Employability through competencies: the portuguese labour market

Abstract

We live in times in which employability is a major concern, because of the economic crisis, the evolution of technology and high unemployment rates.

In Portugal, little is known about the competencies that organisations are most interested in. Thus, there is a need to acquire a proper understanding of the Portuguese reality. We need to know which competencies are important to organisations, so that we can develop these same competencies, both as individuals and through our school and higher education programmes.

We analysed job advertisements published by recruitment and selection agencies in the Expresso Emprego newspaper between January and May 2012, as a way of gathering information on the competencies more required by Portuguese organisations, across a range of job functions.

We found that companies generally tend to value generic competencies. As regards technical competencies, and with the exception of experience on the job, much sought after by companies, there was less demand for academic qualifications, technical knowledge and, above all, language and IT skills. There was considerably more demand for a degree in business sciences or engineering, technical knowledge, fluency in English and IT user skills. All companies asked for generic competencies, the most common of which were willingness to travel, team management, strategic vision, leadership and being both results and customer-oriented.

We discuss our findings in terms of adjustment to the competencies most requested by organisations and the development of these within the educational system.