Essential Skills Employers Look for in Graduates and How to Demonstrate Them

Graduate vacancies often ask for abilities that are easy to name and harder to show. Use work samples and short stories to give the employer evidence of how you approach a task.

Show communication through a real output

Mention a report, presentation or email that helped someone act. For example, explain how you summarised survey responses for a class presentation and clarified which results were based on small groups.

Explain problem solving and teamwork

Describe a situation where a deadline, missing information or conflicting views made work harder. Explain what you did and how it helped the group proceed. Use a specific contribution rather than speaking for the whole team.

Demonstrate reliable digital work

Choose a tool relevant to the role and explain a complete task. For example, “Used spreadsheet filters and totals to reconcile attendance entries and checked the summary against source records.” Save a fictional practice sample if the real records are confidential.

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