Even if the work that the company you’re interested in becoming a part of involves little-to-no English or Mathematics, your job-hut with no qualifications in these two subjects will be severely limited. Find out what employers are looking for by demanding your competency in them.
Does it Concern Maths or Numeracy?
Occasionally when employers and unions talk about someone lacking in Mathematical prowess, they mean a lack of skill in Numeracy. What’s the difference?
Mathematics is the study of a set of special concepts and Numeracy can be described as the ability to grasp these as well as apply them in the real world.
For example, if a 500g tub of butter costs £1 and a 1kg tub costs £1.98, which is better to buy? Two of the former or one of the latter?
Numeracy is about a proper understanding of basic mathematical concepts that we need to be able to understand to accomplish basic concepts and apply to our lives in the form of balancing our budgets, for example. Employers are complaining that school-leavers are increasingly lacking in this real-world skill and it’s becoming a non-negotiable in terms of obtaining decent employment.
Not only will skills in this field ensure the returns you’re making on games for money are always decent, but they’ll also put you leaps ahead when it comes to competition for a specific position opening up which sees multiple applicants showing their interest.
Do They Mean English or Literacy?
Like how Numeracy is the application of your understanding of Mathematical concepts, Literacy is your ability to apply your knowledge of the English language to your everyday life, not just whether or not you can read comics, books, or magazines.
This can sometimes be referred to as Information Literacy. So, your employer will not only require that you can listen, read, speak, spell, and write English to a certain standard but also that you can modify the way you do these things as circumstances dictate.
You may need to write an email that is as friendly as it is formal, follow written instructions to the letter, and communicate with customers in an open, friendly, courteous manner.
Thinking Skills as Part of English and Maths
Thinking skills can be described as the cognitive ability to explore things critically and exhaustively. Problem-solving is another skill that can be included under this heading.
Employers are looking for individuals who can think critically and objectively and a thorough knowledge of English and Maths is more likely to produce these. Information gathering, basic comprehension, and productive thinking are all included here, and the honing of these skills will go a long way to you securing your dream job.
Information gathering concerns the senses in use when we collect data, like hearing and sight, as well as our intellectual ability to retrieve facts and figures. Basic understanding gets applied to how these details get organized as well as our ability to form ideas and link them together, and productive thinking sees us using information properly because we understand it thoroughly.
