Career development opportunities take many different forms. University can help you to develop skills and gain experience that will help prepare you for the world of work.

In addition to the academic skills that you will develop in the course of your studies, student life offers many opportunities for developing the kind of "transferable skills" that employers are increasingly expecting from graduates.

Employers need graduates who can demonstrate communication skills, team work, project management, problem solving, taking the initiative, and the ability to process information, as well as self-management and organisational skills. These skills are also sometimes termed "soft skills" or "applied skills", although increasingly employers are coming to consider them to be core skills. Another competence that many employers expect graduates to have is a driver's licence.

According to HESA CEO, Prof. Duma Malaza, employers seek graduates "who are capable of seamlessly entering the workplace".

Volunteering; joining groups, clubs and societies; participating in extra-mural activities and community projects; and taking on a manageable amount of part-time work - these are all good ways to make friends and be socially useful, at the same time as you open up opportunities for developing a wider range of skills. These will stand you in good stead for the world of work.

Examples

• You are doing a music degree at university but you want to broaden your skills base. You volunteer to learn to do the bookkeeping for the Music Society, in the process gaining valuable bookkeeping and money management experience, as well as demonstrating the ability to take on responsibilities.
• You live in a commune with eight other students. You take on a leadership role and devise systems to improve the running of the household. Such experience in testing out different systems and managing teams could teach you a range of valuable lessons, including problem solving and team work.
• You are very shy and identify that one of your gaps is confidence in public speaking and communication. You identify "safe" opportunities to practise speaking up and delivering your point of view in public, e.g. in seminars, in meetings and when socialising in larger groups.