University Skills Development: Improving Student Job Prospects

This report identifies the best options for enhancing the employability skills of university students. It emphasizes the importance of communication skills in today's business environment and addresses the need to develop writing skills to combat communication problems. Three potential solutions are analyzed, with a recommendation for focusing on ICT skills development. The report evaluates language skills, ICT skills, and critical digital literacy, ultimately concluding that ICT skills are crucial for individual growth and success. It suggests universities implement policies to foster ICT skills development, provide basic ICT knowledge, and integrate ICT skills into the curriculum to improve students' employability. The analysis draws upon several articles, including discussions on the importance of language skills, the fallacy of the digital native, and the role of critical digital literacy in the 21st century.

Developing new skills
– an easier way for
students to get a better
job

Executive Summary
The main purpose of this report is to identify the best option for the purpose
enhancing the employability skills which is necessary for the students of University. In
today's business environment, communication skills are becoming very important for the
organisation as it provided a great impact on the productivity as well as the performance of
the company.
Due to ineffective communication, it is identified that individuals will face many
types of problems as they are not able to convey the message effectively. So, to combat
problems associated with communication skills, it is necessary to develop writing skills as it
is one of the important parts of communication skills.
This report will cover an issue and the related solution which needs to be chosen to
achieve the goals and objectives of an individual. There are three solutions which necessary
for analyse and then take right decision.
One option will be analysed and recommended in order to enhance the employability
skills. The one option that chosen in this report such as ICT skills which is found to be very
important for the development of individual growth and success. It is necessary for students
to focus on development of ICT skills as it is necessary for their employability skills which
will provide many opportunities to the students.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................4
Analysis......................................................................................................................................4
Option 1: Language skills: way to get a job? (Beyene, S. (2018))........................................4
Option 2: Computer and ICT skills: The Fallacy of the Digital Native (ICDL (2019))........5
Option 3: Critical Digital Literacy in the 21st Century (Alexander, B., S. Adams Becker
and M. Cummins (2016)).......................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................................7
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals:...............................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
This report aims to evaluate the policies which can be adopted by UoNL to improve
and enhance the employability with skills of its students. There is a scenario in which UoNL
wants to enhance the employability skill of students and that's why they are required to
allocate funds. But they have only a small amount of funds to start any initiative to improve
the employability skills of students. There has only a small amount of funds that can cover
only one initiative. Many possible options help to enhance the employability skills of students
such as offering foreign language classes, offering courses and more advanced critical digital
literacy, and developing students' ICT and computer skills. These are the possible options but
it is important to recommend the one because of the small number of funds. So, this report
will be discussed the whole situation and an effective way and use the articles to identify the
best solution for URL.
MAIN BODY
Analysis
As per the situation, it is identified that three recommendations help to enhance
employability skills. So, there are three recommendations are mentioned below:
1. Language skills: way to get a job
2. Computer and ICT skills: The Fallacy of the Digital Native
3. Critical Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
These are the important recommendations that should be evaluated to make a final
decision.
Option 1: Language skills: way to get a job? (Beyene, S. (2018))
To this article, it is necessary for universities they should take more initiative in
helping the students so that they can learn languages when they are studying. According to
the researchers, it is identified that students can find a job easier if they are proficient in
another language as well. They can communicate with clients abroad which helps to increase
job opportunities as well as boost the business of the company. In this article, it is also
identified that many students are preferring to go to work abroad such as in Germany and
France so that's why it is very important to learn another language which helps them to get a

job easier and at good pay. It is also identified from this article that another language is can
be possible to learn from University because most of the time students are given to the
university and have a flexible schedule at that time.
The current example of Brexit, states that it becomes more challenging for people as
they need to move to different countries to increase their work. This is the main reason for
students to learn at least one more language for their career setting. It is also found that
technology is continuously increasing and becoming advanced which can be beneficial for
students as they can learn another language easier. It is really helpful for future career growth
as it improves the curriculum vitae of an individual which makes a big difference among job
applicants. It is identified that foreign language learning is not an easy task as it takes a long
time to learn a foreign language and it becomes very difficult for a student to make the
decision that which foreign language they need to learn because each country and region has
their own language. So to learn a foreign language is not only a solution for enhancing
employability skills. Learning of a foreign language is not the solution as it is not as much
increase employability skills. This skill can be learn by individuals at any time.
Option 2: Computer and ICT skills: The Fallacy of the Digital Native (ICDL (2019))
Everybody knows that there is a continuous advancement in technology which
increases the use of computer devices and software all over the world. It is not only useful in
workplaces as it becomes very important for academic and educational spheres. This is
necessary to understand that students learn basic computer and ICT skills because that are
many employers complain about the fact that they found a lack of basic computer skills in
new undergraduate student. It is found from the practical test of a student where they need to
do a task on the computer. During that test, the student needs to rate their skills and then
practice the skills where they found a low rate. In this study, students are found that they are
lacking in basic computer and ICT skills. It is also identified that those students who have a
certificate in ICT did a test better as compared to those a student who don't have any
certificate related to the ICT skill. Those students who have certificates related to ICT skills
get a job in an easy way. It is very well known that the current world is becoming
digitalisation and this is the main reason that young students should focus on developing
necessary ICT skill. From the analysis, it can be easily understood that technology is
becoming an important element of success and it is really playing an important role in getting
a good job. It becomes an important employability skill that enhances the career growth of
students.

In the digital world, it is identified from many studies that most young students have
big gaps related to ICT skills. It is found that ICT is very expensive and generally not
affordable by each and every person. ICT skills require a proper training and development
sessions which is not the one or two month concept as it requires a long time period.
Option 3: Critical Digital Literacy in the 21st Century (Alexander, B., S. Adams Becker and
M. Cummins (2016))
It is necessary for developing basic ICT skills in the 24th century as and examined
that now the curriculum should be designed accordingly so that students are able to learn ICT
skill. Employers are required that their employees have proficiency in ICT skills which helps
them to deal with that new technology in the company. Almost every organisation require
that their employees have deep knowledge of ICT. Researchers advise that students should
focus on getting better digital skills which help them to get a good job in an easy way. As per
this article, critical digital literacy is found to be complex and vast. It is included 6 important
elements such as digital creation, ICT proficiency, collaboration and participation, problem
solving and innovation, digital creation, digital identity, digital learning and development.
It is identified that these are not easy to learn and it becomes very complex for
students if they are learnt these skills and University. But it is very important that universities
should provide a guide for students about critical digital literacy in their curriculum so that
students are able to understand the basic ICT skills. It is identified that there are many
students who have already knowledge of basic ICT skills but still facing many challenges to
deal with the technologies. This is the main reason that it is important for the students to
develop skills which required in the new and modern world. Digital literacy is not sufficient
because it is easily gain when an individual has enough knowledge of ICT skills. Digital
literacy cannot be termed as employability skills because it is deemed that this skill is already
found in students as they are belongs from modern world.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above question that improving skills and knowledge is
very important two days business environment as it helps to enhance employability skills. It
is analysed from this report that everyday technology is becoming important and that's why it
is crucial for students to learn basic ICT skills so that employers will not face any challenges.
It is also analysed that if an individual wants to get up a good job in the business
environment, then the development of necessary skills becomes very important. This report

discusses three important articles in which one of them is focusing on the language as the
organisations are not limited to national boundaries but also, they are dealing in international
business as well. This is the reason that it is students have a knowledge of another language
than the chances of getting better job becoming more. It is also analysed that improving the
ICT skills helps to increase the chances of getting a good job. It helps to gain a competitive
advantage in the competitive world, especially in the employment world. Option 2 is
suggested to adopt this option by university. So there are some suggestions which will
discuss in the further heading. ICT is found to be effective in order to enhance the
employability skills.
RECOMMENDATIONS
After analysing the conclusions, it is analysed that there are many challenges faced by
students in the development of ICT skills and that’s why there are some recommendations are
mentioned below:
 It is suggested to the university that they need to implement important policies for the
right environment so that students are able to develop ICT skills and knowledge.
 It is also suggested to the university that they should provide a basic knowledge of
ICT skills to the students as it is very important in today's business environment.
 It is found that if students are effectively getting some basic knowledge of ICT skills,
then they can easily get a good job. For that purpose, University should focus on
including the ICT skill in the curriculum. This will help them to make employable in
the business environment.
 In addition to this, it is also suggested to the organisation that they need to focus on
providing the best teachers that they hire for students.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Alexander, B., S. Adams Becker and M. Cummins (2016). Critical Digital Literacy in the
21st Century. Austin Texas, The New Media Consortium. 3.3: 1-18.
Beyene, S. (2018). Language skills: way to get a job? The Guardian. London, Guardian News
and Media Limited.
ICDL (2019) "Computer and ICT skills: The Fallacy of the Digital Native." ICDL The
Digital Skills Standard ECDL Foundation.