Employability Skills can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them employable. Along withgood technical understanding and subject knowledge, employers often outline a set of skills that they want from an employee.

These skills are what they believe will equip the employee to carry out their role to the best of their ability.

Employability depends on your knowledge, skills and attitudes, how you use those assets, and how you present them to employers.

The table below has been compiled by a range of UK-based companies (see company details at the end of this guide), and it lists the Top 10 EmployabilitySkills which they look for in potential employees that means you! We asked the companies to define exactly what these skills mean, and how you couldshow evidence of these skills in an interview or application for a job.

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLSTOP10

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SKILLS THAT EMPLOYERS WANT WHAT THAT MEANS YOUNG PEOPLES EVIDENCE IN LESSONS

YOUNG PEOPLES EVIDENCE OUTSIDE LESSONS

Communication and interpersonal skills

Problem solving skills

Using your initiative and being self-motivated

Working under pressure and to deadlines

The ability to explain what you mean in a clear and concise way through writtenand spoken means. To listen and relate to other people, and to act upon keyinformation / instructions.

The ability to understand a problem bybreaking it down into smaller parts, andidentifying the key issues, implicationsand identifying solutions. To apply yourknowledge from many different areas to solving a task.

Having new ideas of your own which can be made into a reality. Showing astrong personal drive and not waiting tobe told to do things.

Handling stress that comes withdeadlines and ensuring that you meetthem.

I presented the findings of a Sciencecoursework project as a report andPowerPoint presentation to the rest ofmy Science class.

I was set a project within Design &Technology to build a component, but itstopped working. My approach was tostart at the beginning of the circuit andwork through all the connections until Ifound the part that was not working.

For our coursework on electrical circuits I was the only one in class who chose to research how they are used incompanies to get a real-life perspective.

I planned out my exam revision timetableso that I gave myself enough time foreach subject.

I am part of a debating club / society thathelps my communication andinterpersonal skills greatly.

As part of my Duke of Edinburgh Award I had to evaluate the information on amap and the weather forecast to decidewhich was the best route to a setcheckpoint.

At a temping job over the summer, themanager was not around to see me onmy first morning, so I introduced myselfto the other team members and offeredmy services until my manager arrived.

On a bridge building project in my STEMClub, we ran out of an essential piece ofkit 5 minutes before the deadline, butquickly modified the bridge using whatwas left and finished on time.

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SKILLS THAT EMPLOYERS WANT WHAT THAT MEANS YOUNG PEOPLES EVIDENCE IN LESSONS YOUNG PEOPLES EVIDENCE OUTSIDE LESSONS

Organisational skills

Team working

Ability to learn and adapt

Numeracy

Valuing diversity and difference

Negotiation skills

Being organised and methodical. Able toplan work to meet deadlines and targets.Monitoring progress of work to ensureyou are on track to meeting a deadline.

Working well with other people fromdifferent disciplines, backgrounds, andexpertise to accomplish a task or goal.

To be enthusiastic about your work, and to identify ways to learn from yourmistakes for the benefit of both you and your employer.

The ability to use data and mathematicsto support evidence or demonstrate apoint.

Knowing the value of diversity and whatit can bring. Understanding and beingconsiderate of the different needs ofdifferent individuals..To take on board other peoples feelingsand express your own requirements in an unemotional clear fashion to achieve a win-win outcome.

I handed my GCSE Science courseworkin 3 days before the deadline as I hadplanned my time well and finished it tothe best of my ability.

In a group project I worked with a teamof people with different designated roles.The first job we did was to identify howeach of us will have a valuable input tothe task in hand.

I always read the comments that myTeacher puts onto my coursework as Iknow that they will help me to improvemy marks and learning. I try to use thatadvice in my next pieces of coursework.

In my Science coursework I used a range of graphs and tables to prove thehypothesis being tested.

Working with people who may be able to offer different skills or knowledge, and who offer a different perspective toyour own for projects / coursework.

I reached an agreement with a classmate about who would take whichrole in a class project.

I was part of the School Leavers Ballorganising committee and devised aproject plan so that we could keep ontrack with planning.

I am part of our after school STEM Clubthat meets every week. We often doactivities as teams and I really enjoy it.

In our STEM Club we had to makerockets fly as high as possible. I couldntmake mine go any higher so asked forhelp to improve the shape it went 20cm higher on the next attempt.

Our STEM Ambassador guided us throughan activity to build a road to helpcommunities in Nigeria. We calculatedthe road cost per mile and if it didntreach the next town we had to redesignit to fit the budget.

Getting involved in activities, whichinvolve people that are different from youin terms of age, gender, nationality, race,disability etc.

I had to present a new invention to apanel of STEM Ambassadors in aDragons Den day, and negotiate howmuch of the company they would own.

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STEMNET gratefullyacknowledges the contributionof our industry partners: