Soft Skills for Employment

In today’s world, being a graduate from a higher education course, you are expected to have certain skills that you can apply in the world of employment.

Working as a Team
Every job expects you to be able to work in a team and this is something I do practically every day at college. Working as a team has helped me to gain confidence with the people around me and helped me to get to know them better – especially my team for A11.

These social skills then transfer into the design industry, being friendly and talking to other people in a polite manner is something you’re going to have to do on a daily basis, whether with clients or employers, to communicate ideas across.

Presentations
Presentations are something I have struggled with in the past; standing up in front of people and talking really sets me off into a gibbering wreck. This is something I greatly need to improve as in the design industry I will be expected to present for a number of things; pitching ideas, communicating a design, reporting on research to groups etc.

Time Planning
This is a vital skill, especially in design work, meeting deadlines is the make or break of a company and it’s reputation. An employer will expect deadlines to be met. My time planning has improved vastly since the first assignment! I’ve always thought of myself as a punctual person who is rarely late for anything, as I like to arrange at work/college at least 20 minutes before my start time.

Problem Solving
Being able to solve problems relating to web work is something I find I am quite good at. Using this skill in employment will mean that my time is used more efficiently for projects, which in the long run will mean that I complete more and more projects in less time. Which means that during 'downtime' I may encounter, I can be developing and learning other design related skills.