EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS TRAINING

COVER LETTER
RESUME BUILDING
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Introduction
Most employers look for certain skills and qualities in their job candidates, in addition to
academic qualifications. Known as employability skills, these skills may not be job-specific, but
they play an important role in improving your performance and value in the workplace. These
skills can also have an impact on your ability to progress in your career.
Employability skills are transferrable skills that are useful in nearly every job. They involve the
development of an expertise, knowledge base or mindset that makes you more attractive to
employers.
Employability skills are also often referred to as employment skills, soft skills, work-readiness
skills or foundational skills. They often improve your performance, minimize errors and
promote collaboration with your coworkers, enabling you to perform your role more
effectively.
Employability skills may not be listed in a job description, but they are important skills that can
make you more attractive to prospective employers. The main benefit of having these traits is
that it can help you stand out among other job candidates who are vying for the same position.
While other candidates may have the same qualifications and experience, you may have a
better chance of getting hired if you have employability skills that are particularly useful for the
role.
Certain employability skills are more sought after in specific industries. You can prepare
yourself for an interview or write your resume for a particular position by researching which
employment skills are essential in your industry.
Examples of employability skills
Employers have high regard for employability skills because they are much harder to teach than
job-specific skills. Some employable qualities come naturally, while others can be acquired
through education, work or daily practice. You may already have some of the key employment
skills, but you can work to improve those skills and develop new ones. Here are 10 common
employability skills that employers look for:
1. Communication
Communication is one of the most important employability skills because it is an essential part
of almost any job. The communication process involves five elements: the sender, receiver,
message, medium and feedback. When these elements work together, you can deliver and
understand messages clearly and efficiently, eliminating unnecessary misunderstandings and
errors. Excellent communication skills make you more employable because they can enhance a
company’s productivity and efficiency and help prevent the waste of valuable time and
resources. Being an effective communicator involves conveying your thoughts and ideas clearly
to achieve certain outcomes, as well as listening to your coworkers’ instructions, ideas and
intentions. Depending on the job you want, you may have to be competent in several different
types of communication, such as verbal, nonverbal, written and visual. For instance, a
customer-facing employee needs to have excellent verbal and nonverbal communication skills.
The best way to improve your communication skills is to communicate as frequently as
possible. Some of the activities that can help you develop better communication skills include:
 Communicating on social media
 Joining a local club
 Practicing awareness of your facial expressions and other nonverbal cues
2. Teamwork
Good teamwork skills refer to the ability to work harmoniously with your colleagues to achieve
a shared goal. Teamwork skills such as collaboration can increase your hiring chances because
you may be able to help a company reach its goals more effectively. These skills can also
contribute to a more positive work environment. To become a great team player, you need to
be comfortable working with people, take responsibility for your share of work and contribute
to team goals. There are many things you can do to boost your teamwork skills, including:
 Volunteering to help coworkers with projects
 Working with others in a local organization
 Joining a sports team
3. Reliability
Reliability makes you more employable because it promotes trust between you and your
employer. You are a reliable employee if you can consistently complete your tasks on time,
deliver quality work and make minimal mistakes. You must also be able to respond to inquiries
and emails promptly and only make promises you can keep. You can become more reliable by:
 Consistently meeting or exceeding your expected levels of work performance
 Creating schedules for your daily tasks and maintaining them
 Acknowledging your mistakes and making a conscious effort to avoid them in the future
4. Problem-solving
Problem-solving involves identifying key issues and their implications, having a clear
understanding of problems and determining the most effective solutions. For more complex
problems, you need to know how to divide them into smaller parts that are easier to
understand and more manageable. Problem-solving skills can set you apart from other job
candidates because they can help your potential employer maintain an efficient operational
process and achieve objectives more effectively. If you're a good problem-solver, you can play
an important role in troubleshooting issues, which can enable your team to overcome obstacles
and solve complex problems. Depending on the position you are applying for, you may need a
certain set of sub-skills to solve problems effectively, including research, analysis and decision-
making. You can become a better problem-solver by:
 Undertaking research assignments and projects
 Participating in brainstorming sessions
 Regularly developing your skills by solving puzzles and playing games
5. Organization and planning
Being able to organize and plan effectively is important because it helps you and your employer
save time, effort and money by improving workflow. It ensures that assignments and projects
are completed on time and prevents confusion and errors that can be costly to the company. To
be a good organizer and planner, you should be able to identify tasks, prioritize them, create
schedules for them and complete them on time. If you are in a leadership position, you need to
develop systematic processes for achieving goals and delegating tasks appropriately. You can
develop organizational and planning skills by:
 Developing a timetable for your daily activities
 Organizing an event
 Writing down your tasks and activities in a planner
6. Initiative
Taking initiative means recognizing a problem and solving it, preparing for a potential crisis by
taking preemptive action, taking advantage of opportunities and having a positive attitude. It
shows that you can think for yourself and take the necessary actions without being instructed
to do so. As a person with initiative, you have a strong drive to succeed and a desire to keep
improving yourself through continuous learning, which makes you valuable to any organization.
Employers consider initiative one of the key employability skills and value employees who
possess self-motivation to complete tasks without being asked. The flexibility and courage of
such employees can push organizations to innovate and achieve a competitive edge. You can
improve your ability to take initiative by:
 Approaching companies and other organizations to inquire about job opportunities
 Proposing changes to the policies or activities of a group you belong to
 Setting up a local club or fundraiser
7. Self-management
Self-management refers to the ability to perform job duties satisfactorily with little or no
supervision. For higher-level employees, it also means delegating tasks to ensure you complete
them on time. Additionally, self-managed employees can motivate themselves to deliver solid
work performance consistently. If you have good self-management skills, you can help your
supervisor or manager save time and effort simply because you need minimal guidance and
assistance from them. Also, being a self-motivated person means you may be less likely to have
productivity issues. These abilities can make you an appealing candidate to most employers.
You can develop self-management skills by:
 Asking for more responsibilities at work
 Creating schedules for certain activities and maintaining them
 Participating in volunteer work that allows you to work independently
8. Leadership
Employers look for good leaders because they can benefit organizations in many ways. As a
leader, you play an important role in ensuring that your team shares the same vision as the
company and works in unison with other teams and departments to achieve a common goal.
Additionally, you can develop strategies for achieving objectives, keep your team constantly
motivated and monitor work performance to produce better results for the company.
Leadership skills are important at every level. If you are seeking a managerial position, you need
to be a good leader to motivate your team members. You can also benefit from having some
leadership ability in entry-level positions because it may help you stand out and climb the ranks
faster. You can show leadership by directing and motivating your coworkers, setting objectives
and goals for your team, improving work practices and coaching your colleagues. You can learn
to become a better leader by:
 Attending a leadership course
 Starting a local group
 Reading about the habits of successful leaders, particularly those in your industry
9. Learning
Having strong learning skills means understanding new concepts and methods quickly, taking
on new tasks, adapting to change and having the tendency to improve your knowledge and
skills continually. Employees who have good learning skills may help employers fill challenging
roles more quickly and reduce the cost of staff training. Good learners are especially desirable
to companies that are at the forefront of innovation because they can help transition to new
methods and technologies more smoothly. You can increase your ability to learn by:
  Taking a course to improve your learning skills, such as a speed-reading, memory-
boosting or an accelerated-learning course
 Researching skills and activities related to your job, such as organizing, teamwork or
presentation skills
 Teaching yourself a new skill or hobby
10. Technology
Companies search for candidates with technical skills to help them use the
latest technology and stay ahead of their competitors. Depending on your job, the technology
skills you need may vary greatly, from word processing and sending email to video editing and
using programming languages. If you can grasp technology-related concepts and learn how to
use new technologies quickly, you may be more attractive to employers. Technology skills are
acquired through learning and practice. Some of the ways to develop and improve technology
skills include:
 Enrolling in a technology course
 Trying out new apps and technology in your daily life
 Staying up-to-date with the latest technology in your industry
The Most Important Employability Skills are in the Areas Of:
1. Working Well with Other People
Interpersonal skills are needed to get along and work successfully with others.
Effective teamwork, meeting client and customer expectations, negotiating, making choices
with others, and generally working well with coworkers are all made possible by strong
interpersonal skills. We can empathize with and establish a connection with clients and
coworkers with strong interpersonal skills, improving work quality and less workplace stress.
Interpersonal skills span a wide range of topics, including:
Communication skills are those needed to accurately send and receive messages from others
via speech or writing without errors or misunderstandings. Among these abilities are:
Verbal communication, or speaking or writing, refers to the words we employ. In different
vocations, the ratio of verbal to written communication may vary.
Non-Verbal Communication, or what we convey without using words, such as through gestures,
our voice tone, or even emojis.
Understanding what is being communicated to us verbally, nonverbally, and even in writing
requires the skill of listening.
2. Being Reliable and Dependable
Being trustworthy and reliable involves carrying out your commitments. But it also involves
having the ability to look around, determine what needs to be done, and then carry it through.
Although it seems straightforward, doing so calls for various abilities, primarily personal rather
than interpersonal.
First and foremost, keeping your word requires organization and efficient time management.
You must know how long it will take and ensure you have enough time to complete them to the
necessary standard. Also, you need to know what to do first so that anything neglected would
be less crucial. How to accomplish this is explained on our time management page.
Being dependable also involves having integrity and being diligent. For instance, this can entail
refraining from leaving work too frequently when work is to be done. Conscientiousness and
reliability are aspects of self-regulation, a crucial component of emotional intelligence. Self-
regulation is the ability to discipline yourself to carry out tasks that you may not particularly
enjoy doing but that you know must be completed.
Self-controlled and trustworthy individuals guarantee that they uphold their principles by taking
ownership of their activities. For example, they remember delivery dates and meet them
without contacting them.
But, being dependable does not necessitate doing everything by oneself.

3. A Willingness to Learn
Being open to new concepts and experiences while continuously seeking to advance your
abilities and knowledge means being willing to learn.
The phrase "personal development" is sometimes used to describe this, but it also refers to a
more formal process of goal-setting, activity, and reflection. The current world expects us to
constantly update and improve our skills, regardless of how formal or casual our learning
process is.
The most valued employees are those who embrace personal change and understand that it
presents more opportunities than threats. Change is a constant in most companies. Therefore,
companies typically seek flexible, resilient, and adaptable candidates, all essential components
of emotional intelligence and self-regulation.
How to integrate employability skills into your job search
Your application materials, which often include your resume and cover letter, should detail your
various employability skills. You may find it easier to list your technical skills on your resume,
and use your cover letter to expand on some of the ways you’ve used employability skills to be
an effective colleague. Use the tips below to integrate employability skills into your next job
search:
Resume:
Use action words throughout your resume to highlight your employability skills by showing
their impact. For example, mention how you strengthened teamwork or cultivated better
communication. You can also use your resume skills section to lay out your unique strengths.
What are action words and why are resume action words important on a resume?
Action words are verbs that communicate your professional experience: the kind of work
you’ve done, what you’ve achieved in your previous roles, and the skills you’ve developed.
Many applicants end up using similar language on their resume: perhaps they led or oversaw or
assisted. While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with these words, they’re not very dynamic
or descriptive, so they don’t effectively express your unique work history, skills, and
achievements.
Action words are impactful verbs that help tell your professional story—think designed rather
than managed, or initiated rather than oversaw. When you choose the best words to describe
your past experience and accomplishments, you help explain to a recruiter or hiring manager
why you’d be a strong hire.
It’s important that you select action words that can quantify your impact. Data has become
increasingly important for businesses, and the same holds true for your resume. You should be
able to provide some amount of data to quantify your impact, such as:

 Redesigned the main homepage, leading to an 18% increase in site visits

 Streamlined incident response reports, reducing average time to completion from
18 minutes to 12 minutes
 Generated three new Tik-Tok campaigns, resulting in a 32% boost in engagement
across the platform
New Resume Writing Guide
Your resume is a document that encompasses your entire professional journey, showing where
you currently are in your career, how you got there, and where you hope to go next. Since it’s
meant to be a concise brief—often condensed to just one page—that can feel like a lot of
storytelling for a small space.
To make a resume that fully demonstrates your experiences and goals, it’s important to be
strategic with the language, format, and sections you include. In general, there are three broad
steps to making your resume:

 Identifying keywords and important skills:

You can find a lot of information about a role directly from the job description. Within the listed
responsibilities and qualifications, you can get a strong sense of the language and experience
that a successful candidate will have on their resume.
As you read a job description, highlight the action words, keywords, and specific workplace and
technical skills mentioned. It’s likely that the ATS is programmed to look for the same or similar
language as that which appears in the job description, so this analysis can help shape the way
you approach writing your resume. [Choosing Action/Keywords, Identify Key job skills, and
Industry specific Job skills]

 Choosing a format
When it comes to formatting, there are three common types of resumes—chronological,
functional, and combination—along with several more specialized options. With your audience
in mind, choose the format that best demonstrates how your experience aligns with your
desired role’s job description.
If you’re applying for jobs online, ATS software is generally programmed to interpret
chronological resumes. The software may still identify important keywords in alternative
formats, but potentially less accurately.
If you’re unsure of the resume format you should choose, a chronological resume with standard
1-inch margins, black text, and a common font like Times New Roman or Arial is typically a safe
choice.

 Writing each section

Guided by your keyword list and format, you’re ready to start filling out your resume sections.
You’ll typically want to include sections for your header, work experience, education, and skills,
but there are optional sections you can add to amplify the story you want to tell.
Resume checklist
At this point, you are almost ready to submit your resume. Before you do, let’s do one final
check. Ask yourself:
 Did I write my resume with my audience in mind?
 Did I strategically select action words and keywords?
  Have I clearly demonstrated my relevant skills and experience?
 Are my margins set to 1-inch on all sides?
 Is my font easy to read?
 Did I include all of the key resume sections?
 Did I edit for proper spelling and grammar?

Cover letters:
Ideally, your cover letter should expand on your resume. Use it to share anecdotes or examples
of how your employability skills have impacted a project or team. Learn more cover letter
tips with our helpful guide.
What is a cover letter, and when do you need one?
A cover letter is a one-page document, around four to five brief paragraphs long, that goes into
more detail about your career. It can be especially useful when your application makes it past
an applicant tracking system (ATS) and into the hands of a hiring manager, or if you’ve been
asked to email your application directly.
There’s no strong consensus about cover letters: some recruiters and hiring managers prefer
them, while others pay more attention to your resume and don’t review your letter. Still,
there’s evidence that customized cover letters lead to more interviews than generic cover
letters.
Cover letters take time to craft because you’ll need to research the company and role, building
a specific explanation about why you want to work there. As such, you may want to reflect on
whether it’s a good investment of your time to complete one.
It can be helpful to include a cover letter when:
 You’re especially interested in the job or company
 You’ve been referred by someone
 You’re changing careers and want to explain your reasons further
If you’re unsure about whether you should submit a cover letter as part of your application, err
on the side of caution and write one, so a recruiter or hiring manager has more information
about you.
Cover letter basics
As you prepare to write your cover letter, here are a few basic tips to get started:
 Header: Your cover letter is a formal document, so use a formal header. To streamline
your application documents, you can use the same header that tops your resume,
including your name, email address, phone number, city and state, and the URL for your
online portfolio or LinkedIn profile, if you have one.
 Format: Use standard margins for your cover letter—usually one inch on each side—and
keep your font size around 11 or 12. Use a common font, like Arial or Times New
Roman, to make your letter easier to read.
 Length: Your cover letter should be about a half page to one page long, or about 250 to
400 words. The majority of recruiters and hiring managers will only spend one minute or
less reading your cover letter. Help them focus on the details you want to highlight by
writing concisely and precisely.

Cover letter template

Part 1: Introduction
The first part of your cover letter is your introduction, where you can share a bit about who you
are and why you’re reaching out. Similar to a resume objective, you’ll get to define yourself as
you’d like a recruiter or hiring manager to see you in this section.
Address the hiring manager.
Open your letter with a personal greeting directed toward the hiring manager. Most job listings
won’t include the hiring manager’s name, but there are methods to find the right recipient for
your cover letter, using resources such as LinkedIn or the company website.
Addressing the hiring manager by name adds a sense of intention behind your application and
shows that you want to start a dialogue with a specific person. Some examples of personal
greetings include “Dear” or “Hello,” followed by their name.
Introduce yourself and share your why.
You can show a bit more personality in your cover letter than you’re able to in your resume. In
fact, your cover letter should be a different document than your resume—a place where you
expand on what you've accomplished.
Introduce yourself in a way that feels true to the type of employee you are and want to be.
Write with a voice that feels natural to your communication style and a tone that matches the
one you might use when writing work emails or giving a presentation. The introduction is also a
prime space to explain why you're interested in this job at this company.
Part 2: Relevant experience
In the next paragraph (or two), go into more detail about your past work experiences and the
impact you've had. Generally, hiring managers don't want to know what you did as much as
what you were able to achieve.
It’s also worth tailoring this section to the specific role you’re applying for and highlighting how
your experience connects to the company’s needs based on the job description. The majority of
recruiters and hiring managers surveyed—77 percent—said that it is either “very important” or
“absolutely imperative” that applicants tailor their cover letters to the job descriptions.
Demonstrate fit.
As you read the job description, you likely identified several technical, workplace,
and transferable skills you can bring to this role. It is not necessary to list all of those skills in
your cover letter. (You should, however, list all of those skills on your resume.)
To keep your cover letter concise, use the job description to identify the skills most necessary
for success in this role and show how you’ve used those skills in the past to address similar
needs.
Share your accomplishments.
Once you’ve connected your skills to their needs, take it one step further by sharing the results
you’ve seen when you’ve employed those skills in the past. Results can be either quantitative or
qualitative:
 Qualifying your experience: This typically pertains to explanations you offer about what
you did. For example, "I spent months building a new data set to help us analyze our
performance and improve our KPIs based on those findings."
 Quantifying your experience: This typically pertains to explanations that draw on
numbers to show the impact of what you did. For example, "I built a new data set that
provided valuable insights, and in turn helped us lower our bounce rate by 23 percent."
Part 3: Closing
The final part of your letter is your conclusion, where you leave the hiring manager with one
last impression of who you are, what you want to achieve, and how that’s relevant to their
company.
Ask for what you want.
As you end your letter, reiterate your desire to use your qualifications to meet the company’s
needs, and explicitly ask for the next step you’re hoping to take with this hiring manager,
typically a meeting or phone call. Invite the conversation to continue by letting them know that
there’s more you want to share and more you want to learn from them.
Formally sign off.
Maintain the honest tone you set in the introduction all the way through your signature.
Include a line expressing gratitude for their time and use a simple sign-off, such as “Thank you,”
“Sincerely,” or “Best.”
Finally you make sure you first and foremost, grab the hiring manager’s attention with a
strong opening. Secondly, align your tone. And lastly, proofread.

Cover letter sample: Project manager

April 21, 2022
Harland Sanders
Animax
123 Animax St.
Chicago, IL 60290

Dear Mr. Harland Sanders,

[Introduction] My name is George Lee, and I am excited to be applying to the Junior Project
Manager position at Animax. I am currently a Project Coordinator at Square Paws, where I have
supported several projects successfully to completion. I have long admired Animax’s work to
improve animal adoption processes and would be delighted to contribute my skills to the team.
[Body] At Square Paws, I oversaw multiple aspects of running numerous projects. I worked
closely with the project manager to develop project schedules, ensure team members had the
resources they needed to complete their tasks, and coordinated communication with
stakeholders on project updates. I am particularly proud of a project to roll out a feature on our
app that users could use to book appointments with veterinarians. As a complex project that
involved multiple stakeholders, it was important to be mindful of the details and listen
continuously to feedback from users. My efforts to coordinate an early feedback system in a
trial period led to the discovery of several bugs and pain points that we fixed for the launch. We
were able to reduce customer concerns by 80% and ultimately completed the project under
budget by $3,000.
[Body] I have long been familiar with animal adoption centers and believe wholeheartedly in
Animax’s mission. I have volunteered consistently at animal shelters since high school and am
familiar with their processes. In college, I took several courses that I believe can be useful to the
project manager role, including zoology and business administration. Working as a project
manager in this field will allow me to expand my knowledge of the industry, and assist in my
ultimate goal to make the world a more livable place for shelter animals.
[Conclusion] I believe that my past experience, skill set, and passions make me a strong
candidate for Animax’s team. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for your time.
[Signature]
Sincerely,
George Lee

Interviews:
If you make it to the interview stage, weave in examples of your employability skills when
answering behavioral interview questions, technical interview questions, and common
interview questions.
Behavioral interview questions help your interviewers better understand who you are and how
you work. Unlike situational interview questions, which ask you about hypothetical scenarios,
behavioral interview questions invite you to share real-life experiences.
Tips for answering behavioral interview questions
Practicing ahead of an interview can help you feel more comfortable and confident when you
interview. Set aside time to practice answering the questions above on your own, or ask a
friend or family member to play the role of interviewer. Working with a partner to prepare can
help you practice other important elements, like eye contact and facial expressions.
Here are some additional tips to help you develop responses that show off your strengths,
personality, and character.
Don’t rush. You don’t have to jump into an answer as soon as you’ve heard the question. It’s
not only acceptable to pause, but doing so may also signal your confidence to employers. Take
a breath, gather your thoughts, and begin answering. And if you need more information or
context, ask for clarification.
Use the STAR method. The STAR method stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. It’s a
formula worth memorizing because it can help you structure your responses to behavioral
interview questions.
  Situation: Start by establishing the situation and sharing any important details.
 Task: Recount your specific task or responsibility.
 Action: Describe, step-by-step, what you did to address the task or responsibility.
 Result: End with the impact of your actions.
Expand on your resume. Recruiters appreciate it when you can quantify your work on a
resume, sharing not just what you achieved but how much. For example, instead of saying that
you managed three people, you should explain what your team achieved as a result of your
management.
Enter an interview knowing a few of those details. Don’t assume that a potential employer will
remember everything you listed on your resume. Answering behavioral interview questions is a
chance to reiterate some of what you shared in that document while expanding on it.

Technical interviews are an opportunity for a potential employer to learn about your technical
knowledge, including the tools you use and the practical skills you possess. They tend to be
more targeted than behavioral interview questions so interviewers can understand the extent
of what you know, your ability to solve problems and think critically, and how prepared you are
to begin the role should you get an offer.
Tips for answering technical interview questions and some sample responses
Answering technical interview questions should go beyond simply discussing what you know.
There are ways you can frame your responses that better showcase the depth of your
knowledge as well as your other abilities. Use the tips below to get started.
1. Talk about your thought process.
Whether you face questions about the tools you’ve used, the processes you’ve followed, or the
potential situations you could find yourself in, go one step further and discuss your thought
process when explaining your answer. Doing so can be a valuable chance to showcase your
critical faculties and help interviewers learn more about you personally.
What programming languages do you know?
I took time to research whether I should learn Python or R first. I knew that I would end up
learning both, especially since I’m interested in moving into statistical analysis at some point.
But at the start, Python seemed like the better language to help me get started because it’s so
popular. I enjoyed having access to more resources while I learned it.
2. Highlight related programs or tools.
You shouldn’t bend the truth if you don’t know how to use a tool, but where possible, use it as
an opportunity to call attention to a related or similar program you do know.
What design software do you know how to use?
Many of my design friends use Figma, so I’m familiar with it, but I’ve used Sketch in most of my
previous roles. Even though they are different, I have every confidence I’d be able to pivot to
Figma once I get started thanks to their overlapping similarities, especially when it comes to
real-time collaboration.
3. Be proactive.
It can be scary when you don’t know the answer to a question, but don’t let a knowledge gap
stop you. Ask clarifying questions and use your answer as a chance to show off your approach
to particular challenges by explaining what you’d do to get up to speed.
What content management systems do you know how to use?
I taught myself how to use the social media management programs Hootsuite and Buffer, which
will give me a strong foundation as I transition into content management and learn your own
CMS. Do you offer any in-house training sessions as part of your onboarding? I would plan on
taking advantage of those resources. Or if that’s unavailable, I would focus a portion of my first
two to three weeks on becoming comfortable in WordPress and how this team uses it.
Finally you make sure you first and foremost, Review the job posting. Secondly, practice and
watch tutorials. Thirdly, research the company. And lastly, prepare questions to ask the
interviewer.