Employability & Work Skills Revision — Future (Awards and Qualifications) Ltd Other General Qualification
Complete Future (Awards and Qualifications) Ltd Other General Qualification Employability & Work Skills specification revision resources. Tailored syllabus coverage with topic breakdowns, quizzes, and practice questions.
Specification Topics
- Searching for a job
- Principles of personal responsibilities and working in a business environment
- Adapt your behaviour to give a good customer service impression
- Health and safety skills for work
- Personal Presentation
- Manage own performance in a business environment
- Working as part of a group
- Developing time management skills
- Preparing for an interview
- Business and Customer Awareness
- Improve own performance in a business environment
- Communicate using customer service language
- Communicate in a business environment
- Completing a job application
- Preparation for work
- Writing a CV
- Contribute to the development of effective working
- Effective communication for the workplace
- Dealing with Problems in daily life
Top Exam Board Tips
- In your portfolio, include annotated screenshots or clippings from a variety of sources to evidence breadth of search.
- Practice using vacancy filters before the assessment; be prepared to explain why you chose specific search terms related to your career goal.
- Always double-check spelling and keywords in your application materials to match those used in the vacancy description.
- When answering assessment questions, always link your response to a real or hypothetical workplace scenario to demonstrate practical understanding.
- For topics like communication and teamwork, use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to structure your evidence.
- Refer to relevant legislation by name (e.g., Equality Act 2010, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974) to add authority to your answers.
- For performance improvement, show awareness of continuous professional development (CPD) and how it benefits both the individual and the employer.
- Remember that accountability doesn’t just mean taking blame; it involves taking ownership of tasks and outcomes.
- In portfolio-based assessments, include specific, dated examples with reflective commentary on how you adjusted your behaviour and the resulting customer or colleague feedback.
- During observed assessments, consciously demonstrate small but impactful behaviours like smiling, maintaining eye contact, and using the customer's name to confirm understanding.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Relying exclusively on generic internet searches without using specialist job websites or local business pages.
- Misinterpreting job titles or requirements, leading to applications for unsuitable roles (e.g., confusing 'apprentice' with 'assistant').
- Overlooking hidden job market opportunities, such as speculative approaches or personal contacts, and not keeping a systematic record.
- Confusing employee rights (e.g., holiday entitlement) with employee responsibilities (e.g., following safety rules), leading to mismatched examples.
- Providing generic descriptions of communication without demonstrating active listening or non-verbal cues.
- Failing to reference specific legislation or internal policies when discussing health and safety or employment rights.
- Overlooking the importance of seeking feedback when planning own work, resulting in plans that do not align with team or organisational goals.
- Assuming problem-solving only involves reporting issues rather than taking initial steps to resolve them where appropriate.
Key Terminology & Definitions
- Understand where to look for job vacancies, Be able to search for job vacancies
- Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer, Understand the purpose of health, safety and security procedures in a business environment, Understand how to communicate effectively with others, Understand how to work with and support colleagues, Know how to plan own work and be accountable to others, Understand the purpose of improving own performance in a business environment and how to do so, Understand the types of problems that may occur in a business environment and how to deal with them
- look and act the part in order to provide a good customer service impression, relate to their customers and to colleagues effectively, know how to adapt their behaviour to give a good customer service impression
- Show knowledge and understanding of health and safety, Be aware of risk, Understand emergency procedures
- Understand what personal presentation is, Present a professional image, Understand that standards of presentation vary in different workplaces
- Understand how to be responsible for own work, Understand how to behave in a way that supports effective working, Be able to take responsibility for own work, supported by others, Behave in a way that supports effective working
- Understand how to contribute to working as part of a group in appropriate ways, Demonstrate how to work as an effective group member, Review the group’s progress and their contribution to it
- Understand the importance of good time management and timekeeping, Know how to manage time
- Know how to prepare for an interview, Know how to perform effectively in a job related interview, Know how to review interview performance
- Understand the different types of business and organisations, their purposes and customers in their area., Understand why employers might require particular attitudes from their staff in different situations., Be able to relate employer expectations to their own activities.
- Understand how to improve own performance, Understand a learning plan, Be able to improve own performance using feedback, Be able to use a learning plan
- identify customers and their characteristics and expectations, identify their organisation’s services and products, know how to communicate using customer service language
- Know the purpose of planning communication, Understand how to communicate in writing, Know how to communicate verbally, Understand the purpose of feedback in developing communication skills, Be able to plan communication, Be able to communicate in writing, Be able to communicate verbally, Be able to identify and agree ways of developing communication skills
- Know the different ways of applying for a job, Be able to apply for a job
- Understand how own skills and qualities relate to those needed for working life, Research personal career opportunities