Skills for Higher Education: Academic Success and Workplace Readiness

This essay explores the essential skills that students need to thrive in university and how these skills translate into the workplace. It emphasizes the importance of adaptability, teamwork, communication, leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities. The essay also provides practical advice on how students can enhance their curriculum vitae (CV) through volunteering, acquiring new skills, gaining hands-on experience, leveraging social media, seeking part-time jobs, and taking on leadership roles. It highlights the increasing recognition of soft skills development in educational institutions and the need for university graduates to develop these skills to improve their career prospects and overall success. The document concludes that skills are crucial for personal and professional growth and encourages students to continuously work on enhancing these skills to make their CVs more appealing to potential employers. Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students.

Skills for Higher
Education

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

INTRODUCTION
Acquiring study skills is essential because they will assist a person succeed in university as
well as in life. Effective study skills may enhance a person's confidence, competency, and
personality. Exam and timeline pressure can also be alleviated with them. By developing great
study skills, an individual may be able to minimize the time spent preparing, giving a boost for
other things in their life (Wagenaar, 2018). Learning strategies can help a person's ability to learn
and apply knowledge. Learners who utilise effective study strategies may believe that their effort
and time are being put to better use.
Despite the competitive spirit of the job market, having a degree can help students get
higher-paying graduate jobs. This is because university-acquired skills are regarded as
transferable talents, and employers value them in the workplace. The purpose of this essay is to
highlight skills that students need in order to thrive at university and to demonstrate why they are
also important in the workplace. Furthermore, the article seeks to give recommendations that
might help students improve the content of their Curriculum vitae.
MAIN BODY
Learning as well as life skills are a set of basic rules that may be learnt or acquired via real-
life experiences. They're important because they have a positive influence on people's lives.
Many of these characteristics are required for success in the twenty-first generation, not only for
a healthy community, but also for successful people. As a consequence, it's important to start
teaching them skills at an early age. Critical thinking, creative art and crafts, decision-making,
problem-solving, collaboration and communication skills, as well as a sense of individual and
interpersonal responsibility to promote excellent citizenship, are all elements of required Skill.
Individuals require skills because they aid in the development of themselves and their jobs,
which results in a greater performance. Students must have a diverse set of skills in order to
succeed in university (Cullen, 2017). A few of them are discussed in further depth, as well as
their application in the workplace. Adaptability is the first talent, and it is a vital trait since it
helps us to be more adaptable in our regular living. The world is constantly changing, and it is
upon you to keep up. Take note that your capacity to adapt to changing circumstances guarantees
that you are always prepared to accomplish and thrive, regardless of what life throws at you.
Keep in mind that no matter how well things have been going in your life, there will always be

challenges. As a result, this simply implies that you should be aware of when to take risks and
remain well-informed as well as acknowledged at all times.
Teamwork is the second skill. Every university student must understand the importance of
teamwork since it helps them to work in both virtual and physical groups. It includes leadership
values, empathy, and collaboration. Teamwork fluency is important to have because it helps you
to operate as effectively and smoothly someone from the other part of the divide as you would be
with somewhere across the room. Teamwork and collaboration benefit students in different
ways. In fact, it is one of the most crucial interpersonal skills that all college students should
master (Kazaishvili, 2019). It's also beneficial in the workplace, as teams are required to
collaborate often. In conclusion, working in groups is important in this digital realm.
Communication is the third skill. Interaction has gone beyond face-to-face contact in the
technological environment. Many people currently communicate using technologies, unlike in
the past. Whatever medium we choose to meet, we need to master some skills in order to
communicate more effectively. Learning communication skills may lead to improved
interpersonal strategies, more efficiency, and less worry. Students can only work together to
come up with good interpretations for the problems we face if they have a strong relationship.
This is also true in the workplace.
Finally, there is the ability to lead. Leadership has long been regarded as one of the most
valuable soft skills that, when used properly, can make a significant difference in the lives of
many pupils. It's all about identifying people's great abilities and advising them on how to best
use them to their advantage (Hastings and Rasmussen, 2021). It had accelerated the pace, as well
as motivating and empowering others. In each sector and in any classroom, proactive leaders are
integral components. As there is more than managers or delegators, leaders get more information
and do more. Leadership isn't only about fixing issues; it's also about having the right kind of
drive and ability to lead large-scale transformations. Finally, there's critical thinking. Many who
wish to better their exterior position in the future must be able to make informed as well as
effective decisions. Working in a creative, ethical, and self-sufficient way should be the goal.
Everyone and everything is influenced by the way we look and behave (Tsang, 2018). Critical
thinking appears to have been a component of many cultural ideas for millennia. Indeed, it has a
tremendous influence on how the world, persons, and even fate are defined. As a result, our

attitudes toward one another, ourselves, and the global society have ramifications beyond our
own lives.
Finally, problem-solving abilities. This is one of the most essential soft talents to have. You
must be able to solve significant challenges utilising a methodical approach in order to live and
prosper in the coming generations. Every student may utilise problem-solving abilities to achieve
everything from their biggest ambitions to simply developing and writing a shopping list.
Generations to come will require problem-solving skills to help them overcome yet-to-be-
discovered difficulties (Abreu, 2020). It is self-evident that they will confront challenges. As a
result, it's important to learn to detect issues, create an effective solution, and put it into practice.
Educational institutions are progressively realising the importance of soft skills development
in their curricula. This is due to the fact that today's children are still educated how to perform
science experiments, evaluate formulas, and attend lectures. Skills are important because they
enable students to respond to the failures and challenges that they will experience as adulthood,
as well as the responsibilities of the workplace (Chrisinger, 2019). Students can learn, live, and
work more efficiently with the help of soft skills. University graduates must develop the skills
listed above in order to increase productivity and success in their lives and careers for long
period of time.
In today's professional work environment, getting your chosen job with simply decent
grades is difficult. You'll need to put in some extra effort to make yourself shine out through the
throng. While you may not be able to find work as a foreign students without a work visa, there
are many other ways to improve your CV through your education. A curriculum vitae (CV) is a
short document that helps you to highlight your best skills to a prospective employer. It
highlights your skills and experience while also proving that you are the ideal applicant for the
job. Making a good first impact is critical in today’s modern professional work environment
(Kovacevic, 2019). These six tips, which will be discussed in further detail, will undoubtedly
improve your CV and get you one inch ahead to landing your ideal job.
Become engaged in volunteering activities first and foremost. Volunteering not only
provides valuable experience, but it also enhances your CV. By promoting an agenda unrelated
to your desired job, you get valuable perspective and indicate that you concern about improving

the quality of life. Volunteer opportunities are usually advertised on the internet sites of most
organisations, so look them up and get interested.
Second, select a better talent to learn. Maximize the most of your downtime by acquiring a
valuable skill that will help you stand out on your CV. Take a writing course, brush up on your
InDesign abilities, or know how to create a webpage (Alagu and Thanuskodi, 2018). Take use of
your discount code to extend your skills and save money on these programs, which are regularly
offered by your university and are significantly less expensive than they would be elsewhere.
Finally, gain some hands-on expertise. Many companies offer students temporary apprenticeship
assignments to give them an insight into how they operate on a daily basis. Inquire with the firm
if they would be willing to engage you a week or so. Whereas these positions are typically
unpaid, you will get valuable experience, interact industry professionals, and show potential
employers that you are committed about the future career you have pursued.
Fourth, be active on social media. Understanding how to use social networking sites is
becoming increasingly important, and businesses make a significant impact on it. Construct a
strong online presence across multiple platforms and also include references of your profiles in
your CV so that potential employers can discover further about your interests and social media
skills. Make absolutely sure your profiles don't contain anything you do not want your supervisor
to notice or make perspective about. After that, seek for a part-time job. In most countries, you
are only permitted to work a certain number of hours while on a student visa. Even if you select a
profession that has nothing to do what you'd like to do later, it shows that you can multitask and
also have a strong moral compass (Onyema and Daniil, 2017). You'll also have an obvious
advantage among students who finish their qualifications without any professional exposure and
real world challenges.
Ultimately, assume a position of responsibility in a community or group. On your CV, being
a representative of your university's football team will not likely provide you a benefit over your
peers, but embarking on a leadership responsibilities inside the group will. As a representative of
a committee for a society or sporting events organisation, you'll gain valuable skills that will
make a quite remarkable impression.

There are numerous activities and services in which students can become involved in order
to obtain strong and appealing material for their CVs. An appealing, well-written, and succinct
CV not only aids in enticing employers, but also assists in portraying all of an individual's
personality and talents. Students who are pursuing higher education benefit greatly from
expanding their learning and knowledge abilities in order to improve their personalities for
personal and professional advancement. As a result, all students at university must acquire skills
and obtain experiences in order to generate value for their curriculum vitae.
CONCLUSION
As a result of the preceding debate, it can be stated that every individual need
talents for both personal and professional growth. Individuals can develop skills while attending
education, volunteering, or obtaining professional qualifications. This helps individuals continue
to develop, as well as have a prosperous future life and career. In order to acquire a job in the
future, one needs put items in their CV that would interest companies. Individuals may achieve
this by adding information to their CVs that would interest people. Before this material may be
included in a CV, an individual must first acquire it. University graduates must always work on
enhancing talents in addition to their academics so that they may include them in their CV and
entice the employers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abreu, M., 2020. Human capital, skills and productivity. In Productivity Perspectives. Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Alagu, A. and Thanuskodi, S., 2018. Assessment of information literacy skills among students of
Alagappa University, India. Library Philosophy and Practice.
Chrisinger, D., 2019. The solution lies in education: artificial intelligence & the skills gap. On
the Horizon.
Cullen, G.J., 2017. Exploring the higher education instructor skills needed to deliver instruction
in a flipped learning classroom (Doctoral dissertation, Colorado Technical University).
Hastings, N.B. and Rasmussen, K., 2021. Designing and Developing Skills-and Competency-
Based Environments: Micro and Macro Strategies. In Career Ready Education Through
Experiential Learning (pp. 240-260). IGI Global.
Kazaishvili, A., 2019. Managerial skills can be provided by the universities in the digital
era. Calitatea, 20(S3), pp.89-94.
Kovacevic, M., 2019. Academic leadership skills: Managing teams and conflict management.
In University Governance and Academic Leadership in the EU and China (pp. 246-257).
IGI Global.
Onyema, O.G. and Daniil, P., 2017. Educating the 21st century learners: are educators using
appropriate learning models for honing skills in the mobile age?. Journal of
Entrepreneurship Education, 20(2), pp.1-15.
Tsang, A., 2018. Positive effects of a programme on oral presentation skills: high-and low-
proficient learners’ self-evaluations and perspectives. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 43(5), pp.760-771.
Wagenaar, R., 2018. Skills and learning gain (s) in twenty-first-century higher education: politics
or policy?. In Handbook on the Politics of Higher Education. Edward Elgar Publishing.