Biology

Skills and qualities - from studying biology

• Teamwork

  You’ll need to be able to listen to other team members and take on board each other’s opinions and ideas.

• Technical ability

  You may need particular technical skills and specialist knowledge of how things work or need to be designed and built.

• Problem solving

  Some jobs particularly require problem solving skills and creative thinking to recognise problems and their causes, to identify a range of possible solutions and then assess and decide the best way forward.

• Organisation

  You’ll need to be able to plan and schedule work. This could include being able to prioritise what needs to be done and by when.

• Numeracy

  You’ll need to have a good standard of arithmetic. This could mean dealing with statistics, budgets, or doing complicated sums.

• Communication

  If your job requires verbal communication, you may need to write or give speeches and presentations. For jobs which require written communication skills, you will need to write clearly and convincingly – you could be producing or dealing with legal documents or writing articles for a newspaper. You may also require good listening skills, the ability to negotiate, or to be persuasive.

• Attention to detail

  You'll need to be thorough and focused on details of a task. You'll monitor and check work, information, or plans.

• Administration

  You may need to keep detailed records, follow business processes or make and manage appointments.

• Analytics

  You’ll be collecting and examining information in detail to arrive at a solution, to answer a key question or make an informed decision.

• Discipline

  You need to know and do what is expected of you. This ranges from organising yourself, being on time, to being responsible. Some jobs need particular discipline skills such as being able to persevere with the task and plans until you accomplish them, or following strict procedures.