Looking At Skills in More Detail

Once you have found the areas where you feel you have skills, you will need to generate a more detailed list of the knowledge, skills and experience you have gained. Think of things you have done in your current job, your previous jobs, projects and assignments and outside activities, and try to answer the following questions to identify the specific skills you have used.

1. Things

• Did you work with things in any of your previous work?
• What sort of things? Machines or tools?
• Were physical skills, like hand-eye coordination important?

2. People

• Did you work with people in any of your previous work?
• If so, in what way? Teaching or training them? Communicating with them? Persuading them or selling something to them?
• Was leadership involved?

3. Ideas

• Did you work with ideas in any of your previous work?
• Did this include designing something?
• Were you creating something?
• Researching or finding out about it?
• How did you plan this work?

4. Data

• Did you work with data in any of your previous work?
• How?
• Did you have to organise or administer it?
• Was attention to detail important?
• Were IT skills used?
• Were you collating information or figures?
• Were financial skills involved?