Employability Skills: Importance and Development

This article discusses the importance of employability skills and provides insights on how to develop them. It covers the skills of positive attitude, communication, teamwork, self-management, willingness to learn, and thinking skills. The article also offers tips on how to showcase these skills during job interviews.

Employability Skills

Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
2.0 Skills..........................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Positive attitude.....................................................................................................................4
2.1.1 Pros about this skillset...............................................................................................5
2.1.2 Cons of not having this skillset..................................................................................5
2.1.3 In the Sandbox (Job Interview).................................................................................5
2.2 Communication......................................................................................................................5
2.2.1 Pros of having this Skill Set.......................................................................................6
2.2.2 Cons of not having this Skill Set...............................................................................6
2.2.3 In The Sandbox..........................................................................................................6
2.3 Teamwork..............................................................................................................................6
2.3.1 Pros of this skillset.....................................................................................................7
2.3.2 Cons of not having this skillset..................................................................................7
2.3.3 In The Sandbox..........................................................................................................7
2.4 Self-management...................................................................................................................7
2.4.1 Pros of this skillset.....................................................................................................8
2.4.2 Cons of not having this skillset..................................................................................8
2.4.3 In The Sandbox..........................................................................................................8
2.5 Willingness to learn..........................................................................................................8
2.5.1 Pros of this skillset.....................................................................................................9
2.5.2 Cons of not having this skillset..................................................................................9
2.5.3 In The Sandbox..........................................................................................................9
2.6 Thinking skills (problem solving and decision making)...................................................9
2.6.1 Pros of this skillset.....................................................................................................9

2.6.2 Cons of not having this skillset................................................................................10
2.6.3 In The Sandbox........................................................................................................10
3.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

1.0 Introduction
While recruiting employees for them, the company generally tests the people through multiple
characteristic of the person. But most of these are characteristics are general on any kind of
company. For an employee, it is a must to develop and maintain these characteristics because to
be able to get a job even if the technical abilities are not up to the mark, these characteristics can
easily help one to be hired. Technical abilities are obviously important but they act as a bonus on
the building blocks of the general skills.
2.0 Skills
The following are the capabilities and characteristics which an Employer looks for when
recruiting employees for their respective company.
Positive
Attitude CommunicationTeamwork
Willingness
To
Learn
Self
Management
Thinking Skills
Employee

2.1 Positive attitude
To be able to excel and enjoy the working environment in an office or any other workplace, one
must maintain a positive attitude throughout. Being positive doesn’t necessarily mean smiling all
the time, it means to think positively in a tight situation. To always search for solutions to
problems without giving up or being negative about it. (Bishop 2015).
2.1.1 Pros about this skillset
There are many pros about keeping a positive attitude in a workplace. To list a few,
 The employee stays in a relaxed mood
 Doesn’t panic easily
 Always has a positive vibe which is transferred to other employees as well and keeps the
workplace happy
I have a positive attitude in my sales job and try to persuade the customers to buy products that
would suit them. This positive attitude has helped me to be an motivated team player.
2.1.2 Cons of not having this skillset
Not having a positive attitude could severely affect an employee in many ways, and most of
these ways may cost their job. Not having a positive attitude may lead to frequent panic and tight
situations as well as moderate situations. The person becomes way more anxious which affects
the workflow. Working in a team becomes a problem, and usually leads to incomplete tasks or
tasks done blatantly. (Jones 2016).
2.1.3 In the Sandbox (Job Interview)
While preparing for an interview, one must prepare themselves to tackle any questions regarding
their flaws which they portray in their CV or Resume because the goal or aim of the employer or
recruiter is to not point out the flaws blatantly, but they see how the employee responds when

being questioned about their flaws or skill set. Therefore, being confident and maintaining a
positive attitude works wonders in these situations.
2.2 Communication
One of the most important, if not, the most important skill set which is common worldwide and
is expected in any employee is the skill of communication.. (Jones 2016).
As I am in sales business, it is important that my communication skills are good. My sales
executive career has very much dependent on my good communication and listening skills.
2.2.1 Pros of having this Skill Set
Communication has to be developed from the earlier stages of life, during their high
school/college life. It is not a skillset that can be achieved overnight. Therefore, for people
having this skillset developed have a huge advantage in the workplace.
 A person having the strength of communication can make people understand his/her
views properly,
 can understand the task given to them properly and work exactly according to the
instructions given to them.
2.2.2 Cons of not having this Skill Set
Companies seldom hire employees with poor communication skills, unless their technical skills
are very important. Having poor communication skills leads to a series of problems starting from
not being able to describe or get their point of view across. Situations may arise that the task
handed was completed but was not presented the way it should’ve due to lack of communication
skills therefore creating a bad impression amongst others. Working in a team becomes a problem
and mostly understanding the job/task given which leads to wastage of time unnecessarily and
the employee becomes a liability to the company.
2.2.3 In The Sandbox
For the interview, one should develop or practice communication if not already having them.
Reading books, newspapers, interacting with friends, colleagues, acquaintances help a lot.
Moreover, one has to practice being able to express their abilities, strengths and weaknesses to
the interviewer confidently. One should also prepare a mock set of questions that are generally
asked in interviews and hence prepare answers accordingly.

2.3 Teamwork
Teamwork is the second base skill set after communication that makes an employee shine in
their workplace. It is the ability to work with other colleagues to get the task in hand done. A
motivated team player I like being in spirits. Sales are tough job to go for. Not staying motivated
is not going to help in getting the job done.
2.3.1 Pros of this skillset
Companies are always ready to higher employees who are a team player, not only in the
employee level, but also in the executive level and it is the characteristic which the company
banks.
 The task provided to a team gets done easily and efficiently
 Helps to understand the strengths of one’s self as well as that of the other members
 There is an increase in the mutual respect amongst the employees and they develop a
friendly relation over time
 In case of a problem, such as the absence of a member in the team, his/her respective
work can be also divided amongst the members and hence the work can be completed
efficiently.
2.3.2 Cons of not having this skillset
This is another skillset, just like Communication, that an employer looks for while recruiting.
Over the span of the job, employees may be shifted to the other teams amongst unknown people
and not being able to adjust due to lack of this skill set can harm the role of the employee
immensely. One must take over the divided task amongst the team smartly and refuse taking up a
task that he/she is not comfortable or doesn’t have any idea about.
2.3.3 In The Sandbox
One must update their CV or Resume with performances in extracurricular activities such as
football team, debating team, etc. which can show that he/she is a team player as the employer
cannot be made to understand this skill verbally without proof of actual instances (de Haan
2016).

2.4 Self-management
Self-management is ow mentally stable can one keep themselves while working for a company.
It also includes the way one manages themselves, the way they dress for the job, time
management, not being clumsy in their workplace, not over doing or under doing a task provided
and how one takes care of themselves in a sticky or tight situation.
2.4.1 Pros of this skillset
Self-management is one of those skillset that indirectly nurture the characteristics of the
employee and gives a brief idea of how the person is or what his/her characteristics are or what
kind of vibe they put out to others. Having Self-management helps the employee,
 To get their work done in time’
 Manage their time well
 Dress elegantly which is fit to the company’s code of conduct (Suleman 2016).
2.4.2 Cons of not having this skillset
A person without Self-management is always clumsy in everything they do. Be it work,
communication, team work, etc. This makes the person unreliable and the company has to think
before handing a task to them because of poor self-management and clumsiness. Hence it
degrades the position of the employee in the company
As I have a strict duty there is more on self-management that I need to do. Sometimes I am not
able to deal with a greater volume of products which creates a pressure on me. Having to better
manage is going to help me a great deal.
Solution to this weakness is that I learn myself better and try to read the situations where I am
unable to cope. Careful observation is going to help me bring improvement in me.
2.4.3 In The Sandbox
While preparing for the interview, one must dress and prepare themselves elegantly. Dressing
right for the interview is very important as those are the first impressions made to the Employer.
 Willingness to learn.

2.5 Willingness to learn
No matter what job he/she is applying for, one must always have a willingness to learn. Most of
the time, after cracking the interview, at the start of the job, the employees are put through
training that helps them adapt to the code of conduct, objectives and milestones of the particular
company. Therefore, the employee is expected to have a willingness to learn. Even in the job,
improvising is what helps to get out of a tight situation. Jones 2016).
2.5.1 Pros of this skillset
Having the willingness to learn has the following advantages,
 One can improvise and work around any task that isn’t being solved conventionally
 Removes the monotonous standard of living as it helps the employee to learn new things
and explore
 Having a vast range of skill set can help the employee take over different tasks which are
unusual from the daily tasks hence removing the monotousity of the job (Gyllensten &
Palmer 2005).
2.5.2 Cons of not having this skillset
Life of the employee becomes very monotonous, the employee doesn’t have the will to explore
new things and is very anxious in taking up tasks that he/she is new to.
2.5.3 In The Sandbox
The employee should update their CV with unusual skills such as photo editing, video editing, or
even a course on any famous foreign language that boosts the CV attributes and increases the
chances of getting the job (Collet 2015).
2.6 Thinking skills (problem solving and decision making)
Thinking Out of the Box is a very important skill set one must develop to excel in the workplace.
Some problems legitimately require thinking out of the box, which is thinking otherwise the
regular conventional way of solving the particular task.
2.6.1 Pros of this skillset
Thinking skills have the following benefits:
 Most of the cases, the task is done in a shorter amount of time.

 Efficiency increases
 Helps the employee out of a situation where the task is stuck because of following a
certain conventional way
2.6.2 Cons of not having this skillset
Affects the employees task management skills and hence mentally affects the employee’s
confidence on the event of incomplete task. Also thinking unnecessarily can also be harmful as it
may take more time or even mess up the task by including complications (Hesk 2016).
2.6.3 In The Sandbox
In the interview, one should prepare for very logical and smart questions that are usually
unrelated to the job. Having the skill of improvising plays an important role here because it is
very difficult to prepare such questions. Reading through past experiences online or talking to
people who have taken interviews before can help the employee to mentally prepare for these
situations (Rottger 2017).
3.0 Conclusion
The above highlights some of the most important skills and attributes that an employee is
expected to have for an Employer’s perspective and how one can prepare for the interviews too.
At least having 5 out of 6 attributes is a must for anyone looking forward to a new job or
working in a new company. Employability skills can be defined as qualities and attributes that
must be possessed by an employee in order to have them have a better chance at being a
successful employee and have successful career with greater chance of absorption at the
interviews.
Employability skills are not a rigid concept and can be developed by adapting a number of
means. Some of the ways are having a positive attitude and getting the communications skills
right as well developing an action plan by which these developments can be monitored. Having
an action plan makes an employee realize the strength and weakness that is there in an employee
and how strength can be modified

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