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four components: communication, numeracy, information technology and learning how to learn. He further proposed that it was essential that these were developed at undergraduate level. The department for Education and Skills (DFES) adds teamwork and problem solving to this list. There are many different lists of key skills, although there is general agreement about the importance of communication, numeracy, teamwork, IT and problem solving (Dunne et al., 2000). These are considered to be generic skills as they represent skills that can be used to support study in any discipline. The possession of some key skills - IT, numeracy, for example, will facilitate the acquisition of subject understanding (Yorke, 2001), as using IT for research will enable students to learn more about their discipline.

2.5 Personal Attributes

There are many factors that cause organisations to change, but in this current economic downturn it seems the main problem is downsizing and redundancy, therefore the graduate will need to be equipped with the relevant skills and attributes to cope with a flexible and perhaps short term jobs market. Employers themselves want graduates who can quickly adapt to the organisational culture, and utilise their abilities and skills to facilitate innovative collaboration. (Harvey et al, 1997)

The CBI (2008) highlights the importance employers place on the ‘softer' skills that make people more employable. This means being a good team-worker, communicator and problem-solver is vital, and getting work experience goes a long way with a future employer.

‘Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes which make a person more likely to choose and secure occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful.' (Dacre Pool & Sewell, 2007)

It is widely accepted that lifelong learning through acquiring new skills improves employability. However despite there being different concepts to analyse the make up of “employability”, the consensus of these is that there are three key qualities when assessing the employability of graduates: These are:

1) Job specific skills: reading, language, and numeric capacity, listening, written communication, oral presentation, global awareness, critical analysis, creativity and self-management.

Lees (2002), Harvey (2001), Little (2001), Mason et al (2003).

2) Process skills: Problem solving, decision making, planning and delegating, understanding business and its commercial interests, prioritizing, team work, and negotiating. These skills are developed through work experience rather than through academia.

3) Personal qualities: AGR states that their research has shown that employers are looking for qualities that include “self-confidence, self-control, self- esteem, social skills, honesty, integrity, adaptability, flexibility, willingness to learn, emotional intelligence, stress tolerance, punctuality, efficiency and the ability to reflect.”

These qualities are very much embedded with the personality type and shaped through life-experiences. Researchers have been seen to classify these qualities in various ways; the common denominator amongst them is that there is a distinction between core skills and soft skills, with soft skills being learned from different experiences. Martin (2007) states that:

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