Academic and Employability Skills

This report discusses the importance of developing academic and employability skills for success in college and professional career. It explores how a graduate course can help in developing various skills and abilities.

Academic and
Employability Skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Reflective easy........................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
For the individuals it is important to have various skills as with the help of such skills they can
deal with various situations that might arise before them. Employability skills so gathered enable
to perform better in their profession and to accomplish their targets (Trought, 2017). Various
such skills include time management, efficiency in communication, thinking and problem
solving ability, self management, collaborative working and many more. An individual learns
various such skills through their academic courses as while undertaking such courses they
participate in various extracurricular activities which develop such skills in them. The skills so
possessed by individuals ensure that they have capability and abilities to manage the situations as
with this they can make efficient decisions. Before recruiting a student all their employment
skills are analysed by the recruiter so that they can determine their skills, knowledge and abilities
of performing better for the particular job. In this report a reflection is written on the academics
and employability skills which are developed by a student while undertaking the graduate course.
Also it is discussed that how this course enabled him in developing various employability skills
so that they can perform better in their profession.
MAIN BODY
Reflective easy
Skills are not necessary just to get the job or for getting good marks but they improves the
personality of an individual as it develops confidence in them that they can perform a particular
task which require that particular skill. When I was into my graduation course I realised that it is
not that easy to sustain in any course or profession without any significant capabilities and skills
which motivated to develop various skills so that I can perform better in college as well as in my
professional career. The academic skills takes you to the next level as with the help of this, the
personality of the individual is groomed and their ability of undertaking any task can increases
(Munir, 2013). The university course enabled me in developing detailed conceptual
understanding of the course content that can help in understanding the situation, its impact and
consequences. On the basis of this I could take efficient decisions for reducing the impact of
such situations. Apart from this conceptual understanding, various skills are developed while
undertaking this course such as critical thinking, academic writing, academic integrity, digital
skills, verbal and non-verbal communications skills, employability skills etc. My course of study

under graduation was Bachelors in Business Management which was quite very interesting as in
this all the subjects were related with the business and organisations management which provides
the practical understanding of the problems and various scenarios that are actually faced by the
organisations. In addition to this, the course enables me to understand how the strategies are
formulated and developed by taking into considerations a wide range of factors. Learning of all
these factors has direct impact on my ability of performing better in my professional career. Due
to this I was so very sincere in my studies and use to put extra efforts so that I can develop better
skills that will make me competitive over others (Kalfa and Taksa, 2015).
The academic course of graduation is so very helpful for me as with the help of this I could
develop knowledge and understanding of how a organisation operations, what all are the crucial
aspects of the business, which skills will be required and how can one efficiently execute their
role. This developed various academic skills such as time management, reading the information
and understanding them, writing skills, note making skills and many more. When I was in
college we use to have our classes for eight hours a day and in the remaining timing I had to
complete all my home assignments so that I can present them before the professor next day and
for this I had to efficiently utilise my time for all the activities. I use to draft a time schedule for
undertaking different activities as per the work load of the university which developed a habit of
managing the time throughout (Cameron, 2016). For completing the assignments I had to go
through various books, magazines and websites of the company due to which a skill of reading
and understanding was developed as I had to read a lot of content and need to understand the
applicability of such concepts in the assignment case. Reading more and more books also
enabled me in having better and clear understanding of various models, theories and concepts.
They are practically so very useful for me to perform better as their understanding enables me to
relate the situation and apply various such models, theories and concepts to the situation and
manage them well. The writing skills and note making skills was developed in me as I use to
prepare notes with the lessons and material so used by the professors. This used to help me
completing the assignments and revising the concepts at the time examinations (Hicks, 2014).
The skills of eassy writing and note making is useful in better performance as with the help of
this an employees can note down all the impact so analysed, factors that are getting affected due
to any prevailing situation etc. Noting town enables me in establishing the cause and effect
relationship among all of them with which the issues can easily be resolved. Also it facilitated

me in writing various reports and mails as I have habit of writing in lesser words but the
complete information which is easily understandable to each and everyone.
Apart from the academic activities I use to participate in various extracurricular activities in
the college campus which are so very crucial for the development of the personality of the
students (Bérubé, 2016). I was in the chess team of the university and this game develops very
important skills that are patience. To handle any conflict within the workplace and in personal
life this skill is so very crucial as with the help of this I could easily understand the root cause of
the problem and then take any decision so that appropriate decision which is favourable for all is
taken. Various employability skills were developed when I was pursuing this course such as
teamwork skills, problem solving skills, planning and organising skills, communication skills,
interpretation skills, technological skills and lifelong learning skills (Rao, 2015). This is because
was so very active in all the activities which were organised within the university premises. I
took part in the debates, mock plays, sessions; drama etc. and this develop a significant level of
confident. With the help of participation in the debate, mock role plays my communication skills
improved as I had to speak in front of everyone, need to interact with others also it enabled me
getting over my stage fear. These two skills are so very important in professional life as with this
I can give my presentation efficiently in front of so many people and can represent myself, my
abilities and my opinions. Further working on the assignments in the teams developed skill of
team work which make me understand the importance of working with collaboration and due to
this the reasons for which the conflicts arise among team members and how can they be
resolved can easily be identified. With the help of my better teamwork skills I can keep up my
keeps ready to perform all the tasks efficiently and speedily so that the progress can be made I
the projects so undertaken at the workplace (Cacciatori, 2012). One of my professor had a faith
in me that I have ability to do better professionally due to which he suggested me various books
which I must read and recommended so many case studies to go through as they can develop
analytical skills. I followed his guidance and solved various case studies due to which my
interpretation skills, problem solving skills improved as the case studies enabled me to have a
greater vision to understand the problems and to establish cause and affect relationships among
different variables. Due to this, the management of my company decided that I need to work with
the grievance handling committee of the company which is a fruitful opportunity for a better
growth. The company in which I am working deals with software development and I am in the

marketing department of company. As and when any change takes place within the software and
the related services I asked my engineering friends working in the same company to let me know
the basic of the changes as with the help of this I can analyse the trends that are taking place.
Also it enables me to formulate better strategies because I have better understanding of our
offerings. This skill of continuous learning offers me better understanding of the changes that are
taking place and this opens up the opportunities for me within the company and outside the
company (Bukor, 2015).
With the help of this course I could significantly learn so many employability skills,
understanding of various concepts etc. which has helped me in perfuming my job role efficiently.
For writing this reflection I have taken into consideration the Gibb’s reflective cycle as with the
help of this I could clear and precisely analyse my past experiences (Swain, 2016). This cycle
offers various stages with the help of which I could analyse the impact of the situation on the
performance and in determining the actions which can be taken. With this I could describe all my
activities along with how do I feel at that time. This enabled to undertake an evaluation and
analysis of such feelings and its impact on my performance was determined. On the basis of this
I could determine the areas where I need to improve so that my performance can be improved.
Due to more involvement in the studies I didn’t focussed upon making friends and social group,
this is something I realised with the help of this reflection. The social group has significant
importance in the life of any person as with the help of this I can relieve my stress, can share the
problem I have been facing, can go out with them so that a change can felt from the same
schedule which brings positivity in the performance and many more. To overcome with this I try
to establish connection with school friends and some of the college friends along with some
colleagues. This will facilitate me to polish my existing skills and in enhancing my ability to
perform better because with this my stress level will go down and will feel relaxed due to which
I could focus better on my job. In being successful in my professional career the academic skills
and learnings from the graduation course played crucial role as at that stage I learnt a lot
specifically for the improving the employability as well for improving my personality by
developing self confidence.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that the skills, abilities and capabilities of an individual
enables them to be successful as with the help of this they can undertake various tasks
efficiently. A student gains knowledge from the university or college where they study and then
apply such learning in their practical life which facilitates them to be successful. Various
employability skills such as teamwork skills, planning and organising skills, problem solving
skills and lifelong learning skills are developed among the students which make them capable of
making necessary effective decisions by analysing the situations in a better way. This also
reflects that it is important for an individual to have sufficient understanding of various theories,
concepts and models so that the prevailing situations can be managed.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Bérubé, S., Mouillard, F., Amesse, C. & Sultan, S. 2016, "Motivational techniques to improve
self-care in hemophilia: the need to support autonomy in children", BMC
pediatrics,vol. 16, pp. 4.
Bukor, E., 2015. Exploring teacher identity from a holistic perspective: Reconstructing and
reconnecting personal and professional selves. Teachers and teaching.21(3). pp.305-
327
Cacciatori, E. 2012, "Resolving Conflict in Problem?Solving: Systems of Artefacts in the
Development of New Routines",Journal of Management Studies, vol. 49, no. 8, pp.
1559-1585.
Cameron, C.E. And et. al., 2016. How are motor skills linked to children's school performance
and academic achievement?. Child Development Perspectives .10(2). pp.93-98.
Hicks, P.J. And et. al,2014. Domain of competence: personal and professional
development. Academic pediatrics.14(2). pp.S80-S97.
Kalfa, S. and Taksa, L., 2015. Cultural capital in business higher education: reconsidering the
graduate attributes movement and the focus on employability. Studies in Higher
Education .40(4). pp.580-595.
Munir, F., Kalawsky, K., Wallis, D.J. & Donaldson-Feilder, E. 2013, "Using intervention
mapping to develop a work-related guidance tool for those affected by cancer", BMC
public health, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 6-6.
Rao, M.S., 2015. Step by step to soft-skills training: How to enhance employability skills in
students. Human Resource Management International Digest .23(6). pp.34-36.
Swain, J., 2016. The effect of Phase One training on young recruits' personal and professional
development in the British army.Journal of Youth Studies.19(1). pp.117-132.
Trought, F., 2017. Brilliant employability skills: How to stand out from the crowd in the
graduate job market. Pearson UK.