Analyze Your Skills

What to Know

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

Transferable Skills Inventory Worksheet

All job skills are transferable. As you analyze your skills, do not just think about the job titles you have held, think about the specific things you performed at each job. Consider the skills you possess, those that you do not possess, and the skills you want to develop or refine. When you are done, compare your skills with the skills required in the jobs that interest you. This worksheet will help you identify transferable skills; skills that you have already learned and can use in new work settings. It will also enable you to understand how well you qualify for certain positions. Also, you will have an idea of what additional training or experience you are in need of.

Instructions

Step 1: Read the Skills Area column and circle all the skills that you possess.

Step 2: Use the Competency Rating to rate each of the skills in the Rating column.

Step 3: Make a check mark in the Interest column next to the skills that you want to use or develop in the future.

Step 4: If you have skills that are not listed, add them to the inventory table (below the Skill Area table).

EXAMPLE - Competency Rating

1 = Exposure, 2 = Experience, 3 = Expert

Skill Area	Rating	Interest
Adapted(teaching styles/special tools)
Administered(programs)
Advised(people/peers/job-seekers)
Analyzed(data/blueprints/schematics/policies)
Appraised(services/values)
Arranged(meetings/events/training programs)
Assembled(automobiles/computers/apparatus)
Audited(financial records/accounts payable)
Budgeted(expenses)
Calculated(numerical data/annual costs/mileage)
Cataloged(art collection/technical publications)
Checked(accuracy/other’s work)
Classified(documents/plants/animals)
Cleaned(houses, auto parts)
Coached(teams/students/athletes)
Collected(money/survey information/data/samples)
Compiled(statistics/survey data)
Confronted(people/difficult issues)
Constructed(buildings)
Consulted(on new designs/investment strategy)
Coordinated(events/work schedules)
Corresponded(with other departments/colleagues)
Counseled(students/peers/job-seekers)
Created(new programs/artwork/internet sites)
Cut(diamonds/concrete/fabric/glass/lumber)
Decided(which equipment to buy/priorities)
Delegated(authority)
Designed(data systems/greeting cards)
Directed(administrative staff/theatre productions)
Dispensed(medication/information)
Displayed(results/products/artifacts)
Distributed(products/mail)
Dramatized(ideas/problems/plays)
Edited(publications/video tape/film)
Entertained(people)
Established(objectives/guidelines/policies)
Estimated(physical space/costs/staffing needs)
Evaluated(programs/instructors/peers/students)
Exhibited(plans/public displays, evidence)
Expressed(interest in development projects)
Facilitated(multimedia exhibit/conflict resolution)
Found(missing persons/appropriate housing)
Framed(houses/pictures)
Generated(interest/support)
Grew(plants/vegetables/flowers)
Handled(detailed work/data/complaints/toxins)
Hosted(panel discussions/foreign students)
Implemented(registration system/new programs)
Improved(maintenance schedule/systems)
Initiated(production/changes/improvements)
Inspected(physical objects/repairs/electrical work)
Installed(software/bathrooms/electrical systems/parts)
Interpreted(languages/new laws/schematics/codes)
Interviewed(people/new employees)
Invented(new ideas/machine parts)
Investigated(problems/violations/fraud)
Landscaped(gardens/public parks/indoor gardens)
Led(foreign tours/campus tours)
Listened(to others/to conference calls)
Located(missing information/facilities)
Maintained(transportation fleet/aircraft/diesel engines)
Managed(an organization/mail room/ retail store)
Measured(boundaries/property lines/bridge clearance)
Mediated(between people/civil settlements)
Met(with dignitaries/public/community groups)
Monitored(progress of others/water flow/electric usage)
Motivated(workers/trainees)
Negotiated(contracts/sales/labor disputes)
Operated(equipment/hydraulic test stand/robotics equipment)
Organized(tasks/library books/data bases)
Painted(houses/cars/aircraft/interiors)
Patrolled(runways/public places/property/buildings)
Persuaded(others/customers)
Planned(agendas/international conferences)
Predicted(future needs/stock market trends)
Presented(major selling points/new products)
Prepared(reports/meals/presentations)
Printed(books/reports/posters)
Processed(human interactions)
Programmed(computers)
Promoted(events/new products/new technology)
Proofread(news/reports/training materials)
Protected(property/people)
Published(reports/books/software)
Purchased(equipment/supplies/services)
Questioned(people/survey participants/suspects/witnesses)
Raised(performance standards/capital investments)
Read(volumes of material/new releases)
Recorded(data/sales totals/music/video)
Recruited(people for hire/executives/Marines)
Rehabilitated(people/old buildings)
Repaired(mechanical devices/exhaust system)
Reported(finding/monthly activity)
Researched(library documents/cancer/diseases)
Renewed(programs/contracts/insurance policies)
Reviewed(program objectives/books and movies)
Revised(instructional materials)
Scheduled(social events/doctor’s appointments)
Sold(advertising space/real estate/cars)
Served(individuals)
Sewed(parachutes/clothing/upholstery)
Signed(for the hearing impaired)
Sketched(charts and diagrams)
Spoke(in public)
Supervised(others)
Taught(classes/math/science)
Tailored(clothing/services)
Televised(conferences/training/events/shows)
Tested(new designs/students/employees)
Updated(files)
Verified(reports/identity)
Volunteered(services/time)
Wrote(reports/training manuals)
Weighed(trucks/patients/precious metals)
Welded(bike frames/airframes/alloys)
X-rayed(limbs/stressed equipment)

Inventory (add any skills you have that were not listed above):

Competency Rating

1 = Exposure, 2 = Experience, 3 = Expert

Other Skills	Rating	Interest

Analyzing Transferable Skills

In the blanks below, write the skills you circled and checked in the Transferable Skills Inventory. Circle your competence level. Write a detailed example of how you used that skill. Remember to consider your competence level as you identify specific jobs. You may want to use these examples when you write your resume. Follow Example Below:

Skill: Recruited

Example: Promoted and marketed the benefits of a military background to high school students which assisted in consistently meeting military recruitment goals.