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Internships and other work experiences
Internships and other work experiences

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2.6 Identifying other important skills

From the outside, it’s not always immediately obvious which skills are being used and developed in different work experiences. Quite often, more skills are being developed and used than first appears. In the next activity, the example case studies will highlight just how many skills one period of work experience can develop.

Activity 2 Which skills are these interns developing?

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes for this activity

Look at the following work experience case studies and see if you can identify the skills each individual will be developing. Some of the skills you might identify haven’t been covered in this section. Still note them down in the box adjacent to each example as they are also key skills which will be valued by employers.

Table 2 Identifying skills

Alice works part time in a very busy coffee shop with six staff. She serves customers and takes their payments, arranges food and cold drinks in the display fridge, and generally keeps the café tidy.

 

 
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Soraya has an internship in the local council offices, where she works with the housing team. She accompanies housing officers on their visits, does basic admin and is helping them overhaul their social media presence.

 

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Darren has managed to secure a week of work shadowing within a local publishing firm. He also works full time as an accountant and is doing a part-time degree.
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Discussion

You could have chosen some of the following skills:

Table 2 (completed) Identifying skills

Alice works part time in a very busy coffee shop with six staff. She serves customers and takes their payments, arranges food and cold drinks in the display fridge, and generally keeps the café tidy.

  • Communication (face to face)
  • Empathy
  • Social skills
  • Problem solving
  • Time management
  • Team working
  • Attention to detail

 

Soraya has an internship in the local council offices, where she works with the housing team. She accompanies housing officers on their visits, does basic admin and is helping them overhaul their social media presence.

  • Administrative skills
  • Communication (both face to face and online)
  • Empathy
  • Social skills
  • Team working
  • Time management
  • Working under pressure

 

Darren has managed to secure a week of work shadowing within a local publishing firm. He also works full time as an accountant and is doing a part-time degree.
  • Communication
  • Networking skills
  • Active listening and questioning
  • Time management
  • Prioritising

 

You’ll see from this activity that many of the skills that employers value can be developed from a wide range of different experiences.

So now you are more aware of some of the skills you could develop from almost any work experience you choose, how do you make the most of them in your future career? The key is to be self-aware, and you’ll learn more about that in the next section.