Employability
What is employability?
Employability is the potential of the individual to be employable.
(Lee Harvey, 2003)
That potential comes from a complex mix of skills, knowledge, aptitudes, abilities, self-confidence, work and life experience and your own awareness of your potential in the employability stakes.
Why should I be concerned about employability?
I have a degree from a good University, so why should I be bothered about employability? Employers have a wide range of graduates to choose from and are looking for potential employees with an ‘edge'. To ensure that your CV, application or interview stands out from the rest, you have to be able to demonstrate that you have the skills that they are looking for by providing good examples of how you have acquired those skills. You may like to see a complete list of skills employers seek.
Our leaflet ‘what is employability?’ can be downloaded here (PDF)
How do I get employability skills?
Your individual personality and attitude will have an important part to play in your employability but during your time at Loughborough you should also make the most of any opportunity on offer to acquire new skills and develop existing ones in order to develop your personal potential.
Three key areas in which you will develop skills are:
- Your academic programme: the subject knowledge and skills acquired through your studies (skills such as: problem solving, verbal and written communication, IT expertise, research and analytical skills.)
- Work experience, either during, before or after your studies (giving you business/commercial awareness, adaptability, confidence, people skills)
If you would like to know about different types of work experience, visit our Work Experience page.
- Your personal interests, including volunteering, sports, your involvement in the community within the University and beyond (skills may include, team work, leadership, planning and organisation, awareness of other cultures)
Other Student Services also offer volunteering or paid opportunities and skills related courses.
The Student Hub web site can provide you with links to a range of skills activities around the university.
Volunteering
Volunteering is an excellent way to develop and enhance your employability skills and make friends at the same time. If you would like to know more about volunteering opportunities please look at the Volunteering section, and the working abroad section of our website.
There are also vacation opportunities for volunteering advertised at Careers Online.
You might also like to see the many opportunities offered by the Students’ Union: ‘Get Involved’ http://www.lufbra.net/. The Student Hub can also provide you with some ideas on volunteering
Skills related courses and opportunities:
You may wish to develop a skill knowing that it will help you in your career. The Careers and Employability Centre, the Students' Union and other Student Services run a wide range of courses and workshops dedicated to teaching you skills. You could also get involved with voluntary activity and some Student Services may offer paid work. Look on their web pages for more information.
Loughborough Employability Award
The Loughborough Employability Award recognises the skills and competencies you gain from being involved in activities outside your degree programme; such as volunteering, part-time and vacation work and other activities which offer you the opportunity for personal development.
The award scheme is open to first, second and penultimate year undergraduate students with a limit of around 400 places each academic year. Enrolment takes place at the beginning of the Autumn term and continues throughout the year if places are available.
Careers and Employability Centre:
Careers related skills courses and work experience (see Careers Events).
Students' Union:
Skills courses and training, work experience, volunteering www.lufbra.net
University Library:
Study and information literacy skills courses www.lboro.ac.uk/library/skills/index.html
Student Support Centre:
Courses and enhancement of language skills www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/elsu/index.htm
Counselling:
Courses and ‘Student to Student' volunteers wanted http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/counselling/workshops.html
Widening Participation:
Paid and unpaid opportunities; ‘Students helping Students' outreach programme
www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/ar/admissions/wp/shs/
Mathematics Learning Support Centre: Courses and support in mathematics and statistics
mlsc.lboro.ac.uk/services.php
Personal development and self awareness
Self-awareness of your skills and of how you have developed during your time at university is all-important when it comes to applying for jobs. You will need to know what skills and experience you have acquired and be ready to give well-developed examples at interview. Help is available to achieve this self-awareness. For some ideas on how to use the process of personal development planning (PDP) to make yourself more employable, our PDP web page may be of use.
Are you enterprising?
You may wish to develop your employability skills further and would like to know more about entrepreneurship. Visit Loughborough Student Enterprise: www.enterpriselufbra.co.uk for more advice and information.
You might also like to see the skills section on the Enterprise pages.
Cultural awareness
Your employability may also be enhanced by being able to demonstrate to an employer that you have an awareness of differences in cultures, increasingly important when working with teams based overseas or in a country which is unfamiliar to you.
Prepare yourself for employment in a global economy by interacting with international students to find out what is happening in their countries and how their culture differs from your own. There is more information on the cultural awareness page with links to resources.
Sustainability
We are all aware of the effect we are having on the environment and many employers are now looking for employees who have an awareness of how a business operates a sustainability policy and effectively manage its environmental impact.
Here at Loughborough there are many opportunities for you to get involved in protecting the environment through Students’ Union initiatives. You may also be interested to see what Loughborough University, as a large employer, does on campus by visiting the Sustainability web pages. Here you will find information on how the university manages energy and water resources, waste and recycling, travel and transport planning, biodiversity and wildlife and the sustainability of campus buildings.