SKILLSMATRIX

Determiningyourmarketableandtransferableskills(theskillsyoubringtoaprospectiveemployer)isthe firststepinmanagingyourcareer.Thegoalofthisstepistonotonlylistwhatyouaregoodatdoingbutalso producesolidexamplesofhowyouappliedthoseskillstoachievepositiveoutcomes.Thisproventrack recordapproachisnotjustarecordofyourprevioussuccesses,butrather,agoodindicatorofyourfuture potentialandthevalueyouwillbringtoanorganization. WhileitisimportanttodemonstrateWHATyouknow,itisvitalthatyouareabletoarticulatetheSKILLS youpossess,theVALUEyouaddedinpreviouspositions,andthepositiveOUTCOMESyouachievedthrough yourwork. Whetheryougainedskillsthroughwork,volunteerpositions,orextracurricularactivities,yourabilityto showyourbestqualitiesonyourCVwillsetyouapartfromyourcompetition.Bydemonstratingskills gainedthroughexperiences,accompaniedbyasolidknowledgebaseandpositiveoutcomes,youare providinganemployereveryreasontowanttoconsideryouasapotentialcandidate. Inthehighlightedspacesbelow,list3eventsinyourlifewhereyouenjoyedwhatyoudidandwereproudof yourcontributions.Foreachevent,describewhatyoudid.Bespecificandlisteachstepindetail.The questionsbelowaredesignedtohelpyouanalyzeeachevent. Event1: 1. Whatwasyourmainachievement?Listinasmuchdetailaspossible. 2. Whatwastheenvironmentyouworkedin? 3. Didyouworkaloneorwithpeople? 4. Didyouworkwiththings,data,orpeople? 5. Whatpartofitgaveyouthemostenjoyment? 6. Whatskillsdidyouuse?(Refertopage3foralistofexampleskills) SKILLSMATRIX 1

Event2: 1. Whatwasyourmainachievement?Listinasmuchdetailaspossible. 2. Whatwastheenvironmentyouworkedin? 3. Didyouworkaloneorwithpeople? 4. Didyouworkwiththings,data,orpeople? 5. Whatpartofitgaveyouthemostenjoyment? 6. Whatskillsdidyouuse?(Refertopage3foralistofexampleskills) Event3: 1. Whatwasyourmainachievement?Listinasmuchdetailaspossible. 2. Whatwastheenvironmentyouworkedin? 3. Didyouworkaloneorwithpeople? 4. Didyouworkwiththings,data,orpeople? 5. Whatpartofitgaveyouthemostenjoyment? 6. Whatskillsdidyouuse?(Refertopage3foralistofexampleskills)

SKILLSMATRIX 2

 SampleSkillsthislistwillgiveyouastartingpointtodevelopyourlistofskills
GENERALISTSKILLS Adaptive Administration Advising Analysing Assertive Computing Coordinating DecisionMaking Delivery Explaining Flexibility GeneralManagement Imaginative Improvising Initiating Inventiveness IT/ComputerLiteracy LateralThinking Learning Listening Mediating Numerical Observation Planning&Organising Presenting ProblemSolving Reading Researching Resilience WrittenCommunication SPECIALISTSKILLS Auditing Budgeting Building Composing Consulting Creativity&Innovation Designing Entrepreneurial Evaluating FinancialManagement Financing Fundraising Illustrating InformationMgmt Innovating Interviewing Investigating Manual Marketing Mechanical ForeignLanguage Networking ProblemSolving ProcessImprovement ProjectManagement PublicRelations PublicSpeaking QualityAssurance Recruiting Researching Selling StrategicPlanning TechnicalCompetence Troubleshooting PEOPLESKILLS ClientRelations Coaching Counseling CustomerService Delegating Diplomacy Facilitating HumanRelations Influencing Inspiring Interpersonal Interpreting Liaising Leading Linguistic Motivating Negotiating PeopleManagement Persuading Questioning RelationshipMgmt VerbalCommunication Teaching Training Teambuilding PERSONALSKILLS Integrity/Honesty Responsibility SelfManagement Sociability

SKILLSMATRIX 3

 CreatingyourSkillsMatrix Theskillsmatrixwillhelpyouidentifytheessentialelementsyouneedtodevelopbulletstatementsforyour CVaswellasprovideexamplesforyoutociteincoverlettersandinterviews.Byformulatingstatements whichcontaineachoftheessentialelements,youareansweringthequestionsemployerswillhaveabout howyoucanbestmeettheirneeds.Youaredirectlymarketingwhatyouhavetooffertomatchtheneedsof theirpositionwhichistheobjectiveofaneffectiveCV,coverletter,andinterview. Youshouldprovidemultipleexamplesforeachskillsothatyouwillhavemanydifferentexamplesofyour skillstouseindifferentways.Considerexperiencesyouhavehadthroughworkaswellasvolunteeror extracurricularactivities. Afteryouhavecompletedyourmatrix,youcanbeginselectingthebestexamplesforyourCV.Becauseyou willchangeyourCVtomarketyourexperiencetoeachspecificposition,thismatrixshouldprovideyouwith ampleexamplestooffer.Asyougainmoreexperienceanddevelopyourskills,youcanaddtoyourmatrix overtime.Inthisway,youwillcontinuetodevelopselfmarketingstatementswhichwillsetyouapartfrom othercandidatesbyclearlydemonstratingwhatyouhavetoofferanemployer.
SKILL WHATDIDYOUDO? HOWDIDYOUDOIT? (CHALLENGE/TASK) (ACTION/METHODUSED) Researchedindustry standards,assembled dataintoclearand conciseformat,and customizedtext
Example#2 Example#3 Example#4

WHYDIDYOUDOIT? WHATWASTHERESULT? (HOWYOUADDVALUE) (POSITIVEOUTCOME) ToprovideSOPfor newCSrepsand documentpolicies andproceduresfor jobspecs

Example#2 Example#3 Example#4

WRITTEN Wrotecustomer COMMUNICATION servicemanual forstartupclient

Increasedqualityand consistencyofcustomer serviceefforts,reduced complaints,andincreased customersatisfactionby 30%

Example#2 Example#3 Example#4

COMMUNICATION SKILL#3 SKILL#4

Example#2 Example#3 Example#4

SKILLSMATRIX 4