The one skill all students should acquire to boost employability
Ensuring that you remain curious and continue to learn long after you leave university is one of the most useful skills students can acquire
Nancy Gleason
Published on June 16 2021
Last updated September 12 2023
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Which听skills should you develop听beyond the knowledge you gain during your degree at university?
Many people will tell you that you need to be a problem-solver, that you need to develop critical thinking, data analysis听capabilities听and inquiry skills. There are听also听many important emotional intelligence skills, such as empathy, self-awareness and motivation.听
And it鈥檚 true;听all these are听important and听will be looked upon favourably by employers. However, in order to thrive once you graduate from university听the most important competency you can develop is a mindset for lifelong learning.听听
Lifelong learning requires听curiosity, initiative, reflection听and knowledge transfer. With a constantly changing and disrupted world, skills are becoming more outdated more quickly and so听it is important to ensure you keep learning to keep up.
This will help you听contribute to society, remain employed听and progress in your听career.听
How to boost your career prospects as a university student
Your student experience is on hold; career development doesn鈥檛 have to听be
Starting a business at university
The key to thriving after university is to develop the skills to be an active learner. This means articulating your learning strategies,听thinking about what it means to be a self-directed learner听and reflecting on听what motivates you.
Being a self-directed learner involves having the skills to determine what tasks are being asked of you (in school, by a boss, or in your own start-up)听and how you will go about performing those tasks. You also need to reflect on how you learn by听asking yourself what is working well听and what needs to change to be more effective, efficient, and sustainable.听
While at university you can find support for developing lifelong learning skills from librarians,听tutors, academic advisers, residential staff, teaching assistants听and many other places.听听
Lifelong learning is an essential skill you can develop, assess听and improve while at听college. Maintaining your motivation for learning by deploying active learning strategies will help you understand our changing world and your role in it.
