The purpose of this unit is to give you a better understanding of why employability is important and how understanding the topic will enable you to better coach employability skills.
Let’s start by defining what the term means, and what it doesn’t….
Employability is…
- a varied and holistic set of transferable skills
- sometimes referred to as soft, core, key, transferable or ’job’ skills
- reported by some sources to be a skills gap presently in the UK
- a continual journey of improving fundamental personal and professional skills
- something that can be attained and improved throughout a young person’s education and something that we should not lose sight of in our own professional progression
- enabling and empowering to all ages
- something that benefits more than just the individual: E.g. ‘team-work’ which is a key employability skill
- something that, when instilled in individuals and groups can collectively contribute to the prosperity of organisations, sectors and industries
- a skill set that, when improved on can potentially combat the likelihood of limiting oneself to jobs that could be at risk of displacement or challenges from external factors such as the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- something that we can all improve on in our own individual ways
- the skill set that is focussed on in the resource accompanying this module (Employability Essentials).
Employability isn’t
- Something you ‘do’ just to ‘get’ a job
- Something everyone masters straight away
- Something that can be learned and then left
- Necessarily easy to teach – but can be coached
- Something that needs to be completely perfected prior to going into FE/HE/voluntary or paid employment
- Something we are all born with or have natural abilities in
- Limited (to a few skills, industries or arguably just the work environment – however fewer, more holistic descriptions of employability exist)
- Something everyone will excel at on every level
- Only relevant to a select group of people or sectors
- Something that should only be acknowledged on completion of education or at a certain juncture in a person’s career
- Another term for employment
- Something that is only really applicable during the interview or probation period of employment to prove your capability.
Now we have considered some aspects of employability, why not watch this 2 minute video by clicking on the video at the top of this page and hear from some experts on the matter:
Link to video for sharing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unp5fkeyLxc&feature=youtu.be
Reflection point
This piece provides an interesting review of the consideration regarding how AI may effect the workplace, on a global scale. What are your thoughts on this advancement of technology? How might it impact the people you work with and teach?
Link: https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/economics-policy/insights/the-impact-of-automation-on-jobs.html