How do I find out which skills employers want from graduates?

Read real job adverts for the roles you want and look for patterns. The skills that appear in most adverts are the ones to build and show.

A simple method:

• Collect eight to ten adverts for the same type of entry-level role.
• Highlight skills, tools and qualifications.
• Count which ones appear most often.
• Compare that list with your own skills and note the gaps.

Other useful sources: your university careers service, alumni on LinkedIn, employer graduate pages and official occupation databases such as O*NET, which describe the tasks and skills for hundreds of jobs. The job-description comparison in a resume builder can also show which of an advert's frequent terms are missing from your resume. Repeat this exercise every few months, because the tools employers ask for change over time.