Everyone possesses a range of skills. It's important to be aware of the skills you have, as well as the level of any particular skill you have. Remember you can have a skill at a basic level and improve that skill level to an advanced level.
Careers ServiceBuild your skills & experience
Employers & jobs
Job adverts will normally include a person specification section where the employer states details of the skills/competencies required for the job on offer. To make a good application you need to look at the "skills and experience required" section and make sure the skills and experience section of your CV/application form provide evidence of what the employer is looking for.
How do I get skills or improve my skills?
There are lots of opportunities to develop or improve your skills. You can do this through:
- your course
- work experience (part-time jobs, vacation work, volunteering, internships, insight events)
- extracurricular activities i.e. involvement in clubs, hobbies or sports
These will help you to give good answers on application forms and/or to employers' questions at interview.
There are other types of practical skills that lots of students have, for example digital skills, language skills. Make sure potential employers see your full skill set on your CV.
IT, data, digital marketing & finance skills
There are many opportunities to develop IT/Data/Digital Marketing/Finance skills using free platforms:
- Are you a female or non-binary student who wants to learn to code for FREE? Check out our new partner Code First Girls and their free online courses and top employment opportunities with brands across the world (Strathclyde students and graduates use our unique code: UPSTRA)
- Google Garage - develop skills for a digital world
- Codecademy
- Twitter Flight School - training on how to advertise on Twitter
- Ahrefs Academy - free video tutorials on digital marketing and blogging for business
- Semrush Academy - free online digital marketing courses and exams
- Finance Unlocked - learn about every aspect of finance, delivered through videos
- Udemy - wide range of online courses (some must be paid for)
- The Skills Toolkit - free digital and numeracy courses
- Hubspot Academy - free sales and marketing courses
- LinkedIn Learning - one month free trial
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
MOOCs offer free options to develop additional skills which you might need for your future career:
Competitions
You can build your skills and add to your CV by taking part in competitions. Here are a few ideas:
Develop your skills using Careers Service resources
Useful links:
- Prospects: The importance of extra curricular activities
- targetjobs: Career-friendly activities you can do while social distancing
- targetjobs: Skills for getting a job
- Equality and Diversity