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UNSW and myCareer
WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT? HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO UNSW GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES?
Let's assume that you have some idea of what you want to get out of your university experience, what kind of careers you may be interested in, and perhaps what specific or general attributes you should acquire to pursue a specific professional career pathway. That is, you can answer:
- What are my career aspirations?
- What talents/knowledge/skills/attitudes (attributes) are required to get a start in that profession/career path (eg first job after graduation)?
BUT... What do the Employers generally want?
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Business Council of Australia specified 8 employability skills that most employers would consider desirable in potential employees. The following table shows these mapped onto the UNSW Graduate Attributes.
|
Employability Skills |
UNSW Graduate Attributes |
| 1. communication - written and oral |
12. the skills of effective communication.
9. the skills required for collaborative and multidisciplinary work
7. an appreciation of, and respect for, diversity
8. a capacity to contribute to, and work within, the international community |
| 2. team work |
9. the skills required for collaborative and multidisciplinary work
7. an appreciation of, and respect for, diversity
12. the skills of effective communication.
8. a capacity to contribute to, and work within, the international community |
| 3. problem-solving |
2. the capacity for analytical and critical thinking and for creative problem-solving
1. the skills involved in scholarly enquiry |
| 4. initiative and enterprise |
6. the capacity for enterprise, initiative and creativity
8. a capacity to contribute to, and work within, the international community
9. the skills required for collaborative and multidisciplinary work
4. the ability to engage in independent and reflective learning |
| 5. planning and organising |
4. the ability to engage in independent and reflective learning
10. an appreciation of, and a responsiveness to, change
9. the skills required for collaborative and multidisciplinary work |
| 6. self-management |
4. the ability to engage in independent and reflective learning
9. the skills required for collaborative and multidisciplinary work |
| 7. learning skills |
3. an in-depth engagement with the relevant disciplinary knowledge in its interdisciplinary context
4. the ability to engage in independent and reflective learning
1. the skills involved in scholarly enquiry
5. information literacy - the skills to appropriately locate, evaluate and use relevant information |
| 8. technology skills |
5. information literacy - the skills to appropriately locate, evaluate and use relevant information |
Each of these employability skills is linked to a more detailed description in the glossary.
Apart from the Employability Skills, employers also identified
13 Personal Attributes "a set of non skill-based behaviours and attitudes that employers felt were as important as the employability skills and other technical or job specific skills."
How do employers assess your enthusiasm or your reliability? Yes, this is difficult and often they don't discover these things until it is too late! You may have excellent academic results and proof that you are analytical and that you have advanced computer skills. But how does the employer know that you will turn up when required and not spend the day organising your social life or that you will be able to collaborate with others? This is very difficult if an employer only has a written application and then meets you for 30 minutes at an interview. You can see why employers ask for referees they can speak to and why many graduate employers offer vacation work so that they can 'try before they buy'.
If you are interested in how the Employability skills/personal attributes and the UNSW attributes can be simplified as the 'UNSW Employability Attributes', see the Resources for Teachers section.
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