Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

3 What can I do?

(Identifying your
SKILLS and ROLE)

32
Chapter 3 outline
Identifying your transferable skills

> What are skills?

> Why are skills so important?
> What do I use my skills on?
> What are traits?
> Three ways to find your skills set
> The six families of skills
> Skills levels
> Producing your top skills list
> Identifying your ROLE from your skills

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

Introduction

To identify your most suitable role you

will need to identify your transferable
skills set. A skill might be defined as
an action (or set of actions) that achieve
results. Transferable skills are core
skills that we use most of the time
to achieve our best results.

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Chapter 3: What can I do? Identifying your Skills and Role.

Most people do not know what their skills set is.

Typically most people can name no more that 10
skills if you ask them what they do. However, using
the exercises below you can expand the list to
dozens or more!

Identifying your Why are skills so

transferable skills important?
If you ask most people what > Skills are more marketable
their best skills are they usually than traits; skills point to your
can’t tell you. If you press them achievements
they mention things like: “I am > Skills are the building blocks
persistent, patient, goal-centred.” of your CV
These are useful things to be – > HR managers look for
but they are not skills. You need achievements and skills when
to understand also what you making decisions
are doing when you are being > Interviewers use competency
so persistent! frameworks – where they
probe for skills
> Knowing and doing is not
What are Skills? the same thing! So concentrate
on doing!
A skill is an action that will
produce results with people,
information or things. Skills What do I use my
may be very broadly defined
as in “Communication Skills”,
skills on?
which covers a multitude of sub
You need to identify your skills in
skills or as precisely defined as
terms of the things to which you
you can make it. The better your
apply them.
understanding of your skills sets
the better will be your chance
For example, writing is a skill –
of identifying the best role
which usually has a specific object.
for yourself.
Writing letters =
skill (writing) + object (letters).

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

This may appear to be very an attribute is a word describing

basic but most CVs and job the way in which we use a
applications define skills sets particular skill: E.g. Adjectives:
too loosely to be of any use to Enthusiastic, precise, Adverbs:
the potential employer – who is Carefully, patiently, Traits can
interested more in the results you point us to skills if we ask
can achieve using those skills. the question – what were we
Identifying a skill, no matter doing when we were being that
how precisely it is done, is only enthusiastic or careful? The
one third of the work. If you list answer will come back as a word
presenting as a skill, this ignores usually ending in –‘ing’ - such
the range of subjects where your a word is a skills word.
skills may be applied. Therefore
there is a need to identify the The most marketable traits:
precise object (or range of objects)
> Honesty > Reliability
for the particular skill.
> Consistency > Enthusiasm
For example:
If your favourite is Presenting.
Activity 1
You need to know what do you My Favourite Traits
present and how you present it?
List your favourite traits:
There are degrees of precision in Prioritise the ones that would be
defining a core skill most useful to you in your career.

> Imprecisely defined object = Here’s a list to get you started:

presenting anything
> Pleasant > Charming
> More precisely defined = > Honest > Ingenious
presenting complex financial
data > Clever > Witty

> Persistent > Thorough

> Most precisely defined =
presenting complex financial > Creative > Consistent
data succinctly
> Rigorous > Diligent

What are Traits? > Inclusive > Warm

If you are identifying your skills > Reserved > Numerate

you need to be clear about the > Aware > Comprehensive
difference between skills and
traits (or attributes). A trait or > Organised > Wise

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Chapter 3: What can I do? Identifying your Skills and Role.

My Favourite Traits (how my work is described)

1 2 3 4 5

! When you are done, enter your favourite traits in the WHAT
box on the Career Blueprint (at the end of the book).

Why do I need this?

To help you understand how others see you. A good reality check
to see if the perception matches the reality.

Three ways to find your skills set.

Activity 2
Finding your skills set from your traits
(Traits are the clues that lead you You can convert your favourite
to your skills!) traits to skills by asking the
question?
List a number of your traits
and convert them to skills - What were you actually doing
I have given you one sample: when you were acting reliably?

Trait Skill(s) used when

demonstrating this trait

Reliable Accounting, paying, notifying etc.

Why do I need this?

It is important to be able to distinguish between traits and skills at
all stages of the process. Traits are general descriptions and show
how we operate. Skills are more precise and show what we can do.

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

Activity 3 > Your actions

What you did – focussing
Finding your skills set on the skills you used make
from your life story sure the words end in “ing” –
this gives you the skills words –
(More detective work! What’s your rule a separate column for these
record? What have you done?)
> Your outcome
Identify incidents in your life What you actually achieved.
when you achieved results you
were proud of. Write each one Read your story over to a friend - get
of these as one page listing out them to write down the skills words.
the following:
This is a very useful exercise
> Your objective because it uses the same structure
What you were trying to achieve interviewers use in competency
interviews (see page 52).
> Your obstacles
What stood in your way This example should help:

Your objective To build a garden shed from a DIY Kit

Your obstacles I am not into DIY, we were running out of space in the house
and my partner was threatening divorce!

Your actions I read the plans. I checked all the Skills words
items in the box. I assembled
all the tools I needed. I dug the Reading
foundations .. etc Checking
Assembling
Digging
Etc.

Your outcome I got the shed up in an afternoon and saved about €300
and saved my marriage

TIP: Ask a friend to listen to your story and quiz you on what you did –
with the objective of extracting as many skills as possible. You will be
surprised at the results.

Why do I need this?

Transferable skills are the building blocks of your career. If you
know your skills you can more easily identify what makes you
effective and how you get results.

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Chapter 3: What can I do? Identifying your Skills and Role.

Now fill this in for your story:

Your objective

Your obstacles

Your actions Skills words

Your outcome

Activity 4
Finding your skills set from previous jobs:
3 Recall any performance reviews
You can do this in at least four ways: or things you were praised for
– these judgments will include
1 Analyse a work project in the skills words somewhere.
same way as you did for a life
experience in (2) above 4 Recall things you were
regularly called upon to do.
2 Go through your job These will not only identify
descriptions – they will be the skills words but will show
peppered with skills words you the more marketable ones!

Skills words in job

descriptions

Skills words from

performance reviews

Skills words in my
tasks (on request)

Why do I need this?

Past achievement is a reliable indicator of future performance.

Handy hint:
Remember skills words end with the letters “ing”!
A skill is an “ING” thing!

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

The six families of skills 5 MANAGERIAL SKILLS

> These are the skills we use
As you do more work discovering when we lead people or get
your skills sets you will find it things done.
handy to divide skills into logical Typical skills words:
families. Supervising, Motivating,
Selling, Changing
1 PHYSICAL SKILLS:
> The first major family of 6 ADMINISTRATIVE SKILLS
skills is that dealing with > The last category of skills
technology, equipment, plants, involves what we do to keep
animals or skills involving things running smoothly.
our senses. Typical skills words: Listing,
Co-ordinating, Counting,
Typical skills words in this
Classifying, Checking
category: Making (furniture),
repairing (kettles), installing
Why our skills are
2 INFORMATION SKILLS
> The second family of skills
not apparent to us
deals with collecting and
analysing data of all sorts. Most people are only barely aware
Typical skills words in of the range and depth of their
this category: Researching, own skill set.
Analysing, Deciding
A helpful way to raise awareness
3 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS is to examine the four stage of
learning as below:
> This deals with all our
interpersonal skills which
These are:
we use in one-to-one 1 “I don’t know that I don’t
situations or in groups. know” - This is when you think
Typical skills words in this anybody can do anything!
category: Helping, Listening,
Persuading, Collaborating It is technically called
UNCONSCIOUS
4 CREATIVE SKILLS INCOMPETENCE
> These are skills we use to
create or adapt things. 2 “I know that I don’t know” -
Typical skills words in this When you find out that it’s not
category: Designing, Adapting, as easy as it looks
Transforming, Drawing,
Painting – Called CONSCIOUS
INCOMPETENCE

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Chapter 3: What can I do? Identifying your Skills and Role.

3 “I know that I know” – when of course, we take the time to find

you learn your skills and build out. How do we get around this
up your level problem? How do we access the
memories of skills? If two of the
– Called CONSCIOUS phases involve consciousness, can
COMPETENCE we recover these? It is said that
the brain retains everything that
4 “I don’t know that I know” – it records – the only difficulty
When you are so competent is in the rate and method of
you can perform well without recovery which seems to get less
thinking it! - This stage is and less reliable as we grow older.
then called UNCONSCIOUS We get around this problem by
COMPETENCE story telling. The stories we tell
are about things we have done
The diagram below explains and a good story starts off with a
what happens. challenge, a list of the obstacles
to be faced, what we did and the
So the result of this strange results achieved. If we tell that
phenomenon is firstly that we story to ourselves we will get one
don’t know that we know, we result. If we tell the story to others
don’t know how we learned, and and ask them to listen out for
worst of all, we don’t know how the skills contained in our story
to repeat the experience because the results will be much more
we have no memory of it! Unless, comprehensive.

2 3
Conscious Conscious
Incompetence Competence
“I know that I “I know that I know”
don’t know”

1 4
Unconscious Unconscious
Incompetence Competence
Start “I don’t know that “I don’t know Finish
here I don’t know” that I know” here

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

A recent trend in job interviewing:

Competency interviews
In the last few years many interviewers have gone over to a form
of interviewing which asks for examples where interviewees have
used their skills. The structure they use has three Phases:

1. PROBLEM 2. ACTIONS 3. RESULTS.

Does this look familiar?

To prepare for such interviews candidates need to identify the
depth and breadth of their experiences with the skills sets of
the job for which they are applying.

If you are stuck in identifying your this will give you data about
skills set try this: your managerial skills

1 Look at the type of equipment 6 Itemise the situations where

or technology you like to use – you have had to write things
this will help you identify your down, calculate or classify
physical skills things – this will identify your
administrative skills
2 Look at your library, books,
magazines, favourite websites
– this may give you clues
Skills levels
about your informational
As you inventory your skills you
skills
will notice that certain skills, such
3 Think of ways in which you as recording are not as complex
or as difficult to acquire as higher
like to be creative – this will
level skills such as analysing data.
access your creative skills

4 Think about the way others You will need to:

relate to you, or ask for your
a Maximise the list of skills that
help – this will give you clues
you have and
about your interpersonal skills
b Sort those skills into those
5 Identify situations where you that are highest level
c Identify those that you are
took the lead (or were asked to)
enthusiastic about using
– particularly if others were
d Research which ones are the
reluctant to get involved –
most marketable

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Chapter 3: What can I do? Identifying your Skills and Role.

Some higher level skills with Producing your top

people, like leading or mentoring
or guiding comprise dozens or skills list
more other skills or sub-skills. It
is very easy to get lost in a forest When you have researched your
of skills so naming, classification best examples prioritise your
and prioritisation needs to be done. skills according to level and liking.

You would also need to think What are my top skills?

about the level at which your
skills operate Ones which meet all or most of
these criteria:
> Learner
> Average level I love using these skills, I like
> Professional learning about them, they come
easily to me and they would be
If you are at learner or average skills useful in the world of work.
level you may need to re-consider
training and development as part of Here are some examples (Not all
your career plan going forward. for the same person!)

1 2 3 4 5

Skill Restoring Writing Motivating Playing Counselling

Object Furniture Proposals Sales Staff Keyboards Students

Trait Sensitively Concisely Effectively Precisely Empathetically

For each of your favourite skills you will need to clarify it further under
the following headings:

1 2 3 4 5 6
Skill Preferred Trait Skills Level Marketability
name object type 1=Very good
2=OK 3=Needs
Training

Restoring Furniture Sensitively Physical Master Level 1

Craftsperson In heavy
10 years demand!
experience

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

Why do I need this?

Good CVs are built up from clearly identified skills sets. At
interviews you will be better able to identify what you can achieve
in your chosen role.

Activity 5 – Fill one in for yourself!

Master Skills Template. Here is a template for you to fill out.

1 2 3 4 5
Skill Name

Preferred
Object:
I like using this
skill with

Skills type *1

Skill Level
How proficient
are you at it?*2

Marketability
(e.g. “in
demand”) etc.

*1: PHYSICAL INFORMATIONAL Activity 6

INTERPERSONAL CREATIVE
MANAGERIAL ADMINISTRATIVE Identifying your ROLE
*2: 1=Very good from your skills
2=Ok
3=Needs Training Your role can be deduced from
your list of four or five top skills
e g. someone who is good at

!
Enter the information
about your skills leading, setting goals, supporting
and objects into the and motivating people could be
WHAT box of your called a MANAGER or a TEAM
Career Blueprint LEADER.

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Chapter 3: What can I do? Identifying your Skills and Role.

How to find potential Activity 7

roles (or jobs) from skills.
Do some creative thinking about
If you can identify your core skills HOW your top skills could be
set precisely to include the most combined in different ways to
marketable skills you enjoy using suggest different roles and enter
then you can use this information your favourites on your Blueprint.
to guide your research and your
assessment of potential offers. e.g. combining the following skills:

In your researches ask yourself Motivating+supporting+setting

and others the question: (goals)+ innovating

> What do you call somebody Could give you the following
with this skills set? alternative roles (and careers):

In assessing potential job offers Film Director, Marketing Executive,

ask the question: Politician, Project Design Manager etc.

> How well does this job Your top 5 skills and some
description match my top possible roles:
skills set?

Your top 5 skills Possible roles

1

Why do I need this?

To show that you have options not immediately apparent to you.

Hint:
Use an internet search engine to find jobs that match your five top
skills – enter them in the search line and the system should return
sites or pages that contain those skills. Be patient!

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Career Detection: Finding and Managing Your Career

In the next chapter roles will be you use your skills to achieve
discovered through your interests. results

3 Our best skills are hidden from

Chapter 3 Summary us in the way our mind works
– our brain “forgets” how it
As a career detective you now
learned
know the following:
4 Explore your life and career to
1 Skills need to be precisely
date to find examples of the
defined in terms of the action,
skills you used
the object (what you use the
skill on) and the attribute (how 5 We need to do a reality check
you use the skill)
on our perceived skills set to
ensure they are at the right
2 Traits are useful in describing
level – if we are offering them
how you operate but employers
to the market
are more interested in the how

Activity 8
List some specific goals you can set about enabling
your career to move forward:

Action Date Desired outcome

1

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