Transferrable Skills
Adaptability and Flexibility
Changing or modifying behaviour in response to the needs, wishes or demands of others’. – Year abroad or independent travel abroad. – Working part-time whilst studying. – Taking on different roles and responsibilities. – Combining study with personal commitments. Shift work, working at short notice. – Moving from home to university. – Becoming an integral part of a company during work experience (e.g. fitting in with team and forming working relationships, accommodating a different set of expectations, following expected conventions).
IT
Using speech to express ideas, give information, or explanations, in a way that is easily understood by others who are unfamiliar with the topic. Work experience (e.g. bar work, retail, telesales, or fast food assistant. Customer relations work (e.g. involving listening and understanding needs, explaining, persuading…) Presentations/Explaining research to those without specialist knowledge. – Course or hall representative. Being a mentor in schools or your department. Group work on degree course or elective (e.g. articulating ideas, group discussions, supporting your position with logic).
Planning and organisation
Working out how to schedule available resources and activities in order to meet an objective’. Managing and prioritising your personal workload (time management). Organising social, sporting or charity events. Arranging travel itinerary (e.g. inter-railing or a gap year). Organising work experience. Travel abroad. Event management experience (e.g. customer liaison, co-ordination of bookings, organising equipment, planning advertisements and working to tight deadlines)
Commercial awareness
Demonstrating a logical career path. Awareness of your skills and interests. Logical choice of modules/work experience. Linking the benefits of a gap year to your applications.
Leadership
Possessing the quality of character and personality to gain the confidence of and lead others’. Team Sports. Club or student society (e.g. motivating by taking a lead in problem-solving, clarifying tasks and facilitating). Coaching and mentoring. Generate new ideas (e.g. developing new practices during work experience). Incidences demonstrating a dominant, but supportive and positive role.
Problem Solving
Devising and then using an appropriate method, rule, technique or logic in order to find a solution to a problem’. Creative solutions to coursework problems. Leisure activities (e.g. chess, logic games, computing or role-playing). Overcoming obstacles to achieve an ambition. Working in a customer environment and dealing with complaints. Research skills. Particular achievements during a work placement (e.g. devising new working practices to improve efficiency, information systems development, database management, diagnosing and rectifying faults.
Decision making
Identifying options, gathering information about their suitability, and then systematically using this to choose the best option’. Degree elective choices. Achievement of work/study balance. Choice of project or dissertation. Career planning and preparation. Deciding on the most appropriate course of action to solve a problem or meet an objective during work experience.
Negotiation
Possessing the quality of character and personality to gain the confidence of and lead others’. Team Sports. Club or student society (e.g. motivating by taking a lead in problem-solving, clarifying tasks and facilitating). Coaching and mentoring. Generate new ideas (e.g. developing new practices during work experience). Incidences demonstrating a dominant, but supportive and positive role.
Self Awareness
Demonstrating a logical career path Awareness of your skills and interests Logical choice of modules/work experience Linking the benefits of a gap year to your applications
Initiative
Acting before prompted by others or taking a fresh approach’. Suggesting changes to the course rep. Starting your own business. Getting relevant work experience or sponsorship. Starting a new student group/organising a squash league. Creating your own website. Voluntary work. Coping well in a sudden crisis. Working independently during a work experience placement to fulfil objectives.
Networking
Interacting with others to exchange information and develop useful contacts’. Speculative approaches for work experience and advice. Making and maintaining useful contacts. Attending employer events and fairs and asking questions. Forming working relationships during work experience. Generating contacts during meetings, trade events or exhibitions.
Team Working
Interacting and co-operating with a group of people. It involves hands-on working together, as well as processes of organisational planning, decision-making and development.’ Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Team sports/outdoor pursuits. Opting for group project work. Work experience (e.g. negotiating with others to achieve an agreed objective, motivating and supporting other team members, improving working relations, resolving disputes by bringing together differing opinions). Organising an event with club/society members.
Interpersonal Communication
Using speech to express ideas, give information, or explanations, in a way that is easily understood by others who are unfamiliar with the topic. Work experience (e.g. bar work, retail, telesales, or fast food assistant. Customer relations work (e.g. involving listening and understanding needs, explaining, persuading…) Presentations/Explaining research to those without specialist knowledge. – Course or hall representative. Being a mentor in schools or your department. Group work on degree course or elective (e.g. articulating ideas, group discussions, supporting your position with logic).
Numeracy
Understanding and using facts or ideas expressed in numbers, graphs or simple equations’. Work experience in a job involving significant use of numbers (e.g. accountancy, processing invoices, book-keeping or accounts software). Treasurer of a committee. Budgeting (student flat). Handling cash, balancing till receipts, and making monetary calculations. Reading the financial press (track a company or industry that interests you).
Written Communication
Producing grammatical, well expressed, easily understood and interesting text about topics that may be unfamiliar to the reader.’ Secretary of student society. Articles for Student and other newspapers. Publicity materials for a voluntary organisation (paper-based or electrical). Letters to raise sponsorship for an event. Essays, dissertations, project report, publishing papers. Writing an account of a work placement.