Written Report

Topic:
Discuss some of the things you could do to enhance your employability when
you graduate from university.

There is one common goal through every university student, being employed in their dream
role. Otherwise, you catch yourself thinking, was it really worth it? However, with the job
market being so competitive for those dream jobs, you must take action as early as
possible, developing your skills and attributes to enhance your employability to give you
that edge that employers are looking for. Soft skills are a key set of skills that employers
look for within job seekers and graduates when looking to hire their latest employee. Soft
skills are also known as people skills and knowing how to develop these skills can greatly
benefit your future employability.

Internships are one of the greatest ways to enhance your employability within a persons
respective field. Internships are now widely promoted as a valuable means of enhancing
graduate employability (OConnor & Bodicoat, 2016). Getting involved with internships is
not only gaining experience in the workforce, but it is also an exceptional way to develop
your soft employment skills. Studies find that soft skills are best gained through internships
from both a student and an employers perspective (Maelah, Muhammaddun Mohamed,
Ramli & Aman, 2014), as you are interacting with the types of clients you will be dealing
with on a daily basis in the industry.

As soft skills are also commonly known as our people skills, volunteering is another great
form of training you can undergo to enhance your people skills. As well as helping yourself
by gaining credible work experience, building your social network, building your CV and
developing skills through volunteering (Paine, McKay & Moro, 2013), you are also helping
out your community when engaging with volunteering which can edge you that little bit
ahead when it comes to being employed. Learning through action has found to be the
greatest way to develop your soft skills (Khasanzyanova, 2017), especially through
volunteering as you are engaging with different people, allowing you to learn how to
interact with different types of people as well as respect different perspectives. Sophie, a
university student commented after her volunteering experience I learned things because I
met other people (disabled persons), so I take things differently. Every experience is good
because every experience teaches us different things, so does meeting new people, new
ways of being (Khasanzyanova, 2017). Showing how you can develop their personal skills
through volunteering.

Formal training is considered a conventional way of acquiring our soft skills (Remedios,
2012). This involves getting taught like any of your university classes your personal skills.
Although it may not be considered to be the best way of developing your skills there is still
no doubt it can help with future employment. Enrolling in these courses can also grant you
with a certificate of completion (Remedios, 2012), showing you have the soft skills
employers are looking for and also being able to attach the certificate to a CV as a hard copy
for your interviewer to see.

To conclude, developing your soft skills is all about gaining experience around people and
socialising with others in order to improve your personal skills. This can be achieved most
beneficially through internships and volunteering, as well as also applying for classes to
formally learn and develop these skills. Developing these skills although may seem like a lot
of time, are crucial to enhancing your employability and giving yourself the best advantage
you can when coming to getting that edge over other job seekers.

Works Cited

Khasanzyanova, A. (2017). How volunteering helps students to develop soft skills.

International Review Of Education, 63(3), 363-379. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-
9645-2

Maelah, R., Muhammaddun Mohamed, Z., Ramli, R., & Aman, A. (2014). Internship for
accounting undergraduates: comparative insights from stakeholders. Education + Training,
56(6), 482-502. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/et-09-2012-0088

OConnor, H., & Bodicoat, M. (2016). Exploitation or opportunity? Student perceptions of

internships in enhancing employability skills. British Journal Of Sociology Of Education,
38(4), 435-449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2015.1113855

Paine, A., McKay, S., & Moro, D. (2013). Does volunteering improve employability?
Insights from the British Household Panel Survey and beyond. Voluntary Sector Review,
4(3), 355-376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/204080513x13807974909244

Remedios, R. (2012). THE ROLE OF SOFT SKILLS IN EMPLOYABILITY. International

Journal Of Management Research And Reviews, 2(7), 1285-1292. Retrieved from
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