have the incorrect focal point when it comes to success. Their considerations lean more towards prioritisation of tasks and general commerce when they should rather be paying more attention to what individuals can attribute to their overall financial growth. Employers should be looking to employ people who are going to complement the community that they are trying to build. The graduates who clearly articulate their interests, goals and aspirations are often overlooked because of their lower percentage performance in university or due to a lack of educational prestige.
  5. Restricted personal development –  Young people from advantaged backgrounds are more likely to be extroverts and have substantially higher economic aspirations since private schools have the resources to work on personal development. On the other hand, state schools don’t focus on personal development enough, and their pupils are not able to develop self-confidence or high career aspirations.
  6. Budget deficits – With the entire world moving into a technology-based environment, it is becoming clear that tech-savvy thinking is one of the things that employers are looking for. Unfortunately, state schools are lacking behind in this area, especially when it comes to the use of tech devices in class. Pupils cannot afford their own devices and unless there is some sort of independent funding along the way, the schools are also not able to provide this for all pupils.  This suppresses the learning potential of the pupils and they will not be able to develop the necessary skills to keep up with the changing working world.
  7. Educator challenges –  State schools employ a disproportionate share of teachers, relative to the number of pupils they educate, with class sizes being far too high for one teacher to handle. This creates many challenges for individual educators such as learner performance and disciplinary problems. Learner performance is affected there is less time for the educator to give individual attention. Learners attention is also affected as classrooms tend to be more noisy and disruptive during lessons. Furthermore, the educator’s time management is affected as they do not have the time to attend to test papers and assignments with as much detail, so they often overlook vital areas where improvement may be needed.

Even though pupils are facing these challenges based on inequality and the lack of adaptability by many employers, they should not be discouraged.  Young people entering the job market should assess what they can offer and why they can be an asset to their potential employer. They should include their best qualities in a personal cover letter when applying and focus on their unique credentials and skills.

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity. We run after-school and weekend programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations. Our programmes include tutoring, mentoring and enrichment sessions for young people aged 11-18. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.