Employability Skills in Training Packages
Employability Skills
Employability Skills are skills that apply across a variety of jobs and life contexts. They are sometimes referred to as key skills, core skills, life skills, essential skills, key competencies, necessary skills, and transferable skills. Industry's preferred term is Employability Skills.
Employability Skills are defined as "skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one's potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions".
source: Employability Skills Summaries website - Home Page
During a high-level review of training packages, it was determined that greater recognition needed to be made for 'soft skills' which are often delivered alongside a qualification or unit's core skills. 'Employability Skills' are sometimes referred to as generic skills, capabilities or Key Competencies. Key Competencies were developed in 1992 to identify generic competencies for effective aprticipation in work. There was also an attempt to identify the relative skill level for individual competencies in units of competency.
Since 1992, however, the way people do work has changed considerably. A broader range of skills (some of them having facets relevant to more than one skill) had to be developed. In 2002, eight Employability Skills were identifyed following extensive consultation with industry:
- communication
- teamwork
- provlem solving
- initiative and enterprise
- planning and organisation
- self-management
- learning
- technology
Each of the skills had a number of facets (aspects of the skill) which employers had identified as important. However, each industry and job type has different facts so any list of facets presented in this website cannot be definitive.
Last updated on June 17, 2008