In a quest to be employable, students and to a large extent international students neglect the process of employability in favour of the short term gain of finding employment. This article puts forward an argument in favour of the taken for granted issues that may largely be neglected, but are important if students are to be employable, both on a short term to a long term basis.
Transferable skills have gained currency over the years especially as higher education expands rapidly. The expansion of student numbers has created a very competitive environment in the job market, not only for permanent jobs but also for part time jobs. As international students, our expectation and desire is to be able to be competitive and gain the part time jobs while we study or secure permanent ones upon completion of our studies. However, without paying attention to developing our transferable skills, the task will be more difficult. These are skills which can assist us to be effective in almost every job, no matter its status, and one can literally transfer them from one job to the other. Adaptability, interpersonal skills, communication, teamwork and independence are but some of the critical transferable skills one will need to develop and continually nurture. Can we adapt to a different organisation and its culture; are we interpersonally competent to effectively function in an entirely different environment, not only for the customers or clients of the organisation, but also within a team of colleagues? Can we effectively communicate, not only verbally but also written? Seemingly minor things like committing to listening, more than one speaks? The ability to be independent in mind while recognising the importance of teamwork in advancing organisational goals, is almost universal to employers.
Recognising the importance of transferable skills has to be accompanied by a desire on our part to find opportunities, however mundane, to develop them. A lot is already being said and will continue to be emphasised about the importance of students to involve themselves in organisations and clubs, both within the university and outside and actively participate. Immediately after I settled in Glasgow, I began actively seeking ways I could participate in activities or projects that interested me. I volunteered my time for the University Careers Service, where I had opportunities to further develop my teamwork skills in a multicultural context with students from all continents. My communication skills were to be further developed in joining a student travelling organisation, the International Student Society.
As much as participating non-academically enhances development of transferable skills, being active academically in ones course also boosts ones transferable skills. I can immediately remember a conscious effort not to stick to one group of students in group work, whether in self-initiated group work or sanctioned in a course. Opportunities abound academically to develop our transferable skills. One further conscious effort I took was to take advantage of conferences and seminars that were open to students, and not only attend but participate. It is however also important to recognise that possession of transferable skills enhances ones chances of securing employment, not only during study but also beyond.
As much as we desire to secure employment, part time or full time, during or after completion of studies, harnessing our transferable skills is a long term investment, hence my description of it as process. Part of this process is readying for and adapting to the labour market, including in our home country, because it is a reality for some of us international students. What better way than to edge forward and be vigilant to the trends, development and needs of our home country labour market. However we may opt to move forward in our quest to be employable, a healthy introspection would make the employability process either in Scotland and UK, home country or anywhere one chooses, easier. This involves identifying why you need employment in the first place and what your goals are. A consideration of these issues is likely to spark another question of the implications of your choices on your studies, and socially. The National Union of Students (NUS) has found in a study that students who work primarily to maintain their daily needs are highly likely to work during term time at a great cost to their studies and social life. They also found that students who work to maintain a social life and a lifestyle are likely to work during vacations and to no major impact on their studies. The detailed findings of the study can be found here, http://www.nus.org.uk/PageFiles/4017/NUS_StudentExperienceReport.pdf. The introspection, also an on-going process will require an honest assessment of skills repertoire, and how ones goals fit in with ones skills. The juncture, at which the goals and skills intersect, is an entry point in a lifelong journey of developing and nurturing ones transferable skills.
It is important to pay attention to the issues raised here, and they are continually emphasised in different forms and forums because they are key to not only surviving the contemporary labour market, but also being competitive. Carrying expectations without careful analysis or simply responding to reality is not only unhelpful but a waste of the boundless opportunities that exist to harness ones employability and reap the maximum benefit from ones Glasgow University experience.
Donah Letlhogonolo Lekwati
Postgraduate student, MSc Educational Studies
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