Employability skills and OU study Your skills and qualities

Developing a strong employability profile will make you much more employable and successful in your career. Employability is about making connections between study, personal development and other activities in order to find, gain and be successful in your chosen career, and contribute to society.

Enhance your employability by being motivated and open to learning; developing your skills and knowledge; being more self-aware and reflective; and effectively being able to explain your skills and experience to others.

Employers look for students and graduates who can demonstrate their potential to:

manage and organise resources
make decisions
persuade and influence
manage change
meet challenges and overcome obstacles
display commercial awareness
develop their interpersonal skills
use analytical and problem solving skills
show a proactive approach to self-development

Have a look at our article Employability skills to help identify how your study activities relate to the skills employers want.

Value of OU study

In the following videos OU students describe how an OU qualification delivers added value for employers and OU graduate Stephen McGann argues that by reflecting on your learning, you grow more adaptable.

00:00

1. A marketable asset

Show transcript for A marketable asset
1 min 7 secs

[Start of transcript]
Paul: The Open University qualification is a real qualification that means an awful lot to potential employers.
Rachael: Because you've got to be very motivated to be able to come home after a day's work and then be able to pick the books up and start studying.
Ramesh: My job usually demands more than eight hours work every day, sometimes it goes between ten to fourteen hours and with that kind of a workload, I think only Open University gives me this option of studying at my free time.
Rachael: I'm studying the courses I want to study. When I want to study them. How I want to study them. And for me that means that I'm more dedicated to the subjects that I'm studying, because it's my choice to go there, and it's my choice how I develop myself further within my career.
Paul: If you've got somebody who's in their 30's or 40's or in my case 50's, or even older, they have had the ability to knuckle down and actually do this particular study. It's a prized qualification and I would argue with anybody who says it's not.
[End of transcript]
2. The benefits of reflective thinking

Show transcript for The benefits of reflective thinking
1 min 12 secs

[Start of transcript]
Stephen: A university gives you the way to think, the organisation of thoughts, but the key thing is it gives you a way to reflect upon yourself that enables you to change course; that enables you to take upon new sets of information, to be able to actually deconstruct new sets of information in a fruitful way to actually organise yourself to then solve other problems in other parts of the world.
That is by nature a clever thing to do. And so what he actually meant was more it teaches you how to be a smart Alec. No, it teaches you the actual mechanisms of what people might regard as clever, but actually they lie underneath this: there's a way and the way is actually very self reflective.
You've got to keep, you know, might some people might take it to the nth degree and say, you know, it's a kind of what would you call it, practical humility. What you can do is you're actually looking at yourself from the outside all the time, never taking yourself for granted, being able to move around, to be able to taking new information in, which is a key skill.
[End of transcript]

OU study can help you to

move into a new career
gain the qualifications needed for promotion
fill gaps in your professional knowledge
increase your confidence and demonstrate desirable work-related skills.

OU students are valued by employers for

keeping their academic and professional skills up to date
having the dedication, commitment and ambition to study as well as work
their skills in effective time management
their ability to learn and work independently.

My application was definitely seen in a better light for having an OU qualification. 10 years ago they might not have been so interested but attitudes have changed. I expected the three person panel who interviewed me to not view my OU degree as favourably as an Oxbridge one, but this was definitely not the case.
OU student

Degree classification

The titles BA (Bachelor of Arts) or BSc (Bachelor of Sciences) reflect the content of the modules that make up your degree. Where the balance is even, you will be asked to choose the title you prefer.

What are your reasons for studying?

Career reasons

You should research the career area you have in mind. In most cases employers do not have a preference, however if there are specific knowledge or technical requirements for the role you are aiming for, you could find that a BSc is expected. In any job application, you will need to provide evidence of your suitability for the role from your studies and other life experiences.

Career or professional development

You can find professional bodies for your sector on the TotalProfessions website, which lists over 270 UK professional associations. Check your OU qualification website for information on professional recognition for your OU qualification.

Personal aims

For example, you might want to prove something to yourself, to widen your experience, or to become better informed. Studying with the OU can give you a fresh challenge, or help you to build on your knowledge.

OU students… are evidently keen to develop themselves and are managing to do this while juggling a busy work or home life, which is no mean feat.
Emma Beadle, Unilever

OU study skills learning outcomes

OU study is a springboard for developing a range of skills to attract future employers.

The learning outcomes given for each module or qualification that can be found on www.open.ac.uk/courses help identify key intellectual, practical and professional skills you should gain. Categorise these learning outcomes into four groups to help match them to particular skills.

Knowledge and understanding: Gaining specific knowledge related to a particular subject, for example historical or scientific data
Cognitive skills: Thinking skills, such as problem solving, analysis, research
Practical and professional skills: Skills related to a vocational area, such as web design or lesson planning
Key skills (transferable skills): Skills gained as a result of study, such as communication skills and time management

Dividing learning outcomes into categories makes them more manageable to deal with, but in reality they tend to overlap.

Listen to Ellen from the OU Careers and Employability Services who talks about developing skills through study.