Around the world, many students are completing tertiary qualifications. These qualifications can provide a solid theoretical foundation in a chosen field, but applied qualifications are rare and graduates need more practical skills to stand out from other applicants when looking for a job.
Of course, a degree that focuses on theory is valuable. However, applying theoretical knowledge and equipping graduates with market-ready skills has many more benefits.
This post discusses why graduates need practical skills to enter the workforce and some short online courses and workshops you can complete at SACAP Global to help you get job-ready.
A changing world
It’s no secret that the world is changing rapidly. Today, it’s more important than ever to be adaptable and offer value in an unpredictable global marketplace. Technological advances like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and hybrid work mean the market demands relevant skills.
Needing market-ready skills is nothing new. However, the workplace has become increasingly competitive. A diverse skillset is essential when companies operate in less favourable economic conditions. Graduates must ensure their CV stands out!
To ensure employability, students and graduates must focus on gaining practical skills during their studies to ensure they can confidently enter the job market. Internships and completing applied short courses are other ways to gain market-ready skills.
A pragmatic approach
When we talk about market-ready skills, what exactly are these?
According to recent data insight from LinkedIn, adaptability is currently one of the most in-demand skills, in addition to a range of “uniquely human skills”. These include:
- Communication: a chaotic world needs people who can communicate effectively across multiple channels in a world of hybrid work.
- Customer service: building personal relationships and trust are human-specific and different from what AI can do.
- Leadership: to run an effective business, you need people who can lead and motivate others to achieve and succeed.
- Project Management: AI can help streamline many processes, but we still need people to manage and coordinate complex tasks and projects.
- Management: building versatile management skills is essential to drive business performance.
- Teamwork: Working with people from different backgrounds is vital in today’s world to drive performance and ensure that businesses stay adaptable.
- Sales: AI tools can help us manage sales data, but we still need people who can build relationships and bring in new customers.
- Problem-solving: Critical thinking and strategy are human-specific skills for adapting and responding to an ever-changing marketplace.
As we see from this list, many in-demand skills involve communicating clearly and working well with others.
So, how does one learn these skills? With the right approach, graduates can already start to develop these critical skills parallel to their qualification. But how does this happen in practice? Work experience is one choice. However, students might be unable to study and work simultaneously, making online courses a more flexible and convenient option.
Online courses with practical assessment
Thankfully, with the advancements in online learning platforms, it’s easier to upskill while you are working or already a full-time student. Some online short courses incorporate assessments in the course material to help learners apply their practical skills. For example, when learning about concepts such as human behaviour, an assessment may include interacting with others outside the short course. In this way, learners benefit from online assessments and apply the theory they learn.
SACAP Global’s online learning platform brings practical activities and assessments together in the form of a portfolio of evidence which learners create during an online micro-credential course. Graduates can share this with prospective employers when entering the workforce or seeking a promotion.
Gain practical skills at SACAP Global
We’ve talked about some of the reasons why graduates need practical skills, namely an increasingly competitive marketplace and the need for soft skills in a technologically-driven world, which most degree programmes don’t teach.
With this in mind, SACAP Global’s online short courses provide practical and in-demand skills for students looking to improve their interpersonal and management skills.
Some courses that may be particularly valuable for first-time job seekers include:
- Effective Interpersonal Communication
- Intro to Human Behaviour
- Intro to Management and Leadership
- The Art of Motivation: Empower Self and Others
- Intro to Business Environments
We also offer a range of other short online courses that will equip you with the tools to grow and thrive in your chosen career. To find out more, browse our list of current courses.