Exploring your skills and attributes and their relationship to the workplace. Identify the variety of skills you’ve developed through your academic and life experience, how to articulate these effectively to employers, and how skills and other factors influence career choice.

1. Exploring your Skills and Attributes (PPLS Students)
What have you got to offer?

2. Today’s session
You will be able to :
1. Identify different areas where you have developed skills
2. Identify the skills you have developed in these different areas
3. Articulate evidence of those skills for your CVs, applications and
interviews, using STAR
4. Understand influences other than skills on career choice
5. Identify how your skills set fits into different areas of the workplace

3. 1) Experiences you have to offer…..
• Degree
• Work experience
• Voluntary experience
• Extra-curricular interests and positions of responsibility

4. What skills/attributes have you developed/demonstrated?
Write your ideas on the white board
Employers will be interested in the skills you’ve developed in all areas of
your life – not just your degree.

5. 2. Skills From Degree
• Advocacy and the ability to present a case
• Analysis and evaluation of evidence, weighing up arguments and understanding
multiple perspectives
• Awareness of the possibilities and limitations of data,
• Methodological rigour
• Ability to notice and describe, and to contextualise, pointing out and unravelling
complexity
• Imaginative objectivity, persuasion, diplomacy, negotiation, listening, empathy
• Leadership, independence, initiative, problem solving
• Creative enthusiasm, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-management
• Cultural awareness

6. 2. What other graduates say….
Edinburgh philosophy grads skills rated via LinkedIn

7. Edinburgh Linguistics grads skills rated via LinkedIn

8. Edinburgh psychology grads skills rated via LinkedIn

9. 2. Skills Employers Want
Targetjobs give a good overview of the skills which employers want – in no
particular order:
1. Communication – verbal and written – and listening!
2. Teamwork
3. Negotiating/influencing
4. Problem solving
5. Leadership
6. Organisation
7. Self motivation and resilience
8. Ability to work under pressure
9. Confidence and ability to work with conflicting views
10.Commercial awareness
Explanations of these skills, and how to demonstrate them in your applications
and interviews, from Targetjobs
Use your subject-specific careers pages to identify skills developed from your
degree

10. Your degree-skills in the workplace – example from Philosophy
Philosophy in the workplace
Skill from
philosophy
In the workplace Why it’s important Workplace example
Argument construction Ability to write with clarity of thought based
on data, information and knowledge
Successfully articulating a viewpoint and position is
central in many workplaces, business, public sector,
law and more.
Report writing for senior colleagues – being clear,
concise and following logically valid steps.
Reading complex
academic texts Ability to identify and summarise priorities
quickly and efficiently
Many workplaces need people to work accurately and
quickly and grasp complex business/workplace/policy
issues -enough to discuss and ask intelligent questions.
Summarising and presenting on a research report,
identifying points most relevant to your team/client
Exploring,
understanding and
articulating other
people’s viewpoints
Confident in exploring competing viewpoints
in an objective and constructive manner
An ability to work with and build relationships in
business with people with different opinions is
essential for an effective workplace.
Reviewing a business process/policy area and identifying
areas for improvement/development.
Taking an unbiased
viewpoint
particularly to explore
and challenge
assumptions
“Stepping back” to consider the broader
picture without bias or prejudice.
An unbiased viewpoint is essential for ensuring
businesses/governments better-understand their
priorities and how to resolve issues, without making
general assumptions.
Running workshops and focus groups on controversial
issues challenging assumptions in a non-threatening
way.
Diversity of thought
and reading
Culturally sensitive and appreciative of
diversity of thought in a global marketplace
The ability to identify, understand and appreciate the
value of difference is increasingly valued at all levels of
organisations.
Being appreciative of cultural differences when
managing people (e.g. considering Muslim colleagues
needs during Ramadan).
Asking interesting /
relevant / meaningful
questions
Using meaningful and relevant questioning to
clarify critical points and develop shared
understanding among colleagues.
Asking relevant questions ensures everyone in a
business/organisation understands the problem to be
solved, rather than just assuming that they do.
Ensuring you know the key points to cover and using
questions as way of leading the discussion when running
a meeting.
Drawing logical
conclusions based on
reason, evidence and
points discussed
Drawing correct conclusions from data,
evidence and reason to ensure effective
decision making.
Organisations/businesses need to ensure that
evidence, facts and points of view are properly
understood and thought through when making
business decisions, rather than relying on ‘instinct and
experience’.
Preparing research proposals or providing
recommendations on any next steps for a project, based
on data, evidence and reason.
Using Philosophy in the workplace – Lee Madden, Consultant, Financial Services at EY; Philosophy graduate 2006 Edited by Janet Forsyth, Careers Consultant,
University of Edinburgh 2017

11. 2. Other Strengths
Employers will be interested in what else you have gained through your studies. Your
research skills could help to demonstrate your strengths.
• Communication - with different individuals across levels, dealing with differences of
opinion and matters sensitively
• Resilience - being flexible and self-directed
• Confidence – in your ability to develop an argument
• Dedication - to your research area, following your research through
• Curiosity– by having a range of experiences and be interested to find out how your
research can applied in to practice

12. 3. Marketing your skills in applications and interviews
• You’ve got lots of skills and qualities – how do you demonstrate them to
employers?
• be analytical, NOT just descriptive
• You need to be a STAR!
S - a brief description of the Situation
T - outline the Task to be done
A - talk through the Action you took (NB you, not we, in team questions)
R - what was the Result of your actions?

13. Describeatimewhenyouhavecontributedsuccessfullytoateam?
Situation I am on the committee of the University’s Landscape Photography
Club. There are 6 members on the committee. We arrange an
exhibition of students’ work every year.
Task Last year due to a lack of co-ordination we got behind in setting up
the venue. This year we wanted to be more efficient.
Action I organised a meeting where I suggested a systematic plan with
each committee member agreeing to take on specific jobs. I was
then responsible for checking progress throughout, sorting out
issues as they arose, and reporting back to the committee.
Result We co-operated and communicated more effectively and this year
managed to open the exhibition on time.
3. Be a STAR in your applications and interviews

14. 3.You can use your degree-skills in many different areas
– where do you want to use yours?
Recent PPLS grads have used their PPLS skills in the following areas of work:
Philosophy
• Advertising - George
• management consultancy
• Library and Information management Jamie
Psychology
• UX (user experience) designer Kia
• Education officer, RSPB
• technology consultant
LEL
• systems analyst
• telecoms contract proposals engineer Thea
• HR manager, Civil Service Fast Stream
Career direction is influenced by more than just your skill-set…………

15. George, advertising, Leith Agency

16. Jamie, library and information management
How I use my degree skills and/or knowledge in my career
• Studying Philosophy has provided me with analytical skills which have proved
invaluable. My chosen career is in a rapidly changing industry and there are
numerous theories and proposals from industry professionals concerning how it
should adapt for the future. The skills I developed during my degree have allowed
me to fully appreciate this debate and approach it in a rational and
balanced manner.
• The skill I consider to be most valuable is the ability to maintain intellectual
charity in approaching other people’s opinions. It enables me to appreciate why
people have different perspectives on key issues and engage with them in a
considered and respectful way.

17. It’s not just about skills!
What else influences your career - direction?
Write your ideas on the white board……
Both Jamie and George (previous slides) used their
philosophy skills in very different careers……

18. 4) It’s not just about skills!
What else influences your career -direction?
 Purpose of my job?
 What sort of role?
 What interests and motivates me?
 What skills do I want to use?
 What sort of organisation and working
environment?
 Values / lifestyle choices
 Personal qualities and temperament
 Location
Use our career planning resources to help you work this out:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/careers/your-future/career-planning

19. 5. Broad options
Linear Progression (Directly related):
• Academia, Teaching and Education ; Psychology Professions; speech and
language therapy
Changing emphasis (applying skills elsewhere):
• Media and Culture
• Policy
• Buying, selling and retailing
• Legal Services
• Business and Finance
• Information Technology

20. 4. Broad options
Edinburgh
psychology
alumni on
LinkedIn

21. Edinburgh philosophy alumni on LinkedIn

22. Edinburgh LEL
alumni on LinkedIn

23. PPLS grads have the skills for the following roles – do you have the interest and
enthusiasm…..

26. 5. Your next steps
• Career.ED has some great resources to help you reflect on what you have to offer
• Look at the Degree Regulations and Programme of Study guides
• View occupations and vacancies to see what skills and strengths different careers
and employers require
• Create STAR examples of your key skills
• Viewing graduate destinations and using the LinkedIn Alumni tool can provide ideas
on what other graduates have done
• Take a look at PPLS-specific web pages and the PPLS Padlets for the different
subject areas:
• https://padlet.com/janet_forsyth/philosophy
• https://padlet.com/janet_forsyth/LELandyourfuture
• https://padlet.com/janet_forsyth/psychologycareers