2 Skills employers are looking for
In Section 1, you touched upon some of the key skills employers value but feel are currently lacking in their workforce, such as adaptability, time management and communication. You’re now going to explore some of these skills in more detail.
First, watch this short clip where employer Carol Fitzsimons explains what she is looking for in an intern.
Download this video clip.Video player: Video 2
Transcript: Video 2
[TEXT ON SCREEN: What do employers look for in interns?]
CAROL FITZSIMONS:
We need to see somebody that's willing to listen and learn and learn more about the organisation as well as the role they're taking on. Passion and enthusiasm for the project or the organisation is also so important, because what we need is somebody who's going to actually take on the project-- it's a short period of time-- and actually have that excitement to be working on it and take that ownership and run with it.
[TEXT ON SCREEN: What do employers need from interns?]
The ability to communicate, to tell us how well they're progressing against the plan, tell us what challenges they're facing, and I think often that's where people struggle. They don't maybe always want to tell an employer the things that they can't do. So those communication skills are really important for us as well.
Video 2
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The fact that you have proactively sought out and undertaken work experience will already demonstrate some of these skills. You can then use your work experience as an opportunity to develop the others.