Core Skills Scotland
Why are Core Skills so important?
Core Skills form an essential part of your "employability". Core Skills are transferable skills because they are used in almost every job sector. The information on this page shows you how these skills are used within the Building Products and Refractory Sector. People often change their jobs several times throughout their career. These "key" transferable skills develop during this process and continue to improve due to common activities ound in every business.
Communication Skills
Communication: essential in clarifying and expressing thoughts, interacting and conversing with others, conveying information, feelings and opinions.
Written Communication: produce and respond to written communication for various purposes and audiences.
The stronger your communication skills are, the quicker you can react to information and the better you are at creating action in others. Within this sector it is essential to have good communication skills, as the work you complete is part of a team activity. Good communication skills are vital to all businesses today, as messages passed from one member of the team need to be understood quickly and acted on. Confusion can lead to the reduction in customer service and a loss of future business.
ICT
Accessing information (Security Awareness). Computer usage in business is continuously expanding and, together with engineering, this has changed the way many products are produced in the UK today. Large scale production techniques are now often fully automated.
Processing/Creating information. Computers are also used widely for business strategy planning, information management, budget control, staff training, marketing communication and many other activities.
Numeracy
Using Number: to apply numerical skills in everyday situations.
Using Graphical Information: to use graphical skills to interpret and communicate information. There are many high level technical jobs requiring a strong numerical ability within this sector. Strong Maths skills are vital for setting budgets, weighing raw materials production), planning, designing and in looking for ways to reduce waste. Maths skills are also needed to check that the products loaded to delivery vehicles match the needs of the customer.
Working With Others
Co-operating with others. This sector relies on team workers. Staff must be self motivated, yet able to work in a team environment to hit the manufacturing targets set by customer demand. Employer surveys often show that a shortage of team working skills can have a major impact on a company’s ability to hit their targets. To address this, employers now look for an indication of team working skills at interview.
Reviewing own contribution. Businesses need staff that want to continually develop their skills as this improves the service their business is able to provide. Continuous improvement leads to better customer service and that creates increased orders, which secures jobs. This helps the business grow and stays in profit, providing security for all its workers. Have you got the ability to identify improvements and come up with good ideas? That's creativity and it's also seen as vitally important in business today.
Problem Solving
Critical Thinking: analysing a situation or issue and developing an approach to deal with it.
Planning and Organising: producing and carrying out a plan for dealing with the situation or issue, taking account of available resources.
Reviewing and Evaluating: reflection and reviewing of the problem solving process, evaluating the outcome, and identifying where alternative strategies might be.
With businesses needing to continuously improve to stay ahead of their competitors, an ability to analyse and find solutions to problems is seen as very useful. Problem solvers are enthusiastic and have a strong commitment to improving working systems. They believe in working hard and are very positive in their approach. These are all qualities that employers look for.
