Tutorial – Appendix 1 Employability – P2 – L1

What are employers looking for?	What does that mean?	How can you develop this skill?
Ability to articulate what you have to offer.	Reflect on the skills you have gained throughout your tutorials and other units AND develop good communication skills so that you can talk about your skills and provide evidence that you have them to potential employers.	Reflection Update your Employability Skills Record on the intranet Communication Skills Oral presentations (tutorials; some lecture units; lab meetings) Essays (tutorials; many lecture units) Debate (some tutorials; some lecture units)
Self awareness	Know what your skills, strengths and weaknesses are and have examples of how and when you have demonstrated this knowledge.	When you have completed a tutorial (eg Group Based Learning exercises (GBLs), presentations etc) reflect on your performance, write examples of how you did well or could have done better in your Employability Skills Record.
Self management/ability to manage learning	Effectively manage your time and complete work within deadlines.	All tutorial activities and the data handling modules that add on to them have specified deadlines for which you have to plan ahead and meet.
Self efficacy	Belief in your capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome effectively. If you have a strong sense of self efficacy you are more likely to challenge yourself with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated.	You will be supported to undertake challenging activities, successful completion of which should boost your self efficacy e.g. oral presentations, essays on unfamiliar topics, team poster presentations,GBLs.
Self esteem/confidence	Have a good opinion of yourself and confidence in your abilities.	You will have the opportunity to rise to the challenges provided by completing independent work to deadlines, to learn from constructive criticism and feedback from Academic Advisors and peers.

Critical thinking	Able to analyse an idea or a piece of work objectively and weigh up its strengths and weaknesses. Recognise your own biases and be open to new ideas if evidence supports them.	Essays and oral presentations are structured presentations of a logical argument. You will learn to read and critically analyse a number of sources of information by presenting your work in oral and written form and receiving feedback on your work.
Teamwork	Proven ability to work well within a team AND an understanding of the role you take within a team.	Many tutorial activities involve teamwork: e.g. GBLs, poster presentation.Community/environmental team projects may also be undertaken.
Project management	Project management requires effective planning, and management of resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project objectives.	Several tutorial activities take the form of projects: e.g. group poster presentations, GBLs,community/environmental projects.
Problem solving	Grasp what needs to be done and reach a satisfactory solution to a problem.	Group posters pose a number of problems to be solved, the data handling modules include problem solving, and all tutorial programmes include one or more exercises on problem solving.
Cultural sensitivity/awareness	Experience of interacting with individuals from a range of different backgrounds and ability to adapt your approach to suit the needs of the people you are working with.	We have a diverse staff and student body so you are likely to interact with individuals from a range of backgrounds during your tutorials.Community/environmental projects provide the opportunity to work within the local community, which is also diverse.
Leadership skills	Proven ability to lead a team effectively.	You will have the opportunity to act as chair for GBL sessions and the group poster. The chair guides discussions and makes decisions on the outcomes. If you do a community project you may also get an opportunity to identify and lead a small group project.
Innovation/Creativity	Being able to come up with new ideas, approaches and solutions. Thinking ‘outside the box’ and being able to suggest new/improved ways of doing things.	You will have the opportunity to be innovative in terms of your approach to topics, ideas for GBLs in tutorials, mini projects and in how you present your work and overcome problems. Your main opportunity to improve these skills will be in your final year project.
Written Communication	Being able to use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. Effectively organising your ideas and communicating these in a coherent manner.	Throughout your degree you will develop your written communication skills through your assignments such as essays, dissertation and project write ups.
Research skills	This may refer to researching literature, searching databases, identifying appropriate resources and extracting key information or may refer to practical scientific research. Research is also an important skill when looking for and applying for jobs.	You will have the opportunity to carry out research throughout your degree. You should do extra reading around your lectures including reading recent primary literature and review articles. Research will be required for essays, your dissertation and literature review. Your main opportunity for research will be during your final year project.
Numeracy	Being able to work with numbers is a key skill and may range from basic mental arithmetic to being able to analyse and interpret data.	Data Handling modules and most practicals/projects are designed to help you develop your numerical skills and ability to use statistics. Numerical skills are required in your lab work to work out concentrations and dilutions and to calculate whether results are statistically significant.
Presentation skills	Proven ability to communicate your ideas both visually and orally.	You will undertake presentations in tutorials, field courses and as part of your final year projects. Becoming an ambassador, PASS leader or student rep gives you further opportunity to develop your presentation skills.