6 Steps to Improve Your Employability
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), it is important to equip young people with technical skills that are in high demand, together with life skills (e.g. communication, teamwork) that enhance their general employability.
With this in mind, take a moment to reflect on where you are right now. Do you feel prepared to enter the workforce with confidence? Do you have the skills, knowledge and experience you need to land the job you want? Are there gaps in your skill set that you could fill to make you a more ideal candidate?
To help you answer these questions, here are five simple ways you can improve your general employability.
1. Sharpen your Soft Skills
With the constantly changing nature of work, soft skills are a must-have for today's students and graduates. Developing those soft skills is just as critical as the technical knowledge and hard skills that you develop throughout your education.
Employers are looking for evidence of communication, creativity, curiosity, collaboration, cooperation and caring in the work that you have been involved in during your studies, as well as your extracurricular activities. In addition to that, it is also important to be self-aware of the types of soft skills you possess, and which of those you can utilise to your strengths. This is where the mynext Profiling Suite assessments come into play. These series of assessments encapsulates the following area:
- Work Values
- Work Interests
- The Future of Work
- Personality & Motivation
- Employability
Through the mynext Profiling Suite, you’ll be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses, both personally and professionally. You could then utilise this information to craft an effective elevator pitch about yourself.
2. Build your (professional) social media profile
If a potential employer searched your name to find out more about you, what would they find?
LinkedIn operates as your online resume in a format that lets you showcase your education and work achievements to both your personal network and the public.
Having an up-to-date profile and active presence on LinkedIn is a way in which you can attract potential employers, network with industry professionals and discover work opportunities to help you get ahead in your career.
3. Become a better storyteller
Never underestimate the impact of a good story that is presented with confidence.
Whether you are looking for a new job or a promotion from your current role, learning how to become a storyteller - creating a narrative that will help sell your skills accurately and effectively - is a great way to get ahead.
Being able to discuss your career experiences, highlight your skills and articulate your plans for the future in a concise and emotionally engaging way could help you land your next job, as when their emotions are engaged your listeners are more likely to recall and retain what you've said.
4. Develop a growth mindset
If you're looking to be challenged in your career, a growth mindset is a tool that you can use to develop positive habits and behaviours that can lead to success and career advancement.
Developing a growth mindset allows you to become more curious and open to learning from your experiences and mistakes, which is essential in coping with change and thriving in today's ever-changing business environment.
5. Shine up your CV
Keeping your CV up to date is essential, as you never know when you may need it. It is easy to forget what you have accomplished over a long period of time, so whenever you complete a training course, or take on more responsibilities in a current role, remember to add each accomplishment to your CV to showcase your skills and experience.
Employers will be looking for candidates who tick all the right boxes, so be sure to read the job description carefully and refer to the skills you have in your job application that fit the criteria. Adding to that, to aid you in creating an effective CV, the results of your mynext Profiling Suite assessments will also be populated and auto-generated into a CV built directly via the mynext portal.
6. Upskilling
The world of work is always changing and what businesses are in search of evolves continuously. Candidates need to stay on top of the skills that are required in order to remain employable and take advantage of the best opportunities when vacancies arise.
While many employers provide on-the-job training, it’s still up to you to ensure to keep your skills sharp and relevant to what businesses are looking for, and that’s where upskilling comes in. Here are a couple of ways to upskill and boost your CV:
- Volunteering
- Join an industry association
- Enrol in a course
P/S: For those who are about to begin the internship journey or are currently undergoing their internship, we’ve got great news coming your way. mynext, in collaboration with Microsoft, will be offering special certification courses for FREE for the first 50 interns to apply! Be sure to watch this space to find out how to apply ?
So, if you’re having trouble figuring out what skills to include in your CV, fret not; take some time to complete the mynext Profiling Suite assessments to discover more about yourself. After all, the first step of progress is to be self-aware of where you need to begin. Head over to talent.mynext.my now to get started.
All the best, bestie! ?
