The Graduate Talk

WHY SKILLS LITERALLY RUN THE SHOW FOR YOUR CAREER IN 2026? Like…degrees get your foot in the door. Skills keep the door open and get you the bag. The whole game just changed. AI and tech are rewriting jobs every 18-24 months. That sounds crazy, right? World Economic Forum says up to 44% of what we know now might be useless in 5 years. Companies stopped caring just about your credentials. They want proof you can actually do the work. Show me the portfolio, bro that beats a piece of paper every time. Skills-based hiring is blowing up. They were stats stating that when companies focus on real abilities instead of degrees, their talent pool jumps like 6 times bigger. What does that mean for us? People who build and show real skills get hired faster, start on better money, and climb quicker. Simple as that. Skills fuel rockets that launch you past everyone else. So yeah…what skill are you grinding on right now to level up?

Remember when your biggest technology problem was a lecturer refusing to accept typed assignments? Look at us now, negotiating with artificial intelligence. 👀

4 Hard truths most graduates don't want to hear A thread 🧵

7 DIGITAL SKILLS THAT MAKE YOUR DEGREE MORE VALUABLE Your degree gives you a foundation. These skills can help you turn knowledge into opportunities. 1. Digital communication: Writing emails, reports, proposals and professional messages that get results. 2. Data literacy: Using Excel and other tools to organise, interpret and communicate information. 3. AI literacy: Using AI tools to research, analyse, automate tasks and improve your work. 4. Digital marketing: Understanding content, social media, SEO and how businesses attract customers online. 5. Content creation: Creating useful videos, graphics, articles and other digital content. 6. Research and information literacy: Finding reliable information, evaluating sources and turning research into useful insights. 7. Digital collaboration: Working effectively with tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams and project management platforms. You don't have to master all seven. Start with the skills that complement your field, practise them and build evidence of what you can do.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make after graduation is thinking you have nothing to work with because you have no money. What do you know? Who knows you? What problems can you solve? What have people come to trust you for? These things won't pay your bills. But are good starting points for creating opportunities. The challenge is learning how to put what you already have to use while building what you still lack. You may be short on money. Don't overlook every other resource you bring to the table.

We've made getting a job difficult and starting a business sound easy. “Just start something.” With what capital? Selling to whom? Solving what problem? Dear Graduate, ambition is important. But business requires more than motivation.

Some of us left university knowing how to calculate a regression coefficient but not how to calculate the true cost of borrowing money. We could explain theories of economic development but struggled to negotiate our first salary. We studied business but had never tried to price a service. We learnt about percentages but had never built a personal budget. Of course, universities cannot teach every life skill. And financial education doesn't belong to one institution alone. But we can take responsibility for learning what we need. Start with these five questions 1. How much does it cost me to live each month? 2. What happens if my income stops? 3. How does interest affect borrowing and saving? 4. How do I compare financial products before choosing one? 5. How can I increase my earning ability? Which one should every student learn before graduation?