Self-Awareness

Different jobs will require different skills and you will obviously be more successful in a role which requires the skills you have. Therefore, before identifying jobs to consider you need to identify your own skills. There are different types of skills and you need to bear in mind that some skills will be necessary for all jobs. The information below should help you to make some decisions about which skills you already have and which skills you would like to develop.

Skill: The ability to do something well or specialist training and knowledge.

'Hard Skills': The specialist activity to enable you to carry out the job. Hard skills are usually acquired by training rather than being abilities you can develop by yourself. For example, welding or performing surgery.

'Soft Skills': These are linked more closely to the personality and are usually acquired through practice and interacting with others. For example, communication or team working.

Transferable Skills: These are skills which apply broadly and can be used in a range of jobs. You could have acquired them through jobs but also through voluntary work, hobbies or your studies. They tend to be the softer skills but are still valuable and would be useful to include if you don't have much work experience (an example would be team working if you play in a band or a sports team) or you are moving from one generic role to another such as using telephones.

-Task-

Create a skills audit by considering all your skills, not just ones developed in the work place or on your college course, think widely to everything you do professionally and socially. Try to be honest - don't list skills you don't have or be too modest in your assessment of yourself. Consider all forms of evidence- report cards, family and friends, courses, hobbies, work experience or volunteering. You could also decide to use the following 

• KUDOS profile (more on using this below)- asks you questions about your skills and experience

• National career service- this skills assessment will let you know what your key skills are

Your values are essentially the things you personally you hold as being important. These are usually features that workplaces also have, for example an inclusive workplace will pride itself on its ability to allow everyone to contribute no matter their background. 

You might prefer a job that allows you to be creative and independent, but your employers value employees who follow the instructions and don't ask questions; in this case, this would not be a good match up of values.

Values can be hard to know if you have never worked before and experienced different types of employers and industries. You could look at our section on Preparing to Work to get an idea about where you can find experience.

-Task-

Create a list of what you think your workplace values would be. What is important to you? Which of these is the most important? Could any of the others be achieved outside of work, for example through hobbies or volunteering?