Workshop content
Employability Skills:
Selling Yourself to
Employers
Career Education Officer
Careers Centre
Aim
To build on students understanding of their skills set
and, as a result, be able to confidently talk about their
skills, hence “sell themselves” to employers
Topics
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Recap - What are skills
What skills do YOU have (from previous workshop 1)
Increasing employability skills
How to store the evidence
Employability Skills & the Jobs Market
How to present yourself to employers
Now what?
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Types of skills
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What are employability skills, anyway?
Personal
Attributes
Planning and Organising
Communication
Teamwork
Learning
What you are
able to do
Generic
and
transferable
skills
Professional
and
technical
skills
Problem Solving
Technology
Initiative and Enterprise
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Good Examples/Bad Examples
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What skills do YOU have?
Your Top 5
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Self Management
Your elevator
Pitch
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How to get increase your
employability skills: Just do it!
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Keeping a record of skills and achievements
Work Experience
Study
Projects
GAP year
Study abroad
Volunteering
Charities
Church
Sport
Clubs & societies
Tutoring
Mentoring
Couching
Committees
Professional associations
Conferences
Short courses
Internships
List current
skills
Review
& update
Hard copy in folder and/or
Soft copies on PC, website, back up drives, memory stick
Keep your system current
Take selected relevant documents in a folder to job interviews
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SELLING YOURSELF TO
DIFFERENT EMPLOYERS IN
SAME INDUSTRY
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Are all jobs the same?
Do you really KNOW the job you are applying for?
Do you really WANT the job?
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Learn to read the job ad & “feel” the job you are applying for
What “absolute musts” does the job ask for
What else would be useful
Do you have genuine passion and interest in what they are asking
for?
• Think about what you
have completed,
produced, developed,
written and researched
• What are you proud of?
• What are your best
examples to show
potential employers?
• Think about how you
record, store and share
this information
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Develop your portfolio
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Set goals
to build skills
Keep a
record
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A portfolio is a system for storing and displaying your work
• Includes:
– Academic transcripts & certificates
– Evidence of your skills and achievements
– Examples of your work
eg research, experiments, prac reports, business report,
lesson plans, literature search
– Photos of relevant activities eg artwork and designs
Work out
skill gaps
Employability Skills & the Job
Market in General
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Why are skills important when applying for jobs?
“Aren’t employers meant to train me up?”
“How do I know how to do the job until I’ve got the job?”
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What are employers generally looking for?
What are employers in different industries generally looking for?
e.g. in general, an engineer needs to be good at analysing information, problem solving/project
managing, working with other people, working with technical information & equipment
e.g. in general, a nurse needs to be exceptionally personable, be empathetic/caring, have strong
clinical knowledge and be able to problem solve under pressure.
Exercise:
THINK ABOUT THE INDUSTRY YOU WANT TO GET INTO 7 WHAT THE GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS WILL BE.
NOW KNOWING YOUR SKILLS & ABILITIES, DO YOU MEET THOSE REQUIREMENTS?
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MORE ADVANCED: FOR CAREER CHANGES IN
THE FUTURE
• Do you really KNOW the job
you are applying for?
• Do you really WANT the
job?
• Do you have any familiarity
with the industry?
JOB AD EXCERCISE
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SELLING YOURSELF TO
EMPLOYERS IN DIFFERENT
INDUSTRY
• Learn to read the job ad & “feel” the job you are applying for
• What “absolute musts” does the job ask for
• You haven’t worked in that actual industry before – so where
else in your life have you developed the skills/knowledge
required for that role? Can you give the employer 100%
assurance that you can do the job and all they need to train
you on is the industry knowledge?
• Do you have genuine passion and interest in what they are
asking for?
Presenting that information to an
employer
Cover letter
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refer to your understanding of the role/put it into your
own words
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show your research about the role/organisation
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what really excites you about it
Resume
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skills summary relevant to the role
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responsibilities relevant to the role
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achievements
Interview
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examples relevant to the role
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let them know what really excites you about the
role/company
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be animated/energetic
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If you really want the job, let them know
LET THE EMPLOYER GET TO KNOW YOU
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Careers Centre
Now What????
Do anything & everything to explore new areas,
have new experiences
e.g. research, volunteer, attend events, TALK
TO PEOPLE, travel
GROW AS A PERSON
DEVELOP NEW SKILLS
UNDERSTAND YOUR CHANGING SELF &
HOW THIS WILL APPLY TO YOUR
CAREER
You will always be hired for the complete person
you are, not just as a “degree” or as a
“professional”
TRY NEW CAREERS & HAVE FUN !!!!!!!
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The Careers Centre gives you the tools to explore your
career interests, options and goals as soon as you
commence your studies.
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Services are available free to every enrolled
student.
• Our expert staff can help you develop the
skills you need to find a job you love.
• Find out about opportunities for graduate
employment and casual or vacation work by
attending events held right here on campus
every semester.
For more information visit:
www.careers.usyd.edu.au
www.careers.usyd.edu.au