Skills Training

Employers are looking to recruit graduates with a broad range of experience, and the ability to demonstrate the wide range of skills that they have developed through academic study, work experience, and extra-curricular activities.

There is no definitive list of the skills that every employer will want you to possess, but they can be summarised into a number of broad categories:

  • Numeracy / IT skills
  • Communication skills
  • Team-working skills
  • Research / critical thinking skills
  • Creativity/problem-solving skills
  • Organisational skills
  • Commercial awareness

During your time at University, you will need to develop these skills, in the balance that most suits the types of jobs you’re interested in. Everything you do in your degree will help with these, in greater and lesser measures, but you will need to put in the time and go above and beyond in order to stand out from other graduates when you enter the job market.

Fortunately, the Careers and Employability Service has a detailed part of its website dedicated to skills development. There are also lots of services available if you’d like advice or support with particular skills – get in touch with an Employability Advisor if you would like to speak to someone.

Activities and opportunities during your degree

Of course, employability is more than drafting a CV and learning how to interview well. Every one of your interests and hobbies, your experiences while travelling and the things you learn for fun, all combine to inform who you and and what you have to offer an employer. While studying, you will have plenty of opportunities to try new things and expand your skillset.

The University offers a wide array of options for expanding your experiences and skills. If you are interested in learning to code and the technical functions of IT, want to learn another language, or see the world, you can do so alongside your degree. If you want to spend a year in industry and gain valuable experience of a particular company or sector, you can incorporate that into your degree. And if you just want to learn something new, unconnected to your degree, you can do that to. Click the links below to find out more about some of the schemes and opportunities available to you as students of the University of Kent.

  • A Year in Industry
    • As part of your degree, you can add a year in industry, gaining invaluable work experience and distinguishing yourself from your peers.
  • Student Rep/Ambassador
    • Would you like to represent other students in the decisions made by the University? Would you like to represent the University to schools and other groups?
  • Language Skills
    • Speaking another language is an superb skill to have in the job market, and in life generally.
  • Study Abroad
    • As part of your degree, you can study for a term or a year at one of hundreds of universities across the world.
  • Add a Year in Computing to your degree
    • Technology plays an ever-growing role in both the employment world and life generally. You can add a year to your degree to greatly expand your roster of skills, and broaden your job prospects.
  • Kent Extra courses
    • If you would like to study something purely for your own interest, head over to the Kent Extra website to see what courses are available.