What knowledge skills and abilities are required for this job?

The skills that you have on your CV will likely be top of the priority list for graduate employers to examine when seeking candidates for their organisations. Depending on the career sector and profession you choose to work in, there could be very specific skills, abilities and knowledge needed to do the job.

Complementing these are general competencies and behaviours that are essential for successful working. These are the key employability skills for your CV – the core skills that will make you effective at work, whatever job you do. They are sometimes known as transferable skills because you develop them over time and take them with you as your career develops; think of them as your passport to career success. You'll need to draw on your work experience to give evidence of these skills when you’re writing your application or CV.

This is about knowing how a business or industry works and what makes a company tick. Showing that you have an understanding of what the organisation wants to achieve through its products and services, and how it competes in its marketplace.

Read more about how to show your commercial awareness as a skill on your CV.

2. Communication

This covers verbal and written communication, and listening. It's about being clear, concise and focused; being able to tailor your message for the audience and listening to the views of others.

You might think that it’s difficult to present verbal communication as a skill on your CV, but read our guide on communication skills to understand how you can write about it as well as how it’ll affect your application and interview process.

3. Teamwork

You'll need to prove that you're a team player but also have the ability to manage and delegate to others and take on responsibility. It's about building positive working relationships that help everyone to achieve goals and business objectives.

4. Negotiation and persuasion

This is about being able to set out what you want to achieve and how, but also being able to understand where the other person is coming from so that you can both get what you want or need and feel positive about it.

If you’d like to see what types of employers are looking for negotiation and persuasion skills on your CV, and the sorts of questions that you’ll be asked, check out our guide to influencing skills .

5. Problem solving

You need to display an ability to take a logical and analytical approach to solving problems and resolving issues. It's also good to show that you can approach problems from different angles.

6. Leadership

You may not be a manager straight away, but graduates need to show potential to motivate teams and other colleagues that may work for them. It's about assigning and delegating tasks well, setting deadlines and leading by good example.

Read more about leadership skills and how employers will assess the skills on and off your CV.

7. Organisation

This is about showing that you can prioritise, work efficiently and productively, and manage your time well. It's also good to be able to show employers how you decide what is important to focus on and get done, and how you go about meeting deadlines.

8. Perseverance and motivation

Employers want people to have a bit of get-up-and-go. Working life presents many challenges and you need to show employers that you're the kind of person who will find a way through, even when the going gets tough... and stay cheerful-ish.

You won’t necessarily need to list motivation as a skill on your CV, but you will almost certainly be asked about it at interview or on some tailored application forms. Read our guide to answering the tricky interview question what motivates you?

9. Ability to work under pressure

This is about keeping calm in a crisis and not becoming too overwhelmed or stressed.

Read more about how to answer questions about handling stress at interview

10. Confidence

In the workplace you need to strike the balance of being confident in yourself but not arrogant, but also have confidence in your colleagues and the company you work for.

Read about how to boost your confidence before a job interview

More key skills for your CV that graduate recruiters look for

Think you’ve got the top 10 covered? If you can show your mastery of a further five key skills on your CV – managing ambiguity, resilience, analytical skills, entrepreneurial skills and IT skills – you’ll be even better placed to land the graduate job you want.

Managing ambiguity

Our advice explains what is meant by managing ambiguity and why it is a particularly important skill in complex, fast-changing environments, such as the retail sector.

Resilience

Graduate employers look for resilience in their recruits because it enables employees to cope with change, problems and stress. Find out how to develop your resilience and how employers assess it during the recruitment process.

Analytical skills

Analytical skills enable you to work with different kinds of information, see patterns and trends and draw meaningful conclusions. Analytical skills are not usually assessed on your CV, but are often assessed using aptitude or psychometric tests.

Enterprise and entrepreneurial skills

Spotting gaps in the market, suggesting ways to improve processes, or coming up with new ideas are all signs of an entrepreneurial approach. You don’t have to set up your own business to make use of your enterprise skills; many employers will be looking out for graduate recruits with these qualities.

IT skills

The best way to demonstrate your IT skills using your CV is to show that you have been able to use them to achieve something, and you can demonstrate this with examples from your studies, extracurricular activities or work experience.

How to describe your skills on your CV

Here are three tips to help you write skills on your CV in a way that showcases what you’ve gained and highlights your experience.

When you are giving details of the skills you developed in a job, internship or work experience placement, reflect the competencies listed in the job description and give examples of the most relevant skills first.
Use confident language to describe your skills, for example, by drawing attention to awards or praise employers have given you.
If you’re struggling to find a way to write about your holiday or part-time jobs and the skills you learned on your CV, remember that it’s better to focus on transferable skills than routine tasks.

You’ll find much more advice on how to describe your skills in our guide to writing your CV .

You can also check out our targetjobs guide to the top retail skills for your CV .

As well as skills specific to the job you’re going for, employers are also looking for general job skills. These are sometimes called ‘employability skills’ or ‘soft skills’. These types of skills will make you stand out.

Even if you don’t think you have any job skills, you have these employability skills if you’re:

dependable
easy to get along with
open to learning new things.

These skills might not be listed in the position description, but they are common skills needed to do most jobs. It’s good to think about these skills when you’re preparing for a job interview.

Different people define these skills in different ways, but generally they can be broken down into these eight categories:

communication
teamwork
problem solving
initiative and enterprise
planning and organising
self-management
learning
technology.

1. Communication

Depending on the job, communication means being clear about what you mean and what you want to achieve when you talk or write. It involves listening and being able to understand where someone else is coming from.

Communication skills also include non-verbal communication, such as the body language you use.

Examples of ways that you can develop or improve your communication skills include:

writing assignments and reports as part of your studies
blogging or using social media
making oral presentations as part of your class work
working in customer service (face-to-face or on the phone)
getting involved in a local club
being aware of how you hold your body.

2. Teamwork

Teamwork means being able to get along with the people you work with. It involves working together to achieve a shared goal.

Examples of ways that you can develop or improve your teamwork skills include:

doing group assignments as part of your studies
volunteering for a community organisation
thinking about how you can work better with other people at your workplace
joining a sporting team
organising with friends or family to have a neighbourhood working bee.

3. Problem solving

Problem solving means finding solutions when you’re faced with difficulties or setbacks. It involves being able to use a logical process to figure things out.

Examples of ways you can develop or improve your problem-solving skills include:

doing research assignments as part of your studies
dealing with complaints at your workplace
doing a study skills course that looks at problem solving
talking to other people about how they solved the problems they faced
fixing broken things around the house by looking up YouTube to find out how to do it.

4. Initiative and enterprise

Initiative and enterprise mean looking for things that need to be done and doing them without being asked. This can also involve thinking creatively to make improvements to the way things are done.

Examples of ways you can develop or improve your initiative and enterprise skills include:

approaching organisations and businesses about work placements or internships
setting up a fundraiser in your community
making or proposing changes to the way a group you belong to does things
doing things around the house without being asked.

5. Planning and organising

Planning and organising mean working out what you need to do, and how you'll do it. Planning and organising involve things like developing project timelines and meeting deadlines.

Examples of ways you can develop or improve your planning and organising skills include:

developing a study timetable and sticking to it
travelling by yourself overseas or interstate
managing your time around work, study and family commitments
helping to organise a community event
organising a family get-together.

6. Self-management

Self-management means:

being able to do your job without someone having to check up on you all the time
staying on top of your own deadlines
delegating tasks to other people to make sure things get done on time.

Examples of ways that you can develop or improve your self-management skills include:

doing a work experience placement or internship
asking for new responsibilities at work
developing a study schedule and sticking to it
joining a volunteer organisation
keeping your room tidy.

7. Learning

Learning is about wanting to understand new things and picking them up quickly. It also involves taking on new tasks and being able to adapt to change.

Examples of ways to develop or improve your learning skills include:

doing a short course or online course
researching skills and courses you’d like to do
starting a new hobby
joining a sporting or volunteer group
teaching yourself a new skill, like making the perfect omelette.

8. Technology

Technology skills mean being able to use a computer for word processing, using spreadsheets and sending email, or knowing how to use office equipment like a photocopier.

They also involve using social media, working with design or video editing software or knowing programming languages. Other technology skills relate to hardware, like knowing how to use EFTPOS, a cash register, a camera or a recording studio.

Examples of ways to develop or improve your technology skills include:

doing a short course or online course
asking for extra training at work
finding out what technology is used in the job you want and how it’s used
making a list of all the technology you're already using in your day-to-day life.

Highlighting your skills

Now that you've identified the employability skills you have, and ways you can improve them, you need to highlight them in your job applications.

To find out more about applying for jobs, visit our Applying for a job section.

To find out how to highlight your skills in a job interview, visit our job interviews section.

Links

Monash University Careers -Developing Your Skills
Advice on employability skills, including video interview with Monash graduates about how they got their skills.