How to build the skills you need to advance your career

Hard skills  

Hard skills are job-specific abilities which you will learn in your degree or through work experience. These technical skills vary depending on the industry you’re looking to work in. They might be quantitative skills, IT skills, or operations skills, for example. Having the relevant hard skills will prove to employers that you are a qualified candidate for the job. 

A speciality master’s degree is a fantastic way to build the specific hard skills needed for your industry, explains McDow. You can also learn hard skills from concentration in an MBA or an undergraduate business degree, as well as through on-the-job training in a work placement or internship. 

Soft skills  

“Soft skills are just as important – if not more important – than hard skills, especially in the selection process,” said McDow. “Employers want to know not just ‘can you do the job?’ but also ‘will you do the job?’ and ‘do you have the right motivation and interest to do the job well?’” 

These soft skills are applicable to a wide range of jobs and are not usually targeted to a particular profession. They include skills such as problem-solving, teamwork, public speaking, leadership and management.  

One of the most important soft skills you can learn is how to network and build relationships. According to McDow, you should spend as much time working on building relationships as you do working on developing your hard skills. 

“Students often believe that they can just hone their craft and get the best skills and then the job will come. But if they're not able to build relationships with people, those people will not understand what they’re interested in doing,” said McDow. 

But who should students be building relationships with? For full-time students, this would be employers, says McDow.  

However, for students who are working while studying it’s important to also network with colleagues. “You colleagues will see you doing your job and they might know you go to classes in the evening, but you should let them know what you’re studying and how you're looking to advance in the company,” explained McDow. Being clear with your intentions will help you get to the next step in your career.  

There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills at university: 

Get familiar with your university’s career centre 

One of the best ways to build up these career-enhancing skills is to take advantage of the services your university’s career centre is offering, says McDow. She suggests partnering with the career centre on the first day of university, or even before you start – making the most of the digital tools offered to improve your résumé  and brush up your LinkedIn profile. 

Don’t wait until after you graduate to start learning the skills you need to successfully job hunt, McDow warns. 

“Many people think, ‘Well, I'm just going to finish my degree and then I will focus on searching for a job’. But actually, there is an advantageous window of doing the relationship building and the job search while you are a student,” she said. 

Budget time to develop job search skills 

“To get the skills you’ll need, budget a little time every week to pay attention to developing these skills,” said McDow. 

Georgia State University has launched a market-ready to-do list: 11 tasks which students are encouraged to complete while at university to help boost their chances of finding work after graduation.  

This to-do list includes pre-job search preparation, such as LinkedIn profile feedback; job search help, such as interview practice; and lastly opportunities to network, such as employer engagement events. 

“Our résumé reviewer gives instant, strong feedback down to every bullet point, making sure every sentence is meaningful. We also have workshops and employer engagement events where students can engage with the job market,” McDow said. 

Network regularly through coffee chats  

Coffee chats are an excellent way to build relationships with professionals in an informal setting and can help you make informed decisions about your career path. If you’re interested in a particular job role, reach out to the people who work at that organisation and ask for advice over a coffee, says McDow. 

“Connect with someone who has a job that you think sounds interesting. Letting them know of your curiosity about their job will help them think of you when they have a position open up.” 

 Alternatively, you can connect with potential employers at careers events hosted by your university. Georgia State University organises many networking events, including employer information sessions, career fairs and workshops with employers. 

Apply the skills you’re learning in your degree 

“Start applying the skills you're learning in classes, whether this is through work, campus leadership or community involvement,” said McDow. “If you’re working on your finance skills for example, you can offer to be the treasurer for an organisation or club. Then, when you’re asked in a job interview, you can give practical examples of when you’ve used these skills.”  

Georgia State University offers support for students who are looking to put their skills into action. Its online student job search tool connects students to more than 5,000 employers looking to hire full-time, part time, internship and co-op positions. 

Don’t worry too much  

How will you know when you have all the skills you need and are sufficiently prepared for the graduate job market? In short, you won’t. “No matter how honed your skills are in a university context, applying the skills in another organisation is going to feel and look different,” said McDow. 

“University teaches you to learn how to learn. In a new job, your employer has the responsibility of training and onboarding you in a way that lets you put your skills to work. There will probably be some learning to do when you get there. 

“I always assure business students that if you have completed your business degree, even if it doesn't feel like it, you have learned how to learn and you're going to exceed in your new job and be a star doing it.”