Employability is the life-long, continuous process of acquiring experience, new knowledge, purposeful learning, and skills that contribute to improving one’s marketability for enhancing their potential to obtain and maintain employment through various shifts in the labor market. It is based on a set of individual characteristics.

Narrowly defined, employability is a product consisting of a specific set of skills such as soft, hard, technical, and transferable. Additionally, employability is considered as both a product (a set of skills that “enables”) and as a process that “empowers” an individual to acquire and improve marketable skills that can lead to gainful employment.

One component of employability that impacts it directly is the ability of workers to meet the demand or the needs of the labor force. It requires the continuous upgrading of skills, especially in sectors that experience rapid technological and organizational change to help avoid obsolescence of their human capital or labor force.

Some of the most highly sought after skills include:

• High IQ workers with higher education/academic skills; broader transferable skills
• Increased self-awareness about an employee’s strengths and weaknesses
• Strong work ethic and a positive attitude
• Analytical/critical thinking and problem-solving
• Communication
• Cultural competency
• Social and digital technology skills
• Team players with self-confidence who have the ability to learn from criticism
• Flexible, adaptable workers who can work well under pressure/stress.

One should try to acquire a specific skill set based not only on what is in demand but also with consideration of their personality, likes and dislikes, relevancy to their field of work/profession, otherwise, their career could be short-lived.