What is employability?

Employability is commonly defined as “a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy” (Yorke, 2006). Employability also involves:

• being prepared to engage in an ongoing process of professional and personal career development; 
• developing the ability to bring critical reasoning to bear, and applying these skills throughout and across the lifespan, not just within employment.

What graduate attributes do I need?

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI, 'Future Fit' 2009) identified nine key sets of attributes, skills and knowledge that graduates should aim to achieve. These are:

• Self-management - "readiness to accept responsibility, flexibility, resilience, self-starting, appropriate assertiveness, time management, readiness to improve own performance based on feedback/reflective learning."
• Teamworking - "respecting others, co-operating, negotiating/ persuading, contributing to discussions, and awareness of interdependence with others."
• Business and customer awareness - "basic understanding of the key drivers for business success – including the importance of innovation and taking calculated risks – and the need to provide customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty."
• Problem solving - "analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions."
• Communication and literacy - "application of literacy, ability to produce clear, structured written work and oral literacy, including listening and questioning".
• Application of numeracy - "manipulation of numbers, general mathematical awareness and its application in practical contexts (e.g. measuring, weighing, estimating and applying formulae)."
• Application of IT - "basic IT skills, including familiarity with word processing, spreadsheets, file management and use of internet search engines."
• Entrepreneurship/enterprise - "broadly, an ability to demonstrate an innovative approach, creativity, collaboration and risk taking. An individual with these attributes can make a huge difference to any business."
• Positive attitude - "a ‘can-do’ approach, a readiness to take part and contribute, openness to new ideas and a drive to make these happen. This is the key foundation underpinning all the other attributes."

What career options are available following a Psychology degree?

The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) is an annual national survey completed by graduates six months after the completion of their studies; it provides a rich source of information about the destinations of graduates from different degree disciplines. Based on the data from 2011- 2012, we know that 93% of Psychology graduates from the University of Southampton were in full or part-time employment or education six months after graduation. The DLHE highlights the broad range of employment options available to our graduates; the following pages highlight some examples including Psychology careers and other career options.