Matching Your Skills to Appropriate Jobs


Know your skills

Skills refer to the things you do well or the tasks you perform well; so for example, someone who writes well can be described as having good writing skills. It follows then, that a key to finding the most appropriate job in a given industry is to recognize and understand your own skills and communicating their significance – written as well as verbally – to a probable employer.

A majority of the most viable skills are those that are most used in various types of work settings. What are these skills? Would you be successful matching your skills with the job being offered in order to find the right job?

Determine your skills. This will help you in becoming the lead candidate for landing your ideal job. A skill does not necessarily have to be something that was adapted in a work environment. If this would be your first job hunt and you have no job experience to date, you still have a chance in the industry.

Hobby skills help

In more cases than not, skills – including knowledge-based and transferable – could be absorbed and developed as a volunteer, a student, a homemaker, or in many of your other personal activities. The skills you have used for these activities can still be applied to your desired job.

Organizing and listing your personal skills could help you easily fill out job applications, provide useful information for job interviews, and prepare quality resumes. First, you should categorize these skills by separating your interests and aptitudes from your work experience.

Aptitudes & interests

Aptitudes and interest include all of your hobbies, activities in which you have been involved in the past, and all the things that interest you. By making a list of these qualities, you could examine the skills it takes to achieve each item.

Skills from aptitude and interest may be homemaking, playing basketball, fixing cars and others. All of these items could determine if you are capable of working with a team; able to handle multiple tasks; have viable knowledge of human development; have knowledge of electronics and the ability to diagnose mechanical and numerical problems. The list goes on, but make sure to consider the skills that would be most appropriate for a working environment.

Work history

Work history includes volunteer, part-time, freelance, summer and full time jobs. Once you have listed all your past employment and the duties carried out in those positions, examine the skills you utilized to perform those duties and how they will relate to the new job.

Ask for help. As soon as you have your list ready, you could now go to job services that could help you acquire your desired job. You could also search the job yourself. However, always remember to match the skills and abilities in your list to the needed skills and abilities of various jobs.

In most cases, people who seek jobs are threatened with job titles. This should not be the case because as long as your skills and abilities are adequate enough to meet requirements of the workload and job title, the possibility of acquiring your desired job increases.

Importance of Skills Emphasis for Job Interviews


Skills Emphasis?

Skill emphasis during the interview is important to show the employer what makes you different from all the other job candidates. In this competitive world, companies search for the most qualified employees by weighing skills of the candidates and determining how they would benefit the company.

A majority of the top companies search for employees who stand out based on their expertise and ability to initiate and work with new developments. Many of these companies also acknowledge that pleasing personalities would enhance the organization.

Skills are grouped into three kinds: knowledge-based, transferable, and personal traits.

Knowledge-based skills

Knowledge-based skills are those learned from experiences – These may include educational attainment, additional training, seminars attended, and other subjects that you have studied to enhance your expertise.

Knowledge-based skills might also include computer and communication skills, marketing or managerial abilities, product development, and other such acquired capabilities. These skills vary depending on the field or industry of each job candidate.

Transferable/portable skills

Transferable or portable skills are those you bring to a specific job – This is the reason why interviewers ask, “What could you offer the company?” Transferable skills are important because companies strive to look for quality employees that would improve the development of the workforce.

Portable skills include problem solving, team leader potential, organizational, writing and communication skills, customer service oriented skills, time and project management, as well as numbers and budgetary expertise. These kinds of skills vary depending on the experience and versatility of each job candidate.

Personal traits

Personal traits determine who you are – In a job interview, one of the most common things an employer might say is “Tell me something about yourself.” Your response is vital because it would set the tone for the rest of the interview.

Personal traits include good judgment, good organizational tendencies, analytical, goal oriented, flexible, creative and many more. Try to sell yourself in as modest a manner as possible within a limited time frame.

Self-assessment

Self-assessment – In order to provide an impressive presentation, examine your resume and list all the skills you have used for each past job experience. Make a comprehensive list of your skills and strengths including personal traits, knowledge-based and transferable skills. This would be the basis for your personal commercial.

Once you have completed your script, you are now ready to face the interviewer. Remember that employers are interested in your accomplishments, so use words that are concise, direct and clear.

Although many companies require a unique set of skills, you should still highlight your technical skills in the interview. These skills, which top companies usually seek, include leadership, communication skills, confidence, flexibility, problem solving abilities and energy. Emphasizing all of your strengths and skills on job interviews would increase your chances of landing the desired job.

Can't go wrong when the science is right