1.4 Analyze Your Skills

What to Know

People are hired based on their qualifications—a mix of experience, skills, education, training, knowledge, attitudes and abilities—how well their qualifications match what is needed on the job.

In the Master Application Worksheet you just completed, you listed your experience. It is also important for you to look at all the skills you have learned through education, military service, previous jobs, hobbies/interests, and participation in professional organizations and community activities. Basically, your skills are what you use to do your job, to complete tasks and solve problems.

Assessing your skills will help you determine:

• Your strongest skills;
• The skills you most enjoy using; and
• The jobs you might enjoy doing and which ones you would do well.

Making a list of your skills will:

• Point out skills you may need to learn for a given job;
• Save you time when you write your resume; and
• Help you develop answers to interview questions.

What to Do

The exercises that follow will help you identify transferable skills. These are skills you have already learned and can use in new work settings.

Conduct a thorough analysis of your knowledge, skills and abilities.

Next Page > Transferable Skills Inventory Worksheet