Monday, May 25, 2015

A review of your skill sets may help in job searching

Everyone has extensive skills but overlook many of their skills if they cannot relate them to a specific work situation. When checking skills, recognize that you have three basic types of skills:

1.            Work/special or knowledge skills
2.            Functional/transferable skills
3.            Personal/self-management skills

Work/special or knowledge skills relate to activities you have done in a particular work situation; activities that you have learned on-the-job. For example, if you are an accountant you understand accounting principles; a chemical technician has special knowledge about chemistry. So, not anyone can do that job without having some special knowledge about that field.

Functional/transferable skills are any ability that is not specific to a single job or task. They can be applied to a wide variety of tasks in a wide variety of contexts. Supervising, corresponding, public speaking and motivating are examples of functional skills. If you have supervisory skills, you can transfer those abilities to any work environment.

Personal/self-management skills involve a person's self-control when dealing either with people or the budgeting of time. Being punctual, dependable, conscientious, patient and sympathetic are important attributes for many jobs and should not be overlooked when skills are assessed. Employers often base a hiring decision on how an individual manages himself/herself and how that behaviour will relate to the work environment.

The following is an alphabetical list of functional skills. Review the ones you have.

Administering
A department of people programs, a specific activity, such as a test.

Advertising
Giving financial counsel, advice in an educational system

Analysing
Quantitative data, statistical data
Human/social situations

Anticipating
Staying one step ahead of moods of the public
Being able to sense what will be fashionable in consumer goods
Expecting a problem before it develops, seeing first signs

Arranging
Social functions, events
Meeting between specific people

Assembling
Technical apparatus or equipment
Items of information into a coherent whole

Auditing
Assessing the financial status of an organization

Budgeting
Outlining costs of a project
Assuring that money will not be spent in excess of funds
Using money efficiently and economically

Calculating
Performing mathematical computations
Assessing risks in advance

Committee Working
Attaining objectives through committee processes
Creating and implementing committee structures

Compiling
Gathering numerical, statistical data
Accumulating facts in a given topic area

Confronting
Obtaining decisions form reluctant people
Giving bad news to others
Obtaining information form others who are unwilling to disclose information
Receiving personal conflicts

Constructing
Mechanical apparatus
Physical objects, furniture, etc.
House construction or similar

Controlling
Exercising financial control
Crowd behaviour; children
Environmental control

Coordinating
Numerous events involving groups of people
Quantities of information
Activities in several locations
Events in time sequence

Corresponding
Answering inquiries by mail
Initiating letters to others
Soliciting business by mail

Counselling
Helping people with personal/emotional concerns
Helping people with life
Development concerns: career, finances
Helping people with educational plans
Helping people with family matters

Classifying
Sorting information into categories

Coaching
Guiding activities of an athletic team
Tutoring in academic subjects or other pursuits on a one-to-one basis

Collecting
Money or services from people
Widely scattered items
Many items in a single class
Dealing with Unknowns
Making decisions based upon severely limited information
Making hypothesis about unknown phenomena

Deciding
Making decisions about use of money
Making decisions involving safety
Making decision about alternatives

Delegating
Distributing tasks to others
Giving responsibility to others on a work team

Designing
Physical interiors of rooms
Exteriors of buildings
Plans involving processing of information

Developing Mathematical Models
For scientific phenomena
For behavioural phenomena
For economic phenomena
Dispensing
Information to the public
Materials, equipment, medicine

Creating
Artistically (visual arts, etc.)
New ideas for an organization
New ways of solving mechanical problems
Inventing new apparatus, equipment

Dealing with Pressure
Risks toward self, physical and otherwise
Risks towards others
Time pressure, deadlines for getting work done Judging likely costs of an operation
Projecting possibilities of future income
Judging physical space accurately
Physical hardship
Complaints, abuse from others

Displaying
Ideas in artistic form
Pictures for public display
Products in a store window
Equipment, mechanical devices

Distributing
Products to people personally
Marketing products, making them available to customers

Dramatizing
Business/commercial ideas (e.g. advertising presentations)
Social concerns, problems
Working behind the scenes

Editing
Newspaper, magazine pieces, book manuscripts, etc.

Enduring
Long hours of work
Physical danger
People who are "difficult"
Periods of being alone

Entertaining
On an in-person basis, to audience
Via electronics media
Giving parties, social events
Evaluating
Assessing determine success
Judging the performance of an individual

Examining
Administering written tests
Making a financial assessment
Looking for physical/medical symptoms

Exhibiting
Showing or demonstrating

Explaining
Justifying one's actions to others
Making obscure ideas clear to others

Expressing Feelings
To another individual personally
To an audience or other group

Finding
Information from obscure, remote or varied sources
People who can be helpful to you or others

Fund Raising
On person-to-person basis such as door-to-door
by mail for large foundation
For political candidates, on in-person basis
Through sale of products for charity
Through advertising media

Group Facilitating
Managing the positive interaction of members in a group
Specific facilitation involving therapy

Handling Complaints
Customers of retail stores
Stockholders of corporations
Citizens to government Agencies
Parents of school or college students

Handling Detail Work
Doing numerous small tasks within a short time period
Following through on small detailed assignments

Hurrying
Working at a fast pace
Moving quickly form place to Place

Imagining
New ways of dealing with old problems
Theoretical relationships
Artistic ideas or perspective

Initiating
Personal contacts with strangers
New ideas, ways of doing things, new approaches

Inspecting
Physical objects to meet standards
People to determine criteria or detect information

Interpreting
Other languages
Obscure phrases or passages in English
Meaning of statistical data

Interviewing
Evaluating applicants For an organization obtaining information from others

Investigating
Seeking information, which individuals may attempt to keep secret
Seeking the underlying causes of a problem

Laboratory Working
Setting up scientific equipment
Obtaining results from controlled experiments

Listening
To extended conversations between others
To extended conversation from one person in order to help
To recording devices or other monotonous listening situations

Locating
Finding people who are missing
Detecting missing information
Sources of help for others

Making Layouts
For printed media, newspaper
For public displays, posters

Managing
Being responsible for the work of others
Having responsibility for the processing of information
Guiding activities of a team
Having responsibility for meeting objectives of an organization or department

Mapping
Mapping geographical, physical boundaries
Putting sequences of events into graphic form

Measuring
Obtaining accurate scientific measurements

Mediating
Being a peacemaker between conflicting parties
Acting as liaison between competing interests or differing constituencies

Meeting the Public
Being a receptionist or greeter
Giving tours
Being public representative of an agency
Selling products in a public place
Dealing with public in a service capacity (e.g. Policeman, Barber)

Monitoring
Following progress of another person
Observing progress on equipment or apparatus

Motivating
Others for peak physical performances
Others for psychological efforts, helping them to overcome their inertia

Moving with Dexterity
Being able to move with speed and grace (sports, etc.)

Negotiating
Financial contracts
Between individuals or groups in conflict

Observing
Physical phenomena with accuracy
Behaviour of human beings
Social/Historical changes
Small details in physical objects
Small details in written materials

Obtaining Information
From written sources, documents
From unwilling individuals

Operating
Scientific equipment
Mechanical devices, vehicles
Electronic data equipment, etc.

Organizing
Bringing people together for certain tasks
Gathering information and arranging it in clear, interpretable form
Arranging political activity
Rousing the public to action

Outdoor Working
Involvement with the land and its resources
Involvement with animal life
Testing oneself against physical challenges
Involvement with wild animals
Collecting scientific data
Recasting land for commercial use

Persuading
Influencing others to see your point of view
Using influence with others where money is involved
Persuading others to help you

Planning
Anticipating future needs of a company or organization
Scheduling a sequence of events
Arranging an itinerary for a trip

Politicking
Generating support for one's ideas within an organization
Generating financial support form another agency or organization
Attempting to influence
Policy within an organization

Predicting
Forecasting physical phenomena
Forecasting psychological/social events
Forecasting the outcome of contents
Forecasting economic trends

Preparing
Scientific equipment or specimens
Written materials for a presentation

Printing
Using mechanical printing equipment
Printing letters carefully by hand

Processing
The orderly flow of electronic data
Introducing an individual to procedures of an organization
Identifying human interactions taking place in a group
Channelling information through a system

Programming
Electronic computers
Developing and arranging sequence of events

Promoting
Through written media
On a personal basis, one-to-one
Arranging financial backing

Proposal Writing
For government funding
For revising in-house operations

Protecting
Protecting people from physical harm
Protecting property from people
Building protective devices or equipment
Preventing destructive natural phenomena

Questioning
Obtaining evidence in legal situations
Asking creative questions in fluid situations

Reading
Reading large amounts of material quickly
Reading written materials with great care
Reading numbers or symbols at a great distance
Reading illegible or very small writing

Recording
Numerical, Quantitative data
Scientific data, using instruments

Recording Keeping
Orderly keeping of numerical data records
Keeping log of sequential information
Creating and Maintaining files
Clear and accurate financial records
Records of services rendered

Recruiting
Attempting to acquire the service of people for an organization

Rehabilitating
Helping people to resume use of limbs, etc. after injury
Working with patients through non-physical media such as art, music, dance, etc.

Remembering
Large quantities of information for immediate recall
Names, faces, places, etc.
Long sequences of events or instructions

Repairing
Mechanical devices, equipment
Furniture, doors, walls, etc.

Repeating
Same procedure many times
Many attempts to obtain a difficult result

Representing
Representing an employer to the public

Researching
Extracting information form library, archives, etc.
Obtaining information from other people (surveys)
Obtaining information form physical data

Reviewing
Re-assessing effects of a program
Assessing performance of an individual
Evaluating a play, movie, concert, recital, etc.

Rewriting
Technical language into popular form
Revising manuscripts

Selling
Ideas to others personally
Ideas through writing
Products to individuals
Policies to the public

Serving
Providing service to an individual
Serving product to individuals such as food

Setting Up
Arranging for a demonstration of some physical apparatus
Getting people and things ready for a show, an exhibit, etc.

Sketching
Pictures of things, people
Diagrams, charts, other symbols

Speaking
Speaking publicly to an audience
Speaking individually to groups
Speaking on electronic media (radio, TV, tape recorder, etc.)
Speaking with clear diction

Supervising
Directly supervising work of others in a white collar setting
Overseeing labourers
Being responsible for maintenance of a physical plant, building set of apartments, etc.

Talking
For long periods of time
Able to sustain social chatter

Teaching
In a school or college classroom
Individual to perform certain tasks
Tutoring individuals in certain subjects

Timing
Organizing time efficiently so that many tasks are completed in a definite time period
Arranging an event so that it occurs at precisely the right moment

Toleration
Ability to accept misbehaviour or mistakes by people for whom you are responsible
Being philosophical about lack of support for what you are doing and misunderstanding, lack of reward or recognition

Translating
Expressing one's words
Language of words of another
Reducing sophisticated language to simpler terms

Treating
Treating physical ailments of humans or animals

Trouble Shooting
Finding sources of difficulty in human relations
Detecting sources of difficulty in physical apparatus

Updating
Keeping a file of information up-to-date
Completing historical record of a person or organization
Acquiring new information on an old topic Using Instruments
Of a scientific nature
Of a medical nature
Related to motion, transportation

Working with Precision
On physical materials
With numerical data
In time and space situations
Calling for little error


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