Transferable skills learnt through studying by Alison McKinley

Obtaining a college or university degree significantly improves your career prospects. During lectures, coursework and group projects, you gain the important knowledge that will help you excel in your chosen career path. Yet, in addition to knowledge and competencies, employers are also interested in so-called soft skills that can be applied to a variety of professions and improve your performance.

As you revise for exams, write research papers and participate in extracurricular activities with other students, you naturally build a wealth of transferable skills that make you a desired candidate for a job. Take a look at these skills you didn’t know you were good at, and don’t hesitate to add them to your CV.

12 Study skills that make you an asset for employers

Time management

Student life is not only lectures, online tests and writing assignments. Many students combine their studies with extracurricular activities, college athletics or part-time jobs. Managing multiple priorities without missing deadlines and family tasks requires excellent time management skills. Students who have developed time management skills in university make reliable and responsible employees.

Research skills

As you spend hours in a library choosing the sources for your essay on English Literature or a term paper, you strengthen your research skills. The ability to conduct in-depth research of quality sources is in demand not only for professional researchers and sociologists. If you can navigate reliable information for a report or project, your services will be in demand in any company.

Presentation delivery

Many jobs require presentation skills. You may be asked to present your ideas in front of the team, deliver a report for senior management or deliver an engaging product presentation to a client. If you delivered lots of presentations and speeches in class in front of your peers, you’ll feel more comfortable delivering professional presentations. Moreover, you’ll be a lot more skilled in it.

Written communication

Students have to write lots of papers during their studies. There’s a good side in practicing academic writing, though. As you learn to write an assignment of nearly every type, you improve written communication skills. Moreover, you have to correspond a lot with tutors, keeping the writing style concise and professional. Students who are strong writers usually show valuable written communication skills at work.

Teamwork

It’s not only through essay writing that we learn to communicate better with others. As a student, you probably work on lots of group projects in class and beyond. This fosters an important skill of teamwork, which means the ability to communicate with people whose values and working style is different from yours, plan the workload and delegate tasks, resolve conflicts, and more. Teamwork is necessary for most jobs and industries!

Organisation skills

Organisation skills mean you have the ability to manage schedules, set priorities, create to-do lists and complete tasks in a timely manner. This is essential for being a good student, and a good employee accordingly. This skill is closely linked with time management, but it rather means the ability to plan your daily activities effectively and handle several tasks at a time, which will be especially helpful in a hectic, high-pressure work environment.

Critical thinking

Academia is the best place to develop critical thinking. You have to evaluate and analyse the sources, structure the information in a logical way and dispute about certain concepts and ideas in your industry. Moreover, when completing research papers and critical thinking essays, you learn to organise your ideas in a logical, well-structured manner and come to meaningful conclusions. The ability to view things critically is valued across many industries.

Accepting constructive criticism

As a student, you have to receive constructive criticism from professors and tutors and respond to it appropriately, this is also the case in the workplace when receiving constructive feedback.  For example, if they returned your paper, you may want to pay a custom writing service for revision, and the academic writer will improve it to help you get a good grade. Such services typically provide cheap assistance to students, and your work will be done by a custom writer who is an expert in your subject. They also respect deadlines and deliver orders on time.

Self-motivation

Pursuing a higher education takes years, and it shows your deep motivation that you can stably invest your time and energy into study. Moreover, it takes self-motivation to attend lectures, write papers and get busy with other student activities on a regular basis. In this regard, study is similar to work, as you are required to perform well under any circumstances. This skill will definitely buy the employer into you.

Problem solving

We don’t become experts in something from day one. The learning process involves a lot of problems and setbacks, and the ability to overcome those setbacks and receive feedback is what makes you a successful student. Difficult essay topics and confusing course modules require you to put the problem solving skill in use. You need to think outside the box and approach the problems under different angles, and this skill will take you a long way in the workplace as well.

Knowledge of foreign languages

If you’ve learned one or more foreign languages in college, this is a big plus. Since most companies have international teams, it will ease your communication at work a lot. Moreover, knowledge of foreign languages helps you understand different cultures. Last but not least, employers are willing to pay more to someone who knows at least one foreign language.

Creativity

You work on creativity in college when you are tasked to create a non-standard solution to a popular problem, write creative essays, or work on group projects. Creativity is needed for typical creative jobs such as design, writing, advertising and screenwriting. Young professionals who can think of new ways of solving problems and achieving business objectives are in demand in any industry and profession.

About the author: Alison McKinley is a freelance writer who contributes to a variety of lifestyle, technology and education blogs. She also works for online custom essay writing website writing-help.org that provides paper assistance services for students. Her mission is to inspire and help people learn new skills and live a balanced life.