Employability of graduate student (Essay Sample)

Employability for Graduate Students Name Institution Course Professor Date Employability for Graduate Students Introduction The term employability refers to a management philosophy whose responsibility is to recognize work-related performance from the competencies and creativity of all workers (Archer and Davison, 2008 p. 17). It helps business owners to create a conducive working environment for professional and personal growth opportunities. In others words, when an organization attracts and employees talented workforce, it gains crucial skills which assist in the overall growth of the firm. Thus, every organization strives to employee skilled workers in different fields to remain competitive in the market. When an employee gets a new contract in the company, it means improvement towards a higher commitment to incessant development and learning. Therefore, it requires every employee to understand and accept changes in the workplace for the smooth running of activities. In completion of university/college, graduate students are supposed to have gained important skills of managing their colleagues at the workplace (Archer and Davison, 2008 p. 19). For instance, the knowledge I acquired has helped me understand how to treat my colleagues who have diverse behaviors. In every setup, people possess different characters and failure to manage them well, may result in interpersonal conflicts. In the modern day, all graduate employers put more emphasis on attracting candidates who possess the right competencies and skills for their companies. Usually, it depends on the profession or career sector you would like to work in, and it could need specific abilities, skills, and knowledge to fit in that particular job (Dacre and Sewell, 2007 p. 278). To complement general behaviors and competences in the workplace, recruiters focus on several skills which are discussed below. Skills Desired by Graduate Recruiters Commercial Awareness: As a graduate student, you need to show the employer that you understand how the industry or business operates (Fugate, Kinicki and Ashforth, 2004 p. 24). The most important aspects here is to show that you understand what the firm wants to achieve through its services and products. For instance, mentioning the goals and objectives of the company and giving tips on how to realize the same makes the employer believe in you. On the other hand, you must show that you understand how the business competes in the industry (Schomburg and Teichler, 2011 p 14). Mentioning some of the key competitors and how to come up with a strategic plan to counter competition is helpful. Communication: This includes both written and verbal communication as well as listening. Effective communication entails being, concise, clear, and focused (Watts, 2006 p. 66). The employer is always concerned about whether a graduate can manage to tailor information to a specific audience and giving colleagues a listening ears to their opinions (Tomlinson, 2008 p. 48) . Communications skills help to enhance positive relationships with different stakeholders in the organization. When there are effective communications, managers can help to avert situations that may result in conflict in the organization. Teamwork: Often, recruiters are looking for employees who prove to be team players. Therefore, graduate students must show their capability to delegate and manage their colleagues and take on roles (Harvey, 2003). Being a good team leader or player requires one to build a positive relationship among different parties so as to realize the set goals and objectives of the company. Therefore, graduates are required to grasp knowledge on teamwork skills as it is crucial for all business operations. Persuasion and Negotiation Power: This entails the ability to put forward what you want to achieve. Also, it requires one to understand the differences of other people and unite them so as to realize general goals (Schomburg and Teichler, 2011 p 19). In many cases, employers want to recruit graduates with a positive feeling about what they do and for others. Hence, one should prove to possess persuasion and negotiation abilities to increase his or her employability chance. Ability to Solve Problems: As a graduate student, you must prove to the employers that you have the ability to solve problems in an analytical and logical way. At this point, you must show that you can tackle different issues from different angles (Tomlinson, 2008 p. 54). The reason is that there will be different problems at different times in the workplace. Showing the ability to effectively solve problems is key as every organization wants to focus on its goals and objectives with minimal interruptions (Yorke, 2006). Therefore, graduate students are required to possess this important skill so as to increase their employability. Leadership: On graduation, you might not be a manager, but you must show the recruiter that you have the ability to motivate groups and other workers in the organization. Graduate students are therefore required to have knowledge on delegating and assigning duties, setting goals and being role models to other workers (Tomlinson, 2007 p. 285). Also, as a leader, graduates are supposed to prove their ability to come up with strategic plans that can help the company to realize its goals. Many organizations are keen to identify graduate students with leadership skills as they are an important asset to the organization. Organisation: This set of skill involves showing the employer that you can work efficiently, prioritize, manage and work productively (Harvey, 2003). The importance of organization is that it helps employees to make a good judgment on what is important so that it is done in good time. It helps employees to perform different tasks in an organized manner to meet deadlines effectively (Yorke, 2006). Therefore, all employers are looking for candidates who are organized in their work as they help the business to meet its targets easily. Motivation and Perseverance: Employers looks for graduate students who are self-motivated and ready to persevere challenging working environment. Often, the working life is characterized by many challenges (Brown, Hesketh and Williams, 2004). Therefore, recruiters focus on employing individuals who are strong in challenging times since they have the ability to come up with long lasting solutions in the work area. Hence, graduates should make sure to show their employers that they can persevere hard times so as to increase their employability (Yorke, 2006). Competence to work under pressure: Usually, recruiters want to find employees who can keep calm during a crisis. Therefore, as a graduate student, one should prove that he or she can manage to avoid stress which may turn out to be more destructive (Torres-Machí, Carrión, Yepes and Pellicer, 2012 p. 165). Having this skill is important as it helps the manager and employees to come up with an effective solution during challenging moments. Confidence: Always, employees are required to exhibit a higher level of confidence and not arrogance. Confidence means that as an employee, one is aware of what is required of him or her in performing duties (Tomlinson, 2007 p. 288). Therefore, as a graduate student, you should prove to the recruiter that you understand the responsibilities of your career. At the same time, you should show confidence in your company and other employees. Methodology To effectively analyze employability among graduate students, use of interview questions is important in tackling every aspect. During the interview, various questions are asked to ascertain the interviewees’ awareness of the company and job. The reason for this was to get personal views on how they understand the business and its operations. Also, the interview questions set awareness of what the recruiters look for in every graduate student that seeks to be employed in their organizations (Yorke, 2006). Every question helps the recruiter to evaluate the candidates and come up with a conclusive decision after interviewing all participants. Therefore, below are some of the interview questions that candidates are supposed to answer during an interview. 1. Can you tell me a little about yourself? 2. What do you know about the company? 3. Why do you want this job? 4. What are your greatest professional strengths? 5. Why are you leaving your current job? 6. What are you looking for in a new position? 7. How would your boss and co-workers describe you? 8. How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations? 9. What do you think we could do better or differently? 10. Do you have any questions for us? Findings From this study, it came to the realization that many graduate students have difficulty in answering interview questions. Thus, this paper meant to help them understand what is required of them while answering interview questions. Most importantly, graduates are required to be aware of pertinent skills that employers desire (Harvey, 2003). For instance, it was evident that many candidates did not prepare well when going for an interview. This caught them unaware when they are asked questions about the company and its competitors. In many times, candidates do not prepare sufficiently to understand how the firm operates and which companies are their competitors in the market. Also, many graduate student is not aware of their professional competencies. Describing personal competencies help the recruiter to believe that one can see many to undertake specified roles (Yorke, 2006). Therefore, all graduates should be informed on such important aspects of interview questions so as to increase their employability. Conclusions Evidently, graduate students need to be trained on impor...