The Most Valuable Non-Academic Skills You Should Learn in College, Ranked
Going to university to learn academic skills is a surprisingly small sliver of the total learning you should do. While knowing your subject is important, it is arguably the non-academic skills you acquire that really make the difference in your life in the years to come.
University is a unique time in your life. While you need to spend time studying, you don’t have the pressures of the working world, which means you have far more time to dedicate to extra-curricular activities. You’re also young (unless you’re a returning student), which means you have oodles of energy to dedicate to numerous pursuits.
The purpose of this post is to rifle through the most valuable non-academic skills one by one. Some of them won’t come as a surprise, but many will. Learning these skills helps you function better in life as a whole and prepares you for many of the challenges you will face in the future, whatever you decide to do with your life.
Communication Skills
Top of your list of learning priorities should be communication skills. Knowing how to communicate with people orally and through text is a superpower and something that will serve you tremendously throughout your career.
Invest in public speaking and presentation skills. Practice your active listening during seminars and take opportunities to marshal your thoughts during lectures. You could even practice your empathy skills when listening to other people, taking time to understand how they feel and what’s motivating them to make whatever contributions they are offering.
Don’t worry if your subject doesn’t involve much communication. Even if you are taking mathematics, you can still practice your skills. For instance, you might explain to students in other subjects how numbers work so they can better understand their subject matter. You might also take volunteering opportunities that involve speaking to people, such as night lines that provide mental health support to people who are struggling with issues.
Time Management
Coming a close second place in our list of most valuable non-academic skills is time management. Being able to organize your time throughout the day is a critical skill and something that is often lacking in the modern workforce.
Time management doesn’t just involve the prioritization of certain tasks. It also means setting and meeting deadlines, even if you don’t have to.
The key to effective time management is to play to your strengths and know your weaknesses. If you believe a task is going to take you longer than you expected, then you’ll need to take time out to really drill down and focus on what it is that is causing it to take so much time. For example, you might get a problem set that is so challenging it takes all week. It could just be difficult, but it could also mean you haven’t understood something and need to go back to basics.
Time management also involves working in a rhythm. Part of this process involves paying attention to your body clock and knowing the times of day you are most productive. Depending on your makeup, this is usually first thing in the morning, or during the evening. Students tend to be most active during these hours, helping them get more done.
Leadership
Higher education is also an opportunity to learn leadership skills. It’s about taking the initiative and making decisions as part of a study group or seminar team.
Leadership is something that companies want to see in candidates applying for jobs after graduation. Firms want evidence that individuals they hire are more than “book smart” and can get things done in the real world. This proactive temperament is something many firms find highly attractive.
The term “leadership” can be confusing because universities never really teach or define it. Essentially, a leader is someone who can motivate and inspire others to achieve great things.
Look at many of the most successful business leaders in history. These people made incredible things happen because they got full buy-in from their workers. Expecting the best from people often causes them to produce it.
First Aid
Coming in at number four on our list of essential non-academic skills to learn at university if first aid. Knowing how to help someone when choking or suffering a heart attack can be life-saving.
Fortunately for students, you can now get CPR certification online free. That means you don’t have to eat into your budget to learn these skills that could serve you a lifetime.
Having a skill like first aid on your CV shows companies you are a pro-social person. A qualification like that is rare outside of the medical sector, and particularly unusual for someone graduating with a conventional academic subject behind them, like music or architecture. Once you know how to do first aid, you feel more confident and you know how to react to various situations as they arise.
Emotional Intelligence
You might also want to learn various emotional intelligence skills. Being able to understand the emotional landscape can help you make better decisions when interacting with people in the future.
Emotional intelligence begins with self-awareness and regulation. The more you are in touch with your personal feelings, the better you will understand other people’s emotions.
Then, you want to consider what’s motivating people and how they feel. If you have close friends, spend some time exploring who they are, what makes them tick, and their priorities.
Building positive interpersonal relationships can help. These give you space to develop emotional nuance instead of just reacting to whatever is happening next.
Networking
Number six on our list of non-academic skills to learn is networking. Being able to form strategic relationships with other people can be a ticket to success in all areas of life. The more people who know and respect you, the more likely you are to rise through the ranks.
Start practicing by leveraging networking opportunities while you are at university. Go to events, meet with outside speakers and form relationships with the faculty. Look for ways to build networks between other people, so you are the person connecting everyone and providing value. Spend time developing a personal brand and become known for something. Focus on that to differentiate yourself from the hordes of graduates all vying for the same limited supply of jobs.
Financial Literacy
Number seven on the list is financial literacy. Understanding how money works is essential for building wealth and becoming financially free in the future.
Many graduates believe that earning a sufficiently high income is enough to achieve the lifestyle they want, and that might be correct. But many miss out on gains from learning how to save and invest money over the long term. While high salaries are appealing, the real prize in a capitalist system is a chunk of capital that makes its own money for you, supplementing the money you get from your work.
You also want to get to grips with basic habits that help you avoid financial disasters. Learn about the problems associated with debt and how saving money can have a significant impact on your well-being.
You will have to take out loans from time to time to pay for houses and cars. However, you should understand how to manage them and your personal finances effectively.
Digital Literacy
Another critical skill is digital literacy. Being able to understand how to interact with computers is essential in today’s marketplace. Companies want people who understand and know how to use their tools.
If you have a particular company in mind that you want to work for, ask them which pieces of software they use. Master them in your spare time and then prove you have skills in your CV and at the interview.
This approach will set you apart from the dozens of other applications people are making. Companies will love the fact that you took the time to learn their systems and that you are ready to slot into their processes from day one without a significant on-ramp or training.
You should also spend time refining your online research tools. You may do this as part of your dissertation writing but practice it regularly until you get good at it. Knowing how to research information rapidly using modern tools is valuable for today’s forward-thinking companies.
Project Management
Project management is another vital skill you should learn while at university. Being able to plan and organize tasks is essential in virtually all professional roles. While you might have a manager, you will be personally responsible for ordering your priorities and scheduling to get things done.
Get into the habit of monitoring and evaluating your project progress. Try to estimate how long it will take you to complete assignments and the time you will need to dedicate to them. Make your daily activities more measurable and procedural to get used to the idea of making detailed plans.
Self-Motivation
Finally, you’ll want to practice the skill of self-motivation. Getting out of the habit of relying on other people to get you to do things creates tremendous freedom and lets you pursue the life you want.