Skills Examples for Students: Skills Students Need To Be Successful

Our List of Skills Examples of Students Ideas for You

Set yourself up for academic and lifelong success with these skills examples for students. 

1. Personal Planning

As a student, you must juggle multiple classes, after-school jobs, and your personal life or risk feeling overwhelmed. Personal planning helps you manage your days to ensure you’re always aware of what you have coming up. 

• Use a planner or bullet journey to jot down assignment deadlines and extracurricular activities. 
• Plan ahead by breaking projects down into smaller, more manageable tasks. 
• Identify what’s most urgent and important with time management strategies like the Eisenhower Matrix or Pomodoro timers. 

2. Communication

Being an excellent communicator–both verbally and in writing–enables you to get information across to others more effectively and fosters healthy relationships. 

• Practice active listening by paying attention to what others say rather than waiting for your chance to speak. 
• Speak and write with clarity. Say what you mean to avoid misunderstands. 
• Watch your body language. Your gestures and facial expressions can be just as meaningful as your words. 

3. Critical Thinking

In the digital age, we are often overwhelmed with information that isn’t useful or accurate. With critical thinking skills, you can apply logic and reasoning to make objective judgments.

• Be curious and ask questions rather than taking information at face value. 
• Avoid making decisions based on your emotions or gut reactions. Instead, use logic to figure out the best possible solution.
• Reflect often on your personal biases and how they might affect your thinking. 

4. Collaboration

Regardless of your long-term aspirations in academia or the professional world, you will face situations where you must work with others to accomplish a common goal. 

• Engage fully with the group, contributing ideas and listening to what others say. 
• Divide tasks equally and thoughtfully based on each individual’s strengths. 
• Manage conflicts constructively rather than letting a minor disagreement escalate into a more serious issue. 

5. Research

Google makes diving into dusty tomes a thing of the past, but there’s still an art to researching to find the most accurate and credible information.

• Learn to evaluate sources for their reliability. 
• Take high-quality, skimmable notes organized into sections. 
• Practice analyzing and synthesizing data from different visual models, like charts and graphs. 

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