Like most Graduates, when I completed my degree I was assured that I had the skills I needed to go out into the real world and make a success of myself… exactly what that was doing was still up for debate, but at congregation, Bill Bryson informed me that I was ready to take on the world, and using the skills I had been equipped with though my three years at Durham, I would make a difference. Now I am sure that without my years at Durham I would be in the position that I am now, but given that I am due to speak at Newman College in Birmingham later this month, its a good chance to reflect on the skills I thought that I had, and thought that I would need when I left University, and the skills that I feel are important to my role now, and importantly, my future career.
I spent a lot of time updating my CV just before Graduation, added some text to back up my career choices to date, and set about writing a small blurb on myself. To do this, I attempted to talk about the skills that I thought I had shown to date, and how they could be important to business. Team working was key to me, an ability to take on a number of roles within a team and to ensure that overall objectives are met. I was also able to talk about my competitive nature as shown by my involvement with Rowing, as well as building on the commercial awareness that I picked up during a range of part time jobs before and through University. Added to this, I put some general information about computer skills, a basic understanding of two European Languages.
After turning all of the above into a more ‘readable’ group of sentences, I sat back and truly thought that I was fully equipped to take on the world. However, the truth is that I had hardly begun to think about some of the skills that I would need when embarking on a professional services career.
These days, new graduates are expected to be able to cover all of the above as basic. What is important now to employers, in my opinion, is a creative mind-set, the ability to look at a problem and find a solution that no-one else can. To then be able to freely and effectively communicate that solution to others, is again vital. You need to be able to talk to a wide range of people, and build a working relationship with them that provides both parties with benefits. This means that you need to start thinking about building networks, something which after eight or so months as the Apprentice, I am sure is one of my most important soft skills. Networking is something that can be learned, and I am reading a fantastic book at the minute which gives some idea of where to start, Andy Lopata’s “And death came third…“. I am also a firm believer that creative thinking can also be taught, where you can encourage and develop your mind into thinking about problems in a new way, and as such, find innovative solutions.
There are also other very important skills that are key to a success in any time of business. Simple telephone manner, the ability to write a coherent email, as well as being able to hold a simple yet intelligent conversation with a work colleague about a subject you feel strongly about… all key factors in getting noticed and becoming a success at work. These seem to be very simple skills, but it would appear that not enough Graduates are making clear that they have them. Perhaps its a lost art, I was certainly not taught how to write an email as part of my degree, but then again I imagine that those sorts of skills are Firm dependent, and as such are difficult to learn before you become part of the firm.
My next placement will take me to work with a Freelance Creative, Stefan Lewandowski who is one of the most creative people that I have met to date, and who represents a hugely active but not always appreciated market segment. I have seen the benefits of creative thinking at work, and I am delighted that as the Apprentice I will have the chance to learn from one of the masters, and hopefully impart some of my creative thinking on the projects I will be involved with.
In all, I believe that there still is a skills gap, one between where Graduates think that they are following graduation and the skills that employers are expecting them to demonstrate. I am delighted, and very humbled, at being given the chance to talk to people at Newman College about my experience, and all I am going to do is tell them to think about things a little differently, and hopefully that will help some of them.
