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The Future-Ready Skills to Improve While you are Queen’s

You might already have heard of the Future-Ready Award, Queen’s employability and skills award that recognises extra-curricular activities. It looks great on your CV, but why? 

Well, it shows employers that you have learned much more at university than just what was taught on your degree. 

Future-Ready Skills show recruiters you have the potential to transform organisations and add value early in your career. 

What employers want: Cognitive/intellectual skills 

What the Future-Ready Award can equip you with: 

Problem solving skills.  The ability to analyse issues, identify barriers and offer/implement potential solutions. This may involve prioritising tasks, coping with complexity, setting achievable goals and taking action.  It may also involve innovation at relevant points. 

Applying subject knowledge and understanding: potentially from the degree pathway. 

What employers want: Professional attributes/attitudes 

What the Future-Ready award can equip you with: 

Communication skills: the ability to communicate effectively in a range of professional contexts (both orally and in writing). 

Teamwork: the ability to work with others in a team, to communicate, influence, negotiate, demonstrating adaptability/flexibility, creativity, initiative, leadership and decision-making. 

Interpersonal skills:  includes ability to engage with and motivate others, sensitivity, global and cultural awareness, moral and ethical awareness and the ability to adjust behaviour accordingly. 

Leadership skills: leading other individuals or groups through a set of complex decisions as part of goal achievement within projects or significant and challenging activities.   

What employers want: Technical skills 

What the Future-Ready Award can equip you with: 

The ability to utilise modern technology: associated with work place or work-related activity.  

Information technology skills: includes ability to learn, apply and exploit relevant IT programmes. 

What employers want: Business and organisational skills 

What the Future-Ready Award can equip you with: 

Business operational skills/ Commercial awareness: understanding of relevant commercial, marketing, management and/or financial processes/principles. Awareness of differences in organisational cultures and practices. 

Business communication skills:  Written, verbal and/or online. 

What employers want: Language Skills and Cultural Awareness

 

What the Future-Ready Award can equip you with: 

Proficiency in foreign languages: developed through courses or overseas experiences.

Cultural awareness/intelligence: and the ability to implement this in a variety of multicultural contexts. 

Discover more about the Future-Ready Award