How to Market Yourself: Identifying Skills

*Dear Tamara,* *I've heard that it's important to identify my skills if I want to get the career of my dreams. But I don't think I have any. What do I do? Why do I need to identify my skills anyway?* Many people have difficulty in this area, so you are not alone. A skill is often something that comes so easily and naturally to you that it's hard to identify it as special or even to pick it out at all. However, it is important to be able to list your strengths for several reasons. *Why Skill Identification is Important* Listing your strengths can be a great jumping-off point for career exploration. When you know what you have and what you don't, it's easier to find an occupation or career that takes advantage of what you have to offer. Also, you will need to be able to identify your strengths to prospective employers or internship supervisors. They will be looking for your strengths in cover letters and in your answers to interview questions. It is up to you to articulate your strengths and 'sell yourself' in order to secure the job or internship you desire. There are several types of skills, but to start, concentrate on your Functional (or transferable) Skills. These are your natural knacks that you can apply to any situation; they are part of your self-expression and you take them with you wherever you go. For example, if you are a good listener (a skill), you will be a good listener whether you are a rock star or an architect. *Learning to Identify Skills* One way to identify your functional skills is to describe and analyze some of your accomplishments. In this case, an accomplishment is anything that you feel you've done well and enjoyed doing. It doesn't need to be impressive to the world at large, just to you. Make sure that your accomplishment is something that you did, not something that happened to you (like winning the lottery). Start by thinking of three accomplishments. If you can't think of three, ask yourself if you are being too modest or down on yourself, and then ask your friends or family to help you think of some. Describe each step of the accomplishment in detail by asking the usual 'who, what, where, when, how why' questions. Jot down every skill that you remember using. Again, if you have trouble with this, it's helpful to have a friend take notes while you describe your accomplishment. When you have identified a list of skills, mark the skills that you enjoyed most with a star. The skills that you identify should be a list of verbs. If you are stuck, and describing an accomplishment doesn't work, try using simple sentences like, 'I like X-ing,' and 'I am good at X.' These are some examples of functional skills: budgeting, selling, researching, demonstrating, compiling, communicating, training, cooking, writing, organizing, designing, explaining, adapting, translating, marketing, computing, and proving. Get the idea? When assessing your skills, it's a good idea to make note of what you do well AND what you enjoy doing. No doubt you have developed many skills out of necessity, but that doesn't mean that you like using them. If you find yourself in a job you can do well but don't enjoy doing, then you'll find that you are an unhappy worker. As a side note, it's also a good idea to keep an accomplishment file that holds information about your accomplishments and activities. This will be helpful when you put together a resume or prepare for a job interview. The skills that you marked with a star in the exercise above are just some of your many strengths, but they should give you a place to start. As always, I recommend that you visit the career services center at your college and meet with a career advisor. They will be able to assist you with strength identification. There are also several software programs available through career centers that can help with this too. *Good luck!* *Tamara* delicious | digg | technorati
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