Careers News

Skills students need to be employable in the future

Today’s students are up against unprecedented challenges when it comes to preparing for the future.

The following are four skills students need if they hope to be employable in the future:

1. The ability to learn independently

Lifelong learning is crucial because ongoing growth and development are necessary for anyone who wants to avoid being left behind. Considering the recent explosion of new technologies that have become available, even the best universities cannot successfully adopt and teach them all. Even if they could, additional technologies would become available following your student’s successful graduation from university. Eventually, the old ones would become obsolete.

2. Interpersonal skills

What separates humans from robots and other automation technologies? There are a few key skills humans have the capability to possess that robots do not. Of these, interpersonal skills are some of the most important skills that employers demand from their workers.

Interpersonal skills include the ability to communicate effectively, listen carefully, empathise with others, negotiate with others and pick up on nonverbal cues. These are uniquely human skills that your student would do well to cultivate to gain an edge in the workplace of the future.

3. Leadership skills

Leadership skills are related to interpersonal skills, but true leadership goes well beyond the basic interpersonal skills. To be an effective leader, an individual must have the ability to inspire others to meet their employer’s highest priority goals.

Businesses in all industries have an ongoing need for leadership talent, which translates to a solid future job outlook.

4. Business analytics expertise

In today’s global corporate environment, many business leaders view data as being a novel type of currency. Virtually every type of business is now engaged in the secondary business of data collection and analytics. With that in mind, an understanding of business analytics is extremely useful for working professionals in every niche.

Beth Crossman

Pathways Coordinator