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Developing Graduate Attributes

Discover six key skills and attributes you are developing whilst at Cardiff University.

The Graduate Attributes are a set of transferable traits and qualities that Cardiff University has developed in partnership with students, academics and employers. Providing opportunities to develop these highly sought after attributes is embedded into the student experience, via the learning and teaching on your course and through the wide range of extracurricular events and activities on offer. By developing the attributes, you will maximise your chances of securing graduate-level employment as social, economic and environmentally-aware global citizens.

The Cardiff University Graduate Attributes are:

Introducing the Graduate Attributes:

A deeper dive into the Graduate Attributes:

To demonstrate this attribute, you should be able to:

  • Contribute positively and effectively when working in a team, having an impact from the outset.
  • Demonstrate enthusiasm and the ability to motivate themselves, and positively influence others in meeting agreed responsibilities.
  • Be respectful of the roles of others and acknowledge the limits of their own skills and experience.

How collaborative skills will support your career development:

  • Excel in applications and at interviews by sharing examples of effective teamwork from your academic or work experiences.
  • Stand out in group exercises at assessment centres through actively participating in the discussion, encouraging others to contribute and positively impacting the team dynamic.
  • Embrace a team-oriented mindset and recognise how peers and colleagues bring their own skills, strengths and experiences - a highly valued attribute in most workplaces.
  • Provide examples in application forms and at interview of positively influencing others to meet responsibilities, showcasing your leadership skills.
  • Seek support from others and appreciate the value of an extended professional network to enhance your career development.

Ways to develop your collaborative skills at university:

To demonstrate this attribute, you should be able to:

  • Listen to and take account of the views of others.
  • Communicate complex ideas effectively to diverse audiences.
  • Contribute to discussions, negotiate and present with impact.
  • Deliver, accept and act on constructive feedback.
  • Take a professional approach to communication, including their own online and social media profiles, and be alert to how words and actions may be interpreted by others.

How effective communication skills will support your career development:

  • Impress at interview by articulating your strengths, suitability, and interest in the role.
  • Develop your negotiation and persuasion skills for use in many customer or client-facing roles.
  • Adapt your excellent communication skills to suit the audience, an important skill for many workplaces where you may work with different groups of people including colleagues, management, internal and external stakeholders and customers or clients.
  • Professionally communicate through social media platforms like LinkedIn to grow your network.
  • Demonstrate your suitability for leadership and management positions – communication is key to building trust and encouraging collaboration towards common goals.

How can you become a more effective communicator?

To demonstrate this attribute, you should be able to:

  • Consider own personal and professional ethical, social and environmental responsibilities.
  • Demonstrate personal and professional integrity, reliability and competence.
  • Understand organisations, their stakeholders and their impact on the community.
  • Actively take responsibility for promoting human rights, celebrating diversity and widening inclusion.
  • Be mindful of the Climate Emergency and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Act as global citizens, engaging with and valuing cultural difference through practical experience of other countries.

How being ethically, socially and environmentally aware will support your career development:

  • Identify your personal and professional values and make career decisions that best align with these, including the work you do and the organisations you work for.
  • Gain personal and professional satisfaction from the work you do and its wider impact.
  • Research employers’ commitment to ethical, social, and environmental causes and demonstrate this research at interview and in applications.
  • Demonstrate strong leadership by incorporating ethical, social, and environmental considerations into your approach to solving problems and navigating challenges.
  • Outline examples at interview and in applications of instances where you demonstrated adaptability and accountability – qualities that will highlight your professionalism and integrity to employers.

How can you develop your ethical, social and environmental awareness?

To demonstrate this attribute, you should be able to:

  • Identify, define and analyse complex issues and ideas, exercising critical judgement in evaluating sources of information.
  • Demonstrate intellectual curiosity and engage in the pursuit of new knowledge and understanding.
  • Investigate problems and offer effective solutions, reflecting on and learning from successes and failures.

How independent and critical thinking will support your career development:

  • Develop your commercial awareness by conducting thorough research into your sector and its challenges to show you can analyse problems and anticipate future challenges.
  • Actively engage and invest time and effort in lifelong learning and continuing professional development by enhancing your skills, knowledge and employability.
  • Adopt a growth mindset - reflect critically on past failures and successes to refine and develop your own approach to problem solving.
  • Demonstrate your ability to make independent, informed and effective decisions to employers and articulate how you explore problems in applications and at interview.
  • Utilise curiosity, versatility and adaptability, all important career management skills, in pursuing new career opportunities, perhaps in different fields, sectors or industries.

How can you become a more independent and critical thinker?

To demonstrate this attribute, you should be able to:

  • Generate original ideas and apply creative, imaginative and innovative thinking in response to identified needs and problems.
  • Take the initiative to act on own ideas and the ideas of others, balancing risk and returns and making things happen.
  • Be confident in pursuing entrepreneurship as a viable and rewarding career path.
  • Understand organisations, their stakeholders and their impact on the economy.

How being innovative, enterprising and commercially aware will support your career development:

  • Stand out to employers by demonstrating your ability to think innovatively, adding significant value to industries that prioritize staying ahead.
  • Be your own boss by developing your innovative ideas into a successful start-up business or freelancing career.
  • Demonstrate at interview and in applications examples of times you took initiative and showed leadership potential, turning your own ideas or the ideas of others into positive action.
  • Apply strong commercial awareness, your knowledge of organisations and wider industry trends, to your career decisions and articulate it to employers during recruitment to stand out from the competition.
  • Use your imagination and creativity to identify new ways to address problems, needs or gaps in your chosen industry, impressing employers with your innovative thinking and knowledge of your sector.

How can you be more innovative, enterprising and commercially aware?

To demonstrate this attribute, you should be able to:

  • Actively reflect on own studies, achievements and self-identity.
  • Demonstrate resilience, adaptability and creativity in dealing with challenges, and be open to change.
  • Identify and articulate own skills, knowledge and understanding confidently and in a variety of contexts.
  • Engage with new ideas, opportunities and technologies, building knowledge and experience to make informed decisions about own future.
  • Set aspirational goals for continuing personal and professional development, planning effectively with a commitment to lifelong learning.

How being reflective and resilient will support your career development:

  • Spend time regularly thinking about your studies and achievements, demonstrating your understanding of your strengths, motivations and areas for growth. This will help guide decisions you make about your career, and you will be asked about these in applications and at interview.
  • Prepare for interviews by actively reflecting on your experiences, helping you to understand your professional identity and enabling clear communication of what makes you unique to potential employers.
  • Express your commitment to continuous improvement by proactively learning new things, keeping a record of any additional courses, workshops, training or events you have attended so that you can discuss them in applications and at interview.
  • Recognise how resilience can be developed over time and reflect on how you have developed yours already through overcoming challenges and setbacks – employers could ask you about this in applications and at interview.
  • Clarify your goals, aspirations and what is important to your own career through self-reflection (speak to a Careers Adviser if this is difficult on your own) to enhance your confidence with your own career development and make decisions that best align with these.

Ways to become more reflective and resilient at university:

Watch our video below to hear advice about making the most out of your time at university from Cardiff University students and graduates: