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Employability Skills
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Employability Skills Employability skills are, put simply, the skills that people need to find and sustain employment. But defining what those skills actually are is a far more difficult task. When people talk about employability skills they might mean preparing for a first job or have in mind very precise lists of specific skills. Or they might see employability as a career-long learning process. The range of different definitions and the contexts in which they are used have great potential to cause confusion. Creating a definition The skills needed for employability can depend on many different factors such as job type, industry sector and career stage. This means that creating one universally relevant definition of employability skills is, for practical purposes, impossible. Some factors that can influence the definition of employability skills might include: * regional, national and international market trends * sector-specific skills * job-specific skills, * the type of job * stage of career * a multicultural population * changes in working practice and developments in technology * the perception of ‘employability skills’ from different stakeholders However, any definition of employability skills must reflect the mix of skills, attributes and behaviours necessary to find and sustain employment. What employers think Research carried out by LSN in 2008 in the United Kingdom found that: * Employers were primarily looking for young people coming into the workforce to be literate, numerate and able to communicate well. They also considered attitude important, and were seeking staff who would arrive promptly, show commitment and bring enthusiasm to their jobs. * During their first five years of employment, employers said they were prepared to invest in people to help them develop more sophisticated work-related skills. But very few appeared to be prepared to give a young candidate an entry-level job unless they had the basic skills outlined above. * The research seemed to suggest that a lack of communication, literacy and numeracy is a significant barrier to young people entering the workforce. It also suggested that employers regarded it as the responsibility of the state to fund and develop the basic skills required for employment. * However employers were prepared to fund activity to help people develop the work-related and professional skills needed for their businesses. They also strongly held the view that the acquisition of employability skills should be seen as a continuum of learning that supports job progression, not just entry into the workforce. Developing career-long employability skills The same research suggests that although employers have very clear ideas on the skills they think young people entering the workforce should possess, they do not expect them to be the ‘finished article’. After five years of employment, literacy, timekeeping, communication skills and enthusiasm and commitment remain critical. However, employers then also expect these candidates to hold a more sophisticated and often work-specific set of skills including personal presentation, team-working skills and problem-solving skills. One finding of the research was that many employers would prefer to recruit an employee aged over 50 who lacks the generic skills (such as ICT) but has good vocational skills, rather than a more inexperienced recent school or college leaver. Given the choice, 58 per cent of employers would select a candidate who is over 50. Employability skills and the Further Education sector In recent years, and especially after the Leitch Review of Skills in 2006 (a government-commissioned report into the skills mix that the UK workforce would require over the next 15 years and beyond) there has been a policy shift encouraging employers and the further education system to work closely together. However the LSN research found that the majority of employers are currently working neither with their local college nor with a government skills agency to develop the skills of their workforce. References: * *Ibid. p. 3 See Also
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