Identifying and understanding your skills is essential for personal and professional success. It provides a foundation for self-awareness, career planning, goal setting, effective communication, continuous learning, confidence building, and adaptability. Also, it provides a clearer understanding of what you excel at and what you can bring to a potential career.
What are skills? They are the abilities and knowledge that you have acquired throughout your life. These can include work experience (paid and voluntary), membership of societies/clubs, serving on committees, governing bodies, involvement in a professional body or professional groups, training courses (eg management, leadership, team development) and participating in/organising activities in the local community. There can be two types of them: both hard skills, such as technical abilities or certifications, and soft skills, such as communication or leadership skills
Key tasks for understanding your skills
The key tasks involved in identifying your skill set involve self-reflection, feedback from others, and objective assessment.
Self-reflection
Self-awareness is imperative to recognize your skill set. It provides the insight and clarity needed to assess your strengths and weaknesses accurately, align your skills with your career goals, communicate effectively with others, and pursue opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Start by asking yourself a series of questions, such as:
- What are my core values?
- What motivates and inspires me?
- What are my long-term goals?
- What are my strengths and weaknesses?
- What kind of work environment do I thrive in?
Self-reflection can also help you identify your values, motivations, and long-term goals, which are all important factors to consider when choosing a career.
Feedback from others
Ask for feedback from others to share their observations about your skills. They may have insights that you haven’t considered or may be able to provide examples of situations where you demonstrated particular skills. This can be invaluable in gaining a well-rounded understanding of your abilities.
Objective assessment
Consider taking skill assessment tests or quizzes. These often provide detailed reports and recommendations based on your results, giving you further insights into your strengths and areas for improvement.
After understanding your skills, develop a plan
Once you’ve identified your skills and their gaps, create a plan to address them. This may involve taking courses, attending workshops or seminars, seeking mentorship, or gaining hands-on experience through projects or internships. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for acquiring the necessary skills.