What we wish we had learnt at school

It started with us talking about the skills shortages in the UK when it comes to some of the critical industries which make the UK tick. With our recruitment heads on, we went through our own thoughts on how to ensure people are coming through the education sector with the appropriate skills and attributes to be able to add value to the world of work. We talked through school subjects that we studied – what they taught us in the deeper sense of the meaning. What we remember from the subjects that we studied and how we use them now in our working world and life.

We quickly moved to what we would have benefitted from when we were at school and reflecting on that, it brought about a lively discussion in our office. Some people regaled stories of how much they loved school or otherwise, the subjects they enjoyed and why we could all remember vividly some of our teachers and how they impacted our learning positively. How we felt inspired by certain subject areas, which has moulded decisions made in our careers and lives – often without us realising.

After much chat – we came up with a list which we really feel would have been hugely beneficial to learn when we were younger, alongside the subject-specific learning. It is a sort of, ‘if we knew what we now know about the world of work, relationships and life’… what would we have found useful!

The broad topics we came up with were broken down roughly, into 3 categories:

Dealing with people

How to mentor people

Public speaking

Conflict resolution

Customer service

Life skills

Software development

Financial planning

Basic accounting