{"id":338,"date":"2018-12-03T13:18:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T01:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/?p=338"},"modified":"2018-12-03T13:34:53","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T01:34:53","slug":"employability-is-the-new-it-word-what-does-it-really-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/employability-is-the-new-it-word-what-does-it-really-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"Employability is the new ‘it’ word, what does it really mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is so much jargon in the business world…….buzz words<\/a>, acronyms<\/a> that seem to be more confusing to people than helpful half the time… and confusion over what a word or phrase actually means………but we are not afraid to ask the questions here! \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

We decided to talk to Melissa Fuller about the word ’employability’ – here is her take on this fashionable word.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Soft skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

Employability is the new ‘it’ word, but in simple terms for a candidate looking for a role \u2013 it is your soft skills.<\/a><\/p>\n

So what are soft skills<\/a>? \u00a0They are skills outside of your qualification. Skills such as the ability to form relationships, create a customer experience, effectively communicate with others and problem solving. These skills are hard to teach<\/a> and some people naturally have them.<\/p>\n

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No prior work experience is irrelevant<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to gain those important soft skills is to volunteer<\/a>, find part time work or summer work<\/a>. No prior work experience is irrelevant. In any work experience you have developed skills such as listening, following instructions and communicating with a diverse range of people.<\/p>\n

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Soft skills = transferable skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

These skills are transferable<\/a> into any role you wish. An example:\u00a0 if you work in a busy restaurant while studying finance, you are able to show your ability to work and listen under pressure. Something that may be important in a finance based role. You can identify what skills outside of your qualification are important by reading the job description<\/a> or talking to others in the industry.<\/p>\n

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Sell your particular package of skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is important to remember that Dunedin<\/a>, as well as New Zealand<\/a>, is built on small to medium size businesses<\/a> with employee numbers fewer than 30. Investing in employees is a big decision for those employers and an expensive undertaking. ‘Selling you<\/a>‘ as a package of skills to a potential employer will enhance your chances of becoming employed and help the business.<\/p>\n

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Learn, grow and develop yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look outside your qualification and create opportunities to learn new skills. Unicrew<\/a> is a great place to go to try out volunteering. For more information on how to find work while studying in Dunedin, follow us on Facebook. www.facebook.com\/getworkready<\/a> or go to www.getworkready.co.nz<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

Melissa Fuller is the energetic, enthusiastic program co-ordinator at ‘Work Ready,’ and she is passionate about helping international students adapt to life in New Zealand and move into employment prior to graduation.<\/p>\n

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There is so much jargon in the business world…….buzz words, acronyms that seem to be more confusing to people than helpful half the time… and confusion over what a word or phrase actually means………but we are not afraid to ask the questions here! \u00a0 We decided to talk to Melissa Fuller about the word ’employability’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36370,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33514,36496,70390,19279,66,70389],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-employment","category-employment-2","category-students","category-university-of-otago","category-volunteering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}