Critical thinking and analysing information will be among the top foundation skills for employability in the future, educational experts said on the concluding day of the second edition of Khaleej Times UniExpo.
While students learned about the potential of the courses they were applying to, experts also cautioned them on factoring ’employability’ in the long run.
Communicating effectively or becoming skilful in intercultural communication is an important skill, said Dr Ahmad Al Issa – associate dean, College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah. “How to examine ideas from multiple points of views or perspectives is important. How to adapt and collaborate, how to develop innovative solutions to solve socio-economic, health and climate problems.. regionally and globally? It’s high time to know such a skill. One must learn how to enhance your leadership skill and teamwork skills as well. It’s important to understand at this time the skills that are appreciated by employers.
“Competition is fierce, many people are competing for the same opportunity but the person who will get it will usually be the one who can demonstrate these skills and put it into practice. As per a study, 93 per cent of employers believe in the candidate’s ability to think critically, communicate clearly and solve complex problems is more important than a specific major,” he added.
Developing creative thinking abilities among students is vital for future employment, said Fatema Rangwala, faculty of business and student affairs coordinator, Cromwell Education. “Creativity is a valuable workplace skill because it can be a useful tool for developing new ideas, increasing efficiency and devising solutions to complex problems. Employers these days are giving a lot of importance to creative skills,” she said.
Making connections as an important skill, added Rangwala. “Creative skill sets are gaining a lot of popularity. The ability to think about a task differently, use imagination to generate unique ideas or out of the box ideas are on the trend. You develop skills over a period of time through processes, experiences, thinking, learning and practising. You have to solve complex problems or find interesting ways to approach tasks. Creative thinking ability gives you an opportunity, a power to think about a particular thing in a very different manner, she said.
Parents and students who attended the hybrid sessions at the three-day expo also learnt of alternative solutions in case they do not get an offer from the university they had set their heart set on.
© Khaleej Times
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