University of Southampton

Do you want to stand out from the graduate crowd? Need to fill gaps in your CV Skills?

There are 10 top employability skills according to TargetJobs.

How can you gain them? 

Through getting involved in the UK’s 1st International Student Sustainability Research Symposium!

1. Communication: You want to show employers that your verbal communication is clear, concise and polished- what better way to do this than present on stage to a large audience?!

2. Teamwork: You want to show them you can build positive working relationships, join the event team as a social media co-ordinator or as a team member on the judging committee?

3. Negotiation and persuasion: This is your chance to persuade an audience that you’re research matters.

4. Problem Solving: Sharing your research with the world will show employers that you are able to take an analytical approach to resolve issues.

5. Commercial Awareness: Knowing how a business or industry works. Well if you can apply yourself enough to share your research on an international stage, then you’re going to be conscientious enough to develop business acumen when the time comes!

6. Leadership: Leaders need to motivate teams and take charge- standing up on a stage to present will be a great opportunity to motivate yourself (which is the first step to motivating your team), and help you prepare to take charge of a team one day.

7. Organisation: Employers want to see that you can manage your time and deadlines effectively, completing final year studies whilst applying yourself to extra-curricular activities with tight deadlines for an international academic symposium will do wonders for this!

8. Perseverance and motivation: TargetJobs say ‘Employers want people to have a bit of get-up-and-go’. Enough said.

9. Ability to work under pressure: Presenting research or charing a session at the symposium will show future employers that you can keep calm and aren’t overwhelmed by stress at a critical moment.

10. Confidence: Employers want the magic medium between confidence and arrogance, presenting your academic achievements to an eager crowd will let you practice striking this balance! You should be proud of your ideas and your undergraduate research, but you’ll need to present these professionally and succinctly on stage!

The UK’s first ever International Student Sustainability Research Symposium will be held in April 2016 where students can present their research, chair a session, run the social media, or be on the judging committee. Sustainability is about social, economic, cultural, and political issues, not just the environment. Chances are your research contributes to sustainability without you even realising! 

Deadlines for some of these opportunities range from 19th February to March so check out the website now. You will not want to miss this.

We look forward to receiving your applications and seeing you there!!