Lara Plaxton is CEO & Co-founder at GotDis, an innovative recruitment and networking platform for emerging talent to connect equitably to established professionals and work opportunities. Currently working with universities having recently released a free psychometric tool for students and graduates to improve their employability.Boundaryless careers have been discussed in academia since at least 1994, when DeFillippi and Arthur wrote about career competencies in terms of know-why (identity, values and interests), know-how (knowledge, skills and abilities) and know-whom (intra-firm, inter-firm, professional and social). However, almost 30 years later, are universities ready for the skills-based approach organisations are moving towards?Many organisations are applying a skill-based approach across talent management practices whether that’s hiring, learning or progressing within the work environment. In an article by McKinsey, they discussed how companies are “moving beyond degrees and job titles to focus more on the skills a job requires and that a candidate possesses”. Not only does it help organisations to become more agile as they adapt to ever-changing markets, but it means a more diverse pool of candidates can be accessed through not using criteria such as qualification or university status. The other benefit for both employer and employee is the ability to match work opportunities to their employees’ skills rather than being bound by job titles, siloed functions or hierarchies.The increase in this trend is discussed in a recent Harvard Business Review article and can be seen through the amount of new digital internal talent marketplace platforms such as Gloat, Fuel50 and Paddle HR, who were recently acquired by LinkedIn. HR enterprise systems like Workday and Successfactors are creating their own skills ontologies so they can continually learn and adapt as the relevance of particular skills change over time. They also enable machine learning and AI to be applied to these skills databases to optimise upskilling and work allocation through making smart recommendations.Universities often still talk about careers in a linear way, promoting certain career paths based on an individual’s degree subject. As employers begin to remove degree requirements from their selection criteria, where does this leave graduates who have to adapt to recruitment requirements? Whilst this is welcome news for those who do not possess a degree, from our own research, we know students and graduates often find it hard to articulate their transferable skills. However, they have been actively gaining and improving skills obtained during university such as researching and analysing information, applying specific knowledge to their work or the social aspects of being in an academic environment, all of which are valuable to employers and can be applied to a multitude of roles.So, how can university careers services ensure they are increasing their students’ employability by preparing them for this emerging careers landscape? From our extensive research, we would recommend the following actions:HELP STUDENTS ARTICULATE DEGREES AS SKILLS GAINEDFrom our own experience, students and graduates will often break their degrees down into the modules they’ve done and the subject matter covered. However, this can often be hard for organisations to translate this information into value that can be applied to their needs. Skills are a universal language that crosses boundaries; whether that be workplace boundaries or academic boundaries such as faculties or degree subjects.From critical thinking to resilience, completing a degree requires a whole range of skills which graduates should be able to articulate to future employers. Helping students understand the skills they’ve gained from their degree will increase their employability. This insight should also be made available to prospective students choosing their degree subjects. Skills data will also help un...

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