Skills – The ability to do something well, which may be a result of your knowledge, practice or aptitude (a natural ability to do something well).
Whether you’re at the beginning of a bright career future, or in the middle of a job, an important part of deciding the next step in your career path is being able to evaluate the skills you have or have learned along the way. Instead of accidentally falling into a career path, having a clear understanding of your skills will actually help direct you on a path of your choosing.
Interesting fact: over 80% of job applicants cannot describe their skill-sets1. So think for a moment: will that 80% be able to direct/choose their own career path, or will they fall into a career path not necessarily of their choosing? Those folks are missing the “compass” that will help them with their job search. That compass is the ability to evaluate the skills that you have!
By identifying your skills, you will also be able to:
• Give more focus to your job search
• Provide information on your resume
• Answer the question: “why should I hire you?”
• Communicate your skills and accomplishments to an employer
• Arrange your skills in priority patterns to apply to specific jobs
• Match your skills to job opportunities that fit your interests
That’s right: we’ll be touching on skills as well as interests. I know there are positives and negatives to EVERY job, but if we can find enjoyment in what we do for a living, at least to some extent, then all the better!
Lining up your skills and interests in a job of your choosing is a “win-win” situation for you and your employer. After all, working in a career you enjoy, in a job you love, is fulfilling and your employer will no doubt be pleased with your performance.
So, our first step along the path of beginning or changing a career is to evaluate the skills we have.
This week, BlogForce will focus on how evaluating our skills can be used as an effective tool in directing our job search.
If you would like additional information, please see the following link: Career Planning. Workforce Solutions is interested in your perspective, and we have many other resources that are available on our website as well: Workforce Solutions.
Coming Up Tomorrow: Different TYPES of Skills.
David Spears is a member of the Workforce SolutionsNavigator team for the Texas Gulf Coast Region. Combining training and education to real world examples, David brings personal and professional experience with disabilities to the table in order to help job seekers with disabilities realize their potential. David has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration with over 20 years of experience in the business world.
1 Feldman, R.S. (2006). Looking good and lying to do it: Deception
as an impression management strategy in job interviews. Journal
of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 1070-1086.
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