SGAs

You can find all the SGAs, explanations of each attribute, and examples here. 

My Learning

Academic Skills

Research & Critical Thinking

Applying Knowledge

Digital Capacity

Your academic skills offer you the ability to understand, organise, and communicate a variety of information. These skills could also be useful in any career that requires you to understand other perspectives, present summaries of these ideas, understand your audience, and create content (written, digital, verbal) that fits a brief. The My Learning attributes help you develop the skills that allow you to be able to identify, listen, understand, analyse, critique, summarise, explain, present, and develop information, which are all essential aspects of being confident in any written or verbal communication. 

Think of an example of where you have used one of these My Learning attributes and how this might be useful in a future workplace. 

For example: ‘Academic Writing’ might feel like a skill that is limited to the academic world. But if we break this skill down, we can think about what it means to be good at academic writing - really, this skill is about the ability to write to a brief, write in a specific tone, write long-form text, plan and organise a written piece. Suddenly, academic writing becomes not only multiple skills but actually a skill that would be valuable in a range of roles. Any role that requires written communication, communicating with a wide variety of people, report or content writing, and designing material would value academic writing skills. 

My Impact

Interpersonal Skills 

Working with Others

Equality and Inclusion

Ethics and Sustainability 

Your Impact is something that can exist on a range of scales. You make an impact during each seminar you contribute to and listen to, you make an impact during a group project, and you can make an impact as an academic rep, mentor, or in a committee role for a society. The skills you develop during these experiences help you develop these attributes, which can be essential to a future role where you are making an impact as an individual on a project, making an impact within a team, or understanding how your organisation is making an impact in the wider industry/world. Being aware of your impact can help you see how your work has allowed you to collaborate, influence, lead, communicate, and network in your academic, professional, and personal experiences. These attributes also cover awareness of the communities around you; being conscious of how you impact the world around you is also a key part of being competent in the My Impact attributes. 

Think of an example of where you have used one of these My Learning attributes and how this might be useful in a future workplace. 

For example: 'Emotional intelligence' might be an attribute you don't always use in your degree. However, when you engage with a range of texts during your degree, you analyse what is happening in the text (including how the characters, people, and author might be feeling) and often reflect on your own emotional response to the texts. Asking the question of 'why' is key to emotional intelligence, and this is a key part of researching, writing, and answering an essay question. This skill of understanding others and yourself is very useful in a career that involves engaging with other people. This might help you understand effectively the audience you are trying to communicate with when you create content or how you can understand other's reactions to influence your communication style, writing style, content format, and listening style to be appropriate and effective.   

My Self

Positive Wellbeing 

Purpose

Personal Development 

Enterprising

Your Self is a key part of your skills development during your time at university. Feeling confident in your purpose, being self-aware, how you can grow, being determined and resilient, and looking after yourself are key aspects to creating a fulfilling and successful future for yourself. These attributes might come from your personal life, extracurricular activities, work experiences, and academic experiences. Your ability to identify how and when you have been able to focus on your My Self attributes can help you understand which experiences you have had that have helped you prioritise your personal development. This can help you pursue a future career that allows you to demonstrate and develop your My Self attributes and feel confident in your own abilities, needs, and wants. 

Think of an example of where you have used one of these My Learning attributes and how this might be useful in a future workplace. 

For example, ‘Positive mindset’ might be a skill that you have developed throughout your course to feel confident in your ability to manage your workload, meet your deadlines, and prioritise your well-being. You might not feel 100% confident with this skill, but you have made a conscious effort to develop it and are aware of the importance of feeling confident in your positive mindset in the future.

My Development Experiences 

Adding development experiences to your mySkills profile allows you to identify when you have used your skills and the SGAs throughout your degree experience. This can be particularly useful for future job applications, CVs, and interviews as you will have a record of examples of how, when, and why you have demonstrated and developed these skills and attributes. The development experiences ask you to use the STAR technique, which can help you make sure you are including the key information to explain your experience fully. You can use the STAR Guide to help you understand this better and find an example of how to do this. 

You can add development experiences from across all aspects of your life. This might include how you dealt with an assessment for your degree, a situation from a part-time job, or an experience from your extracurricular activities or hobby. All of these experiences impact your development, and by recording a range of experiences, you will have more to choose from in future applications and interviews. 

Using the My Development Experiences section of your mySkills profile, you can see exactly how your experience during your time at university is having a direct impact on your personal, professional, and academic development. You can use this record of development to help you find the best opportunities during your employability journey.

Useful Links

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/skills/sga 

https://careerconnect.sheffield.ac.uk/student/home.html?currentUserLocale=en_GB