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Interpersonal Skills

The ability to communicate, interact and build relationships with others.

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Explore your understanding

Interpersonal skills are used in a variety of contexts on a daily basis. These might include taking part in a seminar, delivering a presentation or working on a group project.

Employers are looking for candidates who can communicate effectively, interact with others within a team, and build positive working relationships with colleagues.

Understanding more about your own ability to communicate and being able to adapt your style to different situations and audiences is a key part of developing your interpersonal skills.


Develop your interpersonal skills

Wondering where can you improve your interpersonal skills? We've highlighted a number of ways and places you can develop this skill here at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº.

Practice interacting with employers directly

Attending a sessionÌýdelivered by employers and alumni will help you to develop your skills in communicating and interacting with others through practicing networking with recruiters, improve interview skills, receive 1-1 feedback on CVs and applications, and work with other students in practice assessment centre activities and workshops. Find out more and join usÌýfor an employer-led skills session.

Employer-led skills sessions

Book to attend a networking event

Collaborate with others via theÌýgreat networking opportunities to develop your skills in communicating and interacting through making connections with like-minded peers and building your network. Attend a networking sessionÌýfor entrepreneurs with ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Innovation and EnterpriseÌýto see for yourself.

Join a club or society

Joining a club or society within the Students’ Union is a great opportunity to develop your communication skills and receive further training. It’s a great way to work closely with others on shared goals in a social setting – whether it’s chairing a meeting or negotiating change – or even discussing a book as part of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Book Club, taking part in a discussion as part of the Debating Society, or joining the Communication Society. They also offer a great range of workshops open to all students.Ìý

AlsoÌýwithin the Students' Union, partners with more than 400 local charities to promote their volunteering opportunities. Use the Volunteering Service’s skills explorer to find volunteering opportunities where you can develop new skills and build on existing ones. It’s a great tool to use in conjunction with your wider career planning.

Explore a huge range of information resources

The Career Discovery Feed contains articles written by ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Careers with you in mind, andÌýa broad range of articles from TARGETjobsÌýdesigned to help you research different skills and options, and find practical tips on topics including networking and preparing for interviews.

Widening Participation

BecomingÌýa student ambassador with the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Widening Participation Office will give youÌýthe chance to meet other ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº students from a wide range of courses and backgrounds and develop your interpersonal skills. ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº students who are involved in Widening Participation activities receive appropriate training and gain experience of working with young people.Ìý

Use LinkedIn Learning to grow your skillset

LinkedIn Learning has a huge range of video courses supporting learning in software, creative and business skills – all free to ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº staff and currently enrolled students.ÌýAccess LinkedIn learning content on how you can build your Interpersonal skills.

Travel to improve your interpersonal skills

Attend an event to learn more about the global opportunities available both short term and longer term as part of your degree.Ìý¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Go Abroad programmes encompass an enriching selection of worldwide opportunities tailored to support ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº students to perform at their full potential and further develop their Interpersonal skills.

Learn a new language

Learn a language and make connections with others within the Centre for Languages and International Education (CLIE). Try an evening language class or a Summer course to build your interpersonal skills.Ìý

Improve your speaking and writing skills

The ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Academic Communication Centre is a new support service to help with your writing and speaking skills. The opportunities here are discipline specific and include tailored workshops for native and non native English speakers.Ìý

Developing your interpersonal skills as a Researcher

Build confidence networking with peers and professionals and learn more about how this skill can be important in an industry setting even at PhD level. The ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Doc Skills Programme is open to all postgraduate research students at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº. Here postgraduate researchers will be able to access courses to further develop skills and build confidence in networking with peers /professionals and learn more about how this skill can be important in an industry setting even at PhD level.ÌýYou’ll find moreÌýinformation on all the courses available.

You will also be able to browse theÌýscheduled events for researchersÌýandÌý.ÌýÌýResearch students can alsoÌýÌýand one-to-one advice, practice interviews and workshops tailored to researchers.


Prepare your examples

Ask yourself:

Do you have a group project that you have worked on, and learnt skills from? Think about a time where you listened to the opinions of someone else. How did you respond to them? Have you noticed a time where a colleague has not been communicating as much?ÌýWhat steps could you take? What did you learn from this?

Next steps:

Visit ourÌýInterview SkillsÌýpage for more support on how to structure answers as part of an interview. Here you can find out more about how to structure your answer and demonstrate your skills along with many more resources that will help you prepare.

How to demonstrate your skills in an interview

If you have written a draft application for any type of opportunity, our team can provide personalised and practical tips/ advice to help you better understand how recruiters will shortlist your application, and how you can best demonstrate your motivation and your most relevant skills/experience.

Get one-to-one advice