About Employability Skills

What can they be defined as?

Employability Skills can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them employable.

Employability depends on your knowledge, skills attributes and attitudes, how you use those assets and how you present them to potential employers.

The following have been defined by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as employability skills that employers are looking for, in addition to high levels of formal academic achievement:

Self-management - Professionalism, Resilience, Time management

Teamwork - Collaboration, Goal setting, Reliability, trust & respect

Business and customer awareness - Big picture of business, Customer care, Cultures, values & beliefs

Problem-solving - Logical & systematic approach, Reasoning, Decisiveness

Communication and literacy - Speaking & Listening, Reading, Writing

Application of number - Good numeracy skills in workplace settings, Practical applications, Budgeting & finance

Application of digital technologies - Safeguarding, security & IT Management, Awareness of the digital age & its use in different sectors, Application of ICT

There is an additional “unwritten skill” that you need to be able to demonstrate the skill of presenting and promoting yourself well in an interview.