What are Higher Order Thinking Skills?
What are Employability Skills?
"Employability skills are those basic
skills necessary for getting, keeping,
and doing well on a job.
These are the
skills, attitudes and actions that enable employees to get along with their colleagues and managers and to
make sound, critical decisions.
Unlike occupational or technical skills, employability
skills are generic in nature rather than job specific and cut across
all industry types, business sizees, and job levels from the entry-level
worker to the senior-most position.
What specifically are those skills, attitudes and actions, i.e., employability skills, necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job? Employability skills, while categorised in many different ways, are generally divided into three skill sets:
Basic Academic
Skills
Reading · Writing · Science · Math · Oral Communication · Listening
Higher-Order
Thinking Skills
Learning
· Reasoning
· Thinking Creatively
· Decisions Making
· Problem Solving
·
Personal Qualities
Responsible
· Self Confidence
· Self Control
· Social Skills
· Honest
· Have Integrity
· Adaptable and
Flexible
· Team Spirit
· Punctual and Efficient
· Self Directed
· Good Work Attitude
· Well Groomed
· Cooperative
· Self Motivated
· Self Management"
http://www.foretica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/employability-skills.pdf
Which skills are college leavers and graduates lacking?
A report from universitiesuk.ac.uk says 'The skills employers find most lacking in university
and college leavers are a mix of job-specific and general employability related
skills; a majority also cite lack of work experience.'
This report says that core skills "refers to literacy, numeracy and IT, while ‘employability’
refers to a longer list including team working, analytical skills, problem
solving, communication, entrepreneurship, leadership, etc."
"The CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey asked employers specific questions about graduate applicants’ ‘job-readiness’, finding
that 14% reported dissatisfaction with graduates’ basic numeracy skills,
17% reported dissatisfaction with basic literacy and use of English, 19%
reported dissatisfaction in their analysis skills, 21% problem-solving,
26% team working, 29% communication, 33% self-management and
resilience, and 46% relevant work experience."
"CBI found that between 14 and 29% of employers reported
dissatisfaction with graduates’ literacy, numeracy, analysis, team
working, communication, problem-solving and self-management
skills. Eighty-nine per cent of employers surveyed by the CBI reported
that such ‘attitudes and aptitudes’ for work were among the most
important factors considered when hiring a graduate, followed by work
experience (66%) and degree subject (55%)."
"Chevalier and Lindley (2007) analysed
differences between graduates working in what they deemed ‘graduate’
and ‘non-graduate’ jobs, and found little difference in academic skills, but ‘large differences’ in ‘entrepreneurial, management and leadership’
skills – where there was an association between lacking these skills and
falling into a non-graduate job.20 Green and McIntosh (2007) point to
planning, problem-solving and communication skills."
Supply and Demand for Higher Level Skills
December 2015
