Key graduate career skills

No matter which route you choose to go down, there are key graduate career skills that apply across the board. In this guide, you'll find expert advice on how to build those skills and make your mark as a graduate.

For some grad jobs, you’ll need industry-specific skills, like coding for a developer role or accounting knowledge for a finance position. Alongside these targeted skills, you’ll need broader abilities. For example, a project manager’s skillset includes technical aspects like creating Gantt charts and transferable skills like negotiation and problem-solving. You need all these skills to do the job well, so the transferable skills are as important as the job-specific ones.

Having key career skills will help you secure a job and come in useful throughout your entire career – even if you change industries. Some examples of important skills include communication, self-management and working in a team. You’ll need those core skills whatever your role is. You’re probably already using them at uni without realising.

Want to give your skills a boost? Luckily for you, we’ve put together tips on how to develop your existing skills and gain new ones.

While you sometimes need to focus on specific skills, it’s also good to know how to grow a broad range of professional skills.

Here’s some of our advice for developing key skills for future jobs – and life:

Fortune favours the brave. If you’re presented with an opportunity, whether it's to volunteer, work on a project or have a part-time job, take it. Even if it doesn’t seem immediately linked to the future career you want to build, you’ll still pick up vital skills that’ll help you stand out once you graduate.

Playing it safe will only get you so far. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone and you'll see your career take off. And remember, changing paths or taking on a new role isn’t always as risky as it seems. When you’re working out what you want to do, exposing yourself to different industries is a great way of broadening your skillset. Every role offers a new opportunity to develop your skills.

There’s no substitute for hard work. There’s an old saying that goes ‘An overnight success is ten years in the making'. And it’s usually true.

To succeed, you need to be dedicated, business-ready and willing to put in the hours. If you’ve got a dream, you need to work for it. Like everything else, the more time you put into your career, the more you’ll get out of it. If you want to develop a skill, you need to put in the effort to practice. So, if you’re worried your teamwork will let you down, consider making time for hobbies like improv, escape rooms or playing in a band.

Unless you’ve always known what you want to do, you're probably weighing up a few career options. The best way to firm up your future career path and learn new skills is by gaining personal experience.

Trying out new things will help you discover what you’re good at and develop your talents further.

And remember, it’s OK if you complete an internship and realise that industry isn’t for you. Nothing is a waste of time if you’ve learned something from it.

Throughout your career, you’ll work with lots of people. A little friendliness goes a long way towards getting the best out of your colleagues. Whether learning from your manager, taking feedback well, networking with senior staff or helping out a new staff member, being personable will put you ahead of the game.

Learning to be personable is a vital career skill, and it’ll also help you gain others. If your colleagues respect you, they’ll be more likely to teach you new things.

Every day’s a school day – and it’ll stay that way long after you graduate. No matter what stage of your career, there’s always something new to learn. So, keep your mind open.

If you’re always absorbing what’s going on around you and keep expanding your skills with training courses, you’ll go far.

Plus, building skills doesn’t start and stop at work. Hobbies offer constant opportunities for self-development. For example, playing sport is a great way to pick up skills. If you’re keen to learn, you’ll always pick up new skills from life.

Haven’t mapped out a 10-year plan? No problem. It's ok if you don’t know what you want to do – often the best opportunities come about through good luck and timing. You can’t plan for moments like those. You just need to be ready to grab those opportunities when they come along.

A positive, can-do attitude and a willingness to adapt are assets for building your career. By going with the flow, you’ll learn skills you didn’t even know existed.

You know your strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else.

It’s right to be confident in yourself and your skills. After all, the first step to achieving what you want is to believe you can do it. But to grow your skills, you need to face your fears too.

The only way you’ll improve your weaker skills is by recognising them – and then practising. Scared of public speaking? Test out presenting something in front of friends or family. Struggling with organisation? Investigate the planners and tools that’ll help you get things in order.

It's tempting to fake it until you make it, but taking a moment to reflect on your weaknesses will benefit you in the long run.