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SELF ASSESSMENT

Who You Are | YOUR SKILL SET | Suggested Readings | Worksheets

... Understanding and Presenting Your Skills

When did you last do a SWOT Analysis (39K Word) for yourself? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? What are your strongest skills? What skills could you use as leverage when considering a career change, department move or a new job?

Skill-building starts with understanding the two most important skill types, general workplace and industry-specific skills and knowing how to develop a balanced mix of each. When combined, these skills make you valuable to employers because you possess the core skills of a generalist plus the advanced skills of a specialist.

It is important to determine which skills are necessary for your success, which ones you lack and how you can develop these skills and demonstrate to employers that you have the assets that they value.

Industry Specific Skills Demonstrate ability to perform a specific job in your field. (e.g. accounting, editing, processing payroll)

Examples of industry-specific skills (60K PDF files):
Business | Culinary | Hospitality | Technology

Top 10 General Workplace Skills Include communication, organizational, computer, interpersonal, analytical, leadership, problem-solving, time management, mathematical, and professional skills. See full list.

Skill Identification Tips Being competitive in any job market includes understanding how your past experience is relevant to the positions you are now pursuing, and will pursue in the future. Consider these questions and tips to help you recognize your skills and present them effectively.

• List your accomplishments (from your work history, as well as your involvement in community and professional organizations).
• What has your value been to past employers, within and beyond the scope of your position?
• What are the key qualifications needed in the jobs you are applying for, in addition to the occupation-specific skills? Job postings are an excellent source for these points, as are informational interviews with people who are already doing the kind of work you want to do.
• Write about past successes, and talk with friends, former colleagues or a mentor, to express your stories fully and to find help with naming the skills that you've used.
• What strong analytical, communication, organizational, interpersonal and creative skills can you identify from your writing? What examples can you list that you would like prospective employers to know about?
• Practice talking about your stories to prepare for interviews, and to evaluate whether your best professional qualifications are included on your resume, in your cover letters and in your networking sound byte.

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