Employability Skills Reflection Report: UWTSD Module Insights

This reflective report examines the development of key employability skills through academic experiences at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). The report focuses on four core skills: team working, planning and organization, problem-solving, and communication (both oral and written). It details the student's personal experiences and reflections on how group projects and module learning contributed to the enhancement of these skills. The report also discusses the significance of these skills in the context of higher education and how they aid students in their studies and future career prospects. Furthermore, the report highlights the importance of employability skills, as perceived by employers, and how the development of these skills from the beginning of a student's academic journey can provide a competitive advantage in the job market. The report concludes by reiterating the significance of these skills for personal and professional development.

Reflective Report about 3-5
Employability Skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SKILL REFLECTION.....................................................................................................................1
Team working skills...............................................................................................................1
Planning and organisation......................................................................................................2
Problem solving......................................................................................................................3
Communication (Oral and Written)........................................................................................3
HOW EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS HELP THE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF WALES
TRINITY SAINT DAVID...............................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Academic life of a student can be seen as an integration of a number of experiences,
activities, practices that provide assistance to an individual in enhancing their learning and
knowledge. In this regard, it is acknowledged that students undergo a number of tasks and
activities that help them to develop employability skills. These can be referred to as the skills
which make an individual compatible for doing a job and carrying out its roles and
responsibilities (Ornellas, Falkner and Stålbrandt, 2019). Such skills render aid to students in
facilitating their personal and professional development during their tenure at college or
university. Employability skills allow students to effectively carry out the learning and then get
placed in a company whereby they can apply these skills to attain growth and success. Some of
the most common examples of employability skills are time management, problem solving, oral
& verbal communication, leadership, planning & organizing, digital skills, critical thinking, team
working and many more. The present project constitutes a reflective report whereby the
influence of presentation group exercise and learning throughout the module upon the
development of employability skills within individuals is given. Further, it includes the way
these skills are helping the students carrying out studies at University of Wales Trinity Saint
David.
SKILL REFLECTION
Below is the reflective account of my learning as a result of undergoing the module as
well as carrying out a group presentation project. Both of them provided assistance to me in
developing and enhancing certain skills within me. The exemplary skills that were inculcated
within me as a consequence of module learning and group presentation were communication,
planning & organizing, problem solving and team working. The detailed description of these
skills and the way I developed them is given as follows:-
Team working skills
This is determined as the effective skill which shows how effectively team is working
together for attaining their common goal. This is highly related with the coordination as all the
team members are effectively able to coordinate with one another, they are easily able to work
with one another and obtain their collaborative goals and objectives in quicker manner (Griffin
and Coelhoso, 2019). With reference to my own experience related to the presentation, it can be
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said my own team working is skill is quite strong which helps me out performing my work
within the team in adequate manner. The main reason behind this is my effective coordination
and relationship with the team members which supported me in executing each and every
planned work and completing it within the provided time frame. While looking at the importance
of this skill in the present as well as future context it can be said that at present base I am good at
team working skill but still it is highly important for me to develop this skill more adequately in
appropriate manner so that I can work in the team without facing any problem related to the team
members. Along with this appropriate development of this skill will definitely help me out in
working in the new teams in the near future. There probable requirement for me to develop the
patience level in me so that I can easily adjust in the new teams and attain success in the rapid
manner.
Planning and organisation
Planning is considered as the important skill in every work which simply means that
initiative taken by individual to perform the same work in adequate manner. In addition to this, it
can be said that if individual spent an adequate level of time before indulging into any task or
activity then it ultimately enhances chances of success for the same work (Ripmeester and
Deardorff, 2019). In context of the presentation developed by me within the group as the group
activity it can be said that I have indulged into effective planning process before starting for the
presentation. In the planning all of us have decided each member belonging to the group will
perform what work. Effective planning performed in the starting time enhances the chances of
success in the near future as everyone is aware about the work and what they are expected to
perform for making their task more effective.
During the planning time before developing the PPT, I have divided work of whole
presentation in the smaller section which simply means that I have assigned work of research
data to one person, another one has been assigned to make attractive PPT which good effects and
presentation. The remaining of the team members were indulged into the selecting the rightful
information from the overall gathered information and present it in. This will directly contribute
in presenting the data into precise manner and help individual in understanding it adequate
manner. Along with this, it can be further said that development of this skill will help me in
performing my work in appropriate manner in the near future. This is so because, with effective
planning I am now able to analyse actual pros and cons of the project. Also, it develops my
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understanding on the appropriate ways that must provide me support in overcoming issues which
are hampering my project and affecting my capability of performing it. Here, from the overall
analysis it can be said that I can easily improve my working capability by planning adequately on
the proposed topic. As a result, it will support me in executing the work in adequate manner and
attaining success in the near future.
Problem solving
Problem solving is examined as the essential employability skill that is required to be
adopted by every individual who is planning to be employed in any of their company. This skill
simply shows capability of the individual to deal with the issues and conflicts at workplace and
resolve them in timely manner so that their work does not get hampered in any manner
(Ripmeester and Deardorff, 2019). In context of the presentation developed by me as the part of
my coursework it can be said that while working in the team for making the presentation I have
analysed that my problem solving skill was quite weak which simply means that while making
the presentation I have faced many problems some were highly related to the conflicts that arose
within the team due to ineffective and non-corporative behaviour of the team members. At that
period of time I was unable to resolve the conflict among the team members.
The main reason behind this was that it was difficult for me to analyse all issues and
represent my judgement in the favour of single person. Also, many of my team mates have also
thought that I am bias towards them because they think my decision was only one side. In order
to develop this skill I have communicated to my superiors and also asked them to guide me about
developing this skill. Development of this skill will definitely help me in surviving longer at
workplace in the near future. This is so because, effective problem solving skill will help me out
in resolving the problems at my own level and also support me in not diverting myself by
indulging into not required activity which is hampering my performance.
Communication (Oral and Written)
This can be referred to as the interface taking place between two or more individuals in
order to enable exchange of information (Lindsay, 2019). It is considered as one of the most
important academic as well as employability skills. While I worked in the group for the
presentation project, this skill helped our group a lot. Oral communication helped all of us to
present our views and opinions about the subject matter of the project in front of other members.
Further, written communication provided assistance in effectively portraying in written form the
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views and opinions exhibited by the group as a whole in the power point presentation.
Furthermore, this skill would act as a pathway for me to seek entry into a good career as it is an
employability skill which is considered as supreme by the employers. This would provide
assistance to me in clearing the interview by openly answering all the questions asked to me by
the interview panel.
HOW EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS HELP THE STUDENTS IN
UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY SAINT DAVID
The students pursuing education at University of Wales Trinity Saint David carry out
several classroom activities and tasks which provide assistance to them in enhancing their
existent level of knowledge and competence. These activities pay way for individuals to get an
insight into real life scenario by indulging in role plays, assessment activities, group
presentations and many more (Ramberg, Edgren and Wahlgren, 2019). Being a part of these
activities at college or university, the students get exposed to a scenario whereby they can apply
their intellectual abilities and spontaneous thinking ability to derive positive outcomes. The
group activities also allow the students to develop employability skills like time management,
problem solving, communication and so on within them. They provide assistance to the
individuals in effectually carrying out personal and professional development during their
academic tenure at the university.
Employability skills are considered essential by the employers for any candidate to get
selected and placed at any vacant position within the companies (Cotronei-Baird, 2020). In this
relation, it is not necessary that employers would not recruit or select those individuals who do
not possess employability skills. In fact, a number of employers across the globe prefer fresh
talent which do not have these skills, traits and characteristics present within them. This is so
because it allows the employers to conduct training sessions and provide such candidates with
information regarding the manner in which these skills can be inculcated by them. These skills
when inculcated by the individuals provide help to them in carrying out the work as per their
roles and responsibilities. The added advantage hereby is that the company can inculcate and
shape the skill and individual, both in a manner such that they can yield positive results for the
organisation as a whole. Thus, it can be seen that no matter employability skills are present
within individuals from college time or not, the employers are keen on incorporating the same
within candidates who clear the recruitment and selection process of the entity. Hereby, the
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students who develop employability skills from the very beginning of their college or university
life get an edge over those individuals who lack or are ineffective at these skills. Thus, the
presence of employability skills within the students inflates the scope of their selection at an
interview for a top company.
CONCLUSION
As per the discussion laid down above, it can be easily said that the experienced gained y
students during their academic life pave way for a strong future for them. In addition to this, it
has been determined that studying at college or university provides assistance to students in
developing employability skills. Such skills are quite handy for them while they join a company
and start working. The skills allow them to give their significant contribution towards the
accomplishment of corporate goals and objectives. By getting a command over these skills from
the very beginning and laying down its foundation within college life only, students aim at
ensuring that they do not face any difficulty at job due to ineffectiveness of absence of
employability skills.
The most crucial skills that are required by employers to be present within the employees
functioning within any profession are considered to be time management, oral & written
communication, problem solving, digital skills, leadership and team working. Besides this, it has
been summarised that these skills provide assistance to individuals studying at university level to
undergo personal and professional development. It also enables them to facilitate career
progression by instilling all the necessary skills and requirements within them beforehand. As a
result of this, the students are able to able to lay a strong foundation before even selecting the
field in which they would pursue their careers.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Lindsay, S., 2019. Using data to better understand employability skills in relation to business
school aspirations. In Global Internship Conference 2019.
Scott, F.J., Connell, P., Thomson, L.A. and Willison, D., 2019. Empowering students by
enhancing their employability skills. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43(5),
pp.692-707.
Fearon, C., van Vuuren, W., McLaughlin, H. and Nachmias, S., 2019. Graduate employability,
skills development and the UK’s Universities Business Challenge competition: a self-
determined learning perspective. Studies in Higher Education, pp.1-18.
Cotronei-Baird, V.S., 2020. Academic hindrances in the integration of employability skills
development in teaching and assessment practice. Higher Education, 79(2), pp.203-223.
Bates, G.W., Rixon, A., Carbone, A. and Pilgrim, C., 2019. Beyond employability skills:
Developing professional purpose. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate
Employability, 10(1), p.7.
Di Gregorio, A., Maggioni, I., Mauri, C. and Mazzucchelli, A., 2019. Employability skills for
future marketing professionals. European Management Journal, 37(3), pp.251-258.
Ramberg, U., Edgren, G. and Wahlgren, M., 2019. Capturing progression of formal knowledge
and employability skills by monitoring case discussions in class. Teaching in Higher
Education, pp.1-19.
Ornellas, A., Falkner, K. and Stålbrandt, E.E., 2019. Enhancing graduates’ employability skills
through authentic learning approaches. Higher education, skills and work-based learning.
Ripmeester, N. and Deardorff, D.K., 2019. Cultural understanding as a key skill for
employability. In Internationalization and Employability in Higher Education (pp. 213-
220). Routledge.
Griffin, M. and Coelhoso, P., 2019. Business students’ perspectives on employability skills post
internship experience. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning.
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