Learning Skills

Learning skills include:

• A willingness to learn

• Prioritising

• Information gathering

• Logical argument

• Communication skills - both written and verbal (see Writing Skills and Face to Face Communication)

• Project management

• Time management

• Decision making

• Analytical skills

• Critical thinking

• Attention to detail

• Ability to process large amounts of information

• Problem solving

These skills help you to process information and to make informed decisions. As a result, they are widely valued by employers.

You can find out how well you are doing at work by asking for feedback and accepting criticism from others. Making use of feedback will improve the way in which you work.

Having a batch of qualifications may make you initially attractive to employers, but you will thrive in a work environment if you have the ability to learn on the job. Employers recruit and retain workers who have a willingness to adjust and learn from their experiences.

If you’ve done any of the following you will have acquired learning skills:

• Devoted extra time to an activity you found difficult (in your leisure as well as your work time)

• Used feedback from a teacher/employer to improve your next piece of work

• Taken on a special project which particularly interested you

• Looked at an issue from different points of view

• Planned your schedule in order to manage your time more effectively

• Compiled and summarised research on a specific topic

• Suggested solutions to a problem

This content comes from The University of Essex