Graduate Careers AustraliaGraduate skills: what employers want...
Thinking Skills – A Much Sought After Graduate AttributeWhy employ a university graduate? Employers recruit graduates because they want people who can 'think'. They need people who can learn things quickly, identify and solve problems, pull out ideas from disorganised information and draw the correct conclusions and 'think outside the square'. Thinking skills fall into several categories: learning, problem solving, conceptualising, judgement and creativity. How can you demonstrate these skills at an interview? Learning – this is not just about attending lectures, reading books and doing literature reviews. You need to understand what you are learning and know how to apply it in the workplace. Knowledge is not much use if it just stays in your head and you don’t know what to do with it! For each of your subjects or courses, think of a situation in which you can apply that knowledge. Write it down, then practice your 'story' with a friend. Problem Solving – is made up of two parts: analysis and solution. You need to identify a problem, break it down into its constituent parts, working out how they fit together and identifying the reasons why there was a problem in the first place. You then need to generate possible answers and bring about a solution. Try to think of a time when you had to face a difficult problem (academic, personal or work related). What was the problem? What techniques did you use to try and solve the problem? How successful were you? Conceptualising – if you are good at discussing hypothetical issues and quick to identify the main themes, you have this skill. It involves the accumulation and processing of information in order to discover new concepts or generate new ways of looking at things. What helps you get to the crux of an argument? How do you generate new ideas? Judgement – involves making sensible decisions or proposals based on a consideration of all the facts and options available. Think about a situation where there were a number of options open to you. How did you come to make the right decision? Creativity – the ability to produce imaginative or original ideas. It could also involve the process of building and expanding on existing ideas, and breaking away from the traditional way of doing things. Think of ways you may have solved problems in a creative way. How can you improve on other people’s ideas?
If you can successfully demonstrate good thinking skills at an interview, the job will soon be yours! This article was written by the Careers Advisory Service at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. While it was originally developed for a New Zealand audience, we believe that graduates in Australia will also find the information within it relevant and useful. Check out the excellent resources available on the Victoria University of Wellington's Careers Homepage |
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