What Are Your Skills?

Yes, You Have Skills!

Knowing your strongest skills can help you identify good-fit positions and market yourself for the job. Identifying your skills can help you in your job search and interview process. When writing your resume you’ll want to include examples of your top skills and strengths. This provides “proof” to an employer that you have the qualifications they are looking for. In an interview, sharing examples of your accomplishments demonstrates results you have provided and provides evidence of your skills.

There are different types of skills, so even if you have little work experience you still have valuable skills to offer.

Knowledge Based Skills are skills specific to your training, certification or qualifications for the job. Even if you are a student, you may have acquired knowledge based skills specific to the job you are looking for such as drafting, medical billing, contract management.

Transferable Skills are skills that express an aptitude and are generally expressed as a verb (i.e., negotiating, training). Use these skills in your accomplishment statements, which provide proof of your skills. Here is a list of transferable skills:

(See our guide to “Identifying Your Skills” for more information on how to create accomplishment statements for your resume and job search.

Soft Skills are personal traits or attitudes that are difficult to quantify, but may reflect your personal strengths. For example, initiative, leadership, results-oriented. When you use these types of skills on your resume or in an interview, you want to be able to cite examples of these skills.

Technical Skills include software, programs, or specific tools you are trained to work with. If you are in sales, it might include using Salesforce or knowledge of the Houston real estate market. If you are a programmer, it might include programming languages or other software.

In your job search, you want to include the skills that are relevant to the position you are seeking vs. listing all possible skills you possess.

How Do I Identify My Skills

You may be clear on your knowledge based skills. Perhaps you have a certification or have been trained through education or on the job training how to perform specific tasks. What may be less clear however, are your transferable skills and personal skills. What are your talents? Where do you excel? Identifying your skills can help you pinpoint your unique strengths and communicate with confidence in interviews.