What is employability?
The term employability is used in different contexts and in different ways.
a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy
Employability is not the same as gaining a graduate job, rather it is about the capacity to function successfully in a role and be able to move between occupations, thus remaining employable throughout their life.
What employability is and is not
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CareerEDGE model
Developed by Pool & Sewell (2007) and based on a range of employability models and theories, the CareerEDGE model provides a useful summary of five essential elements that aid students’ employability:
Career Development Learning – the knowledge, skills and experience to help students manage and develop their careers.
Experience – work and life experiences help students develop a broader range of skills and are attractive for prospective employers
Degree subject knowledge, understanding & skills
Generic Skills
Emotional Intelligence – “the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships” (Goleman, 1998). This is particularly important in recruitment situations and in developing effective working relationships.
All five elements are important and missing one can considerably reduce a student’s employability. Each element is important in its own right, but all five overlap and are integral to each other.
