You have freedom. You have tons of great skills to experience while being a student. You have plenty of time on your hands. Or do you? Remember: time is a limited resource. Within that limit you have, you need to fit in classes, studying, tests, extracurriculars, projects, and few parties along the way. Are we forgetting something?
Yes, you’ll graduate on time if you fit all those things within your schedule. But what happens after graduation? The employers won’t be interested in the test scores and projects you completed. They will want you to prove you’re skillful enough to make great contributions to their organizations.
There are universal skills that every job applicant needs. If you work on these aspects of your personality while you’re still studying, you’re setting yourself on the way to success. We’ll share 12 of those universal skills you should develop. Check them out:
- Speaking Skills
Throughout your career, you’ll be presenting ideas and different projects. You’ll be in charge to motivate the newcomers and persuade the clients.
- Speak clearly! Remember what Winnie-the-Pooh said? “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’”
- Use your tone and rhythm to emphasize important parts of your speech.
- At college, you have a chance to give presentations, so use it well.
- Writing Skills
Tom Dawson from writing service tells us this is a huge problem for today’s students: “Students lack good writing skills today. The constant use of gadgets minimizes the writing experience. That’s why they struggle when they have to write a resume, CV, cover letter, or any work-related content.”
Believe it or not, all those projects you complete during college mean something. They help you develop creative and argumentative writing skills.
Here’s the only tip we can give you: Practice!
- Sophisticated Computer Skills
Employers are after sophisticated computer skills, which can enhance your appeal for any position. If, for example, you tend to work in marketing, graphic design skills will be much appreciated.
- Explore the professions you’re interested in. What sophisticated computer skills would make you better at them?
- Take courses! Learn the basics of programming, graphic design, and various computer programs.
- Interview Skills
Your first contact will probably be on Skype or another video conferencing app. The hiring manager saw your resume and now they want to invite you for an interview or conduct a video conference interview. They might even invite you for an office interview. Now what?
How do you develop interview skills?
- Practice speaking!
- Learn as much as possible about the organization that interviews you. Hiring managers want to see how you fit in.
- Respect the good old rule: dress for the job you want. That’s important even for video conference interviews.
- Complex Thinking Skills
The modern workplace puts your creative and innovative thinking skills to the test. Real-world situations are just as complex as the case studies you explore at college.
- Take math, politics, international affairs, and other courses that challenge complex thinking skills.
- Decision Making Skills
You’ll need to make decisions regardless of the profession you choose. Your achievements at the workplace will depend on the decisions you make.
- Learn how to listen and analyze problems. When you break down the problem, it’s easier to make the right decision.
- Analytical Skills
Your ability to understand complex issues and suggest reasonable actions is crucial for career progress.
- Argue your cases. Use strong facts to support your arguments and pay attention to every single detail of the problem you’re exploring.
- Whenever you’re working on an academic project, collect information in a special Pinterest board. Then, analyze and evaluate that data to form the thesis statement. This practice will help you analyze issues at the workplace.
- Numeracy
You’re focused on law so you think math doesn’t matter? You’re wrong. You’ll face statistics, prices, and budgeting in any profession.
- Learn how to construct and interpret statistics. Take that course and pay attention to it. It’s important to know how to analyze numerical data and present it in graphical format.
- Empathy
Empathy is the skill of recognizing and respecting other people’s feelings. Everyone has unique thinking and emotional patterns.
- Understand where people’s opinions are coming from and take them into consideration when forming your own arguments.
- Creativity
You’ll be constantly challenged to express unique ideas that will drive the organization forward.
- You have what it takes. Discover your inner creativity and nurture it.
- Pick a niche and start blogging. That practice will trigger your creative thinking and writing skills.
- Social Media
Do you know a company that doesn’t have a social media account? Every business is out there, and the employees play an important role in its presentation.
Your social media skills will be important even before you get a job. Recruiters will certainly check out your profiles before inviting you for an interview.
- Teamwork
Remote teams are a real thing. Even if you’re not part of an actual office, you’ll still be required to collaborate with a team. These collaboration skills are important for every single project you’re part of.
- Take team projects at college seriously! They give you a chance to boost your collaboration skills.
- Explore platforms like Teamwork, Yammer, and Trello. You’ll get better chances for employment if you understand how they work.
You need a plan that will keep you on track not only with the curriculums of your courses but with your career goals as well. The students who explore and work on the skills and knowledge they need for their future careers have much better chances for employment right after graduation. You want to be one of those special graduates!
