The leap from higher education to employment has always been a daunting one, but with artificial intelligence (AI) challenging long held norms, post-Covid working practices still in flux and climate change now affecting every sector, the future has never been murkier. Today’s students need universities’ guidance to prepare for jobs that do not exist yet. This guide offers insight into how to teach skills that will stay relevant as jobs evolve, offer them the best career services possible, link to industry partners and get students prepped for job applications.
Teach transferable skills for the future
There are certain skills that support professional success across any chosen career path. While universities can’t prepare students for every specific role, embedding soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, problem solving and resilience will give them a rock-solid foundation from which to launch their careers. Below, academics and educators share insights and experiences of what works best when training students in these transferable human skills.
Tried and tested ways to teach your students soft skills: The introduction of ChatGPT reignited the debate surrounding employability skills. Add two decades of intensifying international competition and a pandemic, and it is no wonder we’re fundamentally rethinking the modern workplace, writes Kate Pettifer of the University of Exeter.
Teach the skills required for a future we can’t yet imagine: Times are changing too quickly for any of us to accurately predict what the future employment market will look like. But we can still prepare our students. Hajer N. Sheikh of Dubai Medical University advocates for a more agile approach.
Let’s give learners on all levels the skills for a green future: To support the switch to a green economy, educators need to update sustainability education programmes to meet learners’ needs. Ethan Chong Yih Tng of Singapore Institute of Technology offers his tips.
Strategies to train students in three transferable skills wanted by employers: Two simple teaching methods that faculty can use in the classroom to train students in the communication, problem-solving and critical thinking skills sought by employers, shared by Elly Vandegrift of the University of Oregon.
Heart skills to future-proof students: These 10 skills might sound as soft as the centre of a Valentine’s Day chocolate, but they are essential for the careers and employability of our students, writes Elizabeth Reid Boyd of Edith Cowan University.
Four ways to weave job skills teaching into the university experience: With research finding a hefty proportion of graduates underemployed, what can higher education do to improve career readiness? Erica Estes and Sean O’Keefe of the University of Arkansas offer advice.
Prepare students for the job application process
Help your students show their best selves to prospective employers, whether that’s through well written CVs, sharp interview skills or networking know-how. Read about ways to help students identify their own strengths, understand potential careers and prepare them for in-person and remote interviews.
Show off students’ employability with e-portfolios: Why and how to make e-portfolios a central part of university courses, helping students identify and exhibit skills that will appeal to employers, by Lourdes Guàrdia and Marcelo Maina of the Open University of Catalonia.
Career mentoring can support student employability: Support for students extends beyond the classroom. Here’s how to develop a successful mentoring programme to help students take their first steps into the workplace, explained by Zurria Qureshi of the University of Westminster.
Sharpen your students’ interview skills: The employees of the future will need to showcase their skills in job interviews. Make sure they’re prepared for each setting, writes Lewis Humphreys of the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.
Three steps to unearth the hidden curriculum of networking: How to support students in developing networking skills that will enhance their future career prospects, by Julia Freeland Fisher of the Clayton Christensen Institute.
How to improve your university career services
Students considering future job options will look for careers advice on campus. The university careers teams and lecturers can support students on their first steps towards permanent employment, offering guidance on different career paths and entry points, on necessary skillsets and application processes and by providing useful industry contacts. Find insight on how to make careers advice accessible, relevant and useful.
Want student success? Modernising your careers centre is vital: Camille Dumont of Post University gives advice on how to adapt a university careers centre to better align with the evolving needs of students and the job market.
Social mobility via social media: opportunities for career services: Four practical suggestions for how university career services can make greater use of social media to support social mobility among their students, from William E. Donald of the Ronin Institute and the University of Southampton and Kaz Scattergood of the University of Liverpool.
Student support: four ways to innovate for improvement: What fresh approaches could provide more proactive, tailored and cohesive student support? Andy Wistow of the University of Bristol shares insights from pilot schemes designed to do just that, from careers advice to peer support.
How to help postdocs take a holistic look at career choices: After their terminal degrees, many postdocs find themselves at a career crossroads. Here, Karena Nguyen of Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities offers four key considerations across background, skills, values and interests to help determine what’s next.
Careers services: how to prepare graduates for workplace abuse: University career services must do a better job of helping students identify and manage psychological abuse following entry into the labour market, write William E. Donald of the Ronin Institute and the University of Southampton and Sucheta Das.
Digital literacy for future jobs
The pace of digital transformation makes it difficult to predict what the future of employment will look like. But it is clear that the ability to adeptly use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, as well as compete against them, and manage and analyse data will be greatly in demand. Here academics share tips on how to boost data literacy among students, ensure they understand AI’s potential and limitations and can even use it to aid their job search.
Prepare the workforce of tomorrow by integrating data literacy into your curriculum: Data literacy skills are increasingly important in the modern workplace. Colleagues from the London School of Economics and Political Science offer their advice on readying your students for the future.
What does it mean for students to be AI-ready? Not everyone wants to be a computer scientist, a software engineer or a machine learning developer. We owe it to our students to prepare them with a full range of AI skills for the world they will graduate into, writes David Joyner of Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities.
The ‘deep learn’ framework: elevating AI literacy in higher education: AI literacy is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a critical skill for university students. The ‘deep learn’ framework, shared here by Birgit Phillips of FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, offers a comprehensive approach to enhancing literacy around artificial intelligence and application in higher education settings.
How your graduates can beat AI in the job market of tomorrow: Your students are facing a competition against a faster, better and cheaper opponent in 2025’s job market – AI. Ioannis Glinavos of the University of Westminster offers his advice on readying them for the fight.
How we can use AI to power career-driven lifelong learning: By using data from job postings, course catalogues and students’ CVs, AI can help people address skill gaps and plot their educational journeys, writes Teck-Hua Ho of the National University of Singapore.
Build links between student and employers
Find out how to give your students’ graduate careers a jump-start by connecting them with potential employers. This could be through internships and placements, real business challenges, work-integrated learning or supporting student entrepreneurship, as these resources explain.
Balancing career readiness and finances: the case for abbreviated internships: Internships give students professional experience, guide career choices and boost job market competitiveness. But what if students need higher-paying summer jobs or can’t afford three months in a far-flung city? That’s where abbreviated winter internships come in, explains Magarita McGrath of Virginia Tech.
Three tips for using capstone projects to improve employability: How can we make sure our students are workplace-ready? Capstone projects may hold the key, writes Ardy Cheung of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Helping students to see the future career value of their work-integrated learning: Real-world experience and outputs tailored to industry allow students to see the relevance of what they learn in the classroom, writes Sabine Matook of the University of Queensland.
Four ways to create an entrepreneurial culture at your institution: Universities are perfectly placed to help start-ups get off the ground. Alan Murray, Robert Crammond and Kingsley Omeihe from the University of the West of Scotland advise on how best to get your students thinking with a business mindset.
Tips for successful apprenticeships courses: Learn how to please both the learner and employer when setting up and running apprenticeships, from Steven Hurst of Arden University whose team who recently earned a 'Good' from Ofsted for their efforts.
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