5. Develop your skills
Build on the skills you’ll need to help you reach your goals, aims and dreams.
Even if you don’t have a clear aim in mind, building your skills now will help to make you a balanced person, who is able to demonstrate all-round skills which will help you with your studies and in your future career.
Thinking about your skills now is really important and a great way to get ahead, as future employers will want to know about your experiences and find out more about the skills you have learned and how these might fit in with their organisation.
Entrepreneurship and innovation skills are important no matter what type of role you go into after your studies. You can find out more about developing your innovation skills and starting your own business on our Innovation & Entrepreneurship Course.
Your experiences of studying in the UK will help you to develop many skills:
Your studies will give you research, analytical and team working skills
Getting involved in running a club or society will help your planning and organisational skills
By joining a sports team or volunteering you will learn team working and communication skills and understand the importance of challenging yourself to achieve your potential
Use the activities below to understand more:
My communication skills, especially my interview skills, needed improving so I contacted my university careers service and arranged a practice interview session, which was fantastic! Whilst I was there I also booked a place on a Networking Skills course which has really helped me with talking to new people, especially in a formal situation.
Learning activity
What skills can I develop in the UK? As you prepare for your studies in the UK, learn more about how studying and living in the UK will help you develop valuable skills for your future:
My career plan
Here is the fifth step to help you to think about developing your skills to boost your employability - download the template below and spend some time to go through the questions.
Section 5 of the Career Plan is all about thinking and planning how you will start to gain the key skills you need to help you get ahead in your career.