Determining Your Job Skills

Tips for Making a Background and Experience List:

Interests and Aptitudes

List your hobbies, clubs you belong to, sports you're involved in, church and school activities, and things that interest you. List things you are good at or have special ability for. Your list may look like it has nothing to do with job skills or experience. That's O.K. the purpose of this list is to make you think about your interests and things you do in everyday life. Look at the first item on your list. Think about the skills or talents it takes to do that item. Really think about it! All hobbies, activities, etc., take a lot of skills, knowledge and abilities. Write them all down.

Here are some examples:

Hobbies, Sports, School Activities Skills, Knowledge, Abilities and Talents

Things I Do Well: It take to do these things:

Playing Basketball Ability to interact with others (“be a team player”)

Ability to use basic arithmetic (keep track of score)

Ability to reach, lift, jump, stoop, and run

Skills in directing others (calling plays, coaching)

Homemaking Ability to manage budgets

Ability to handle multiple tasks

Knowledge of human development

Skills in teaching/training others

Cooking, cleaning, laundry

Fixing Cars Ability to diagnose mechanical problems

Skill in using a variety of tools

Ability to see differences in shapes and sizes of objects

Knowledge of electronics

Work History

If you've worked before, list your jobs. Include volunteer, part-time, summer, and self-employment. Next, write down work duties for the jobs you listed. Now, think about the skills or talents it took to do each work duty. Write them down. Here's an example:

Work Duties Skills or Talents

Pick vegetables and fruits on a farm Inspect fruits for damage/ripeness

Use hoes, shovels and shears to plant, Ability to work quickly and skillfully cultivate, and prune fruit trees with hands skill in using tools

Ability to work outside for long periods of time

Physical endurance Bending, stooping

Education

List the schools you attended, dates, major studies or courses completed. Include military and vocational education and on-the-job training.

List degrees, certificates, awards and honors.

Ask yourself what classes or training you liked. Why did you like them?

Physical Condition

Do you have any disabilities limiting the kind of work you can do? Companies will often make special accommodations to employ disabled persons (in fact, some accommodations are legally required). If you have strong or special physical capabilities, list these too.

Career Goals

What kind of work do you want to be doing 5 or 10 years from now?

What kind of job could you get now to help you reach this goal?

Matching Your Background And Experience To Jobs

Look at the abilities (talents) identified on your background and experience list. You have talents that you use everyday.

Now find out what JOBS can use your talents.

Start at your local State Employment Service Office ("Job Service"). This office has free information about many jobs. You may be given an appointment with a career counselor who can help you decide what kind of work is best suited to your abilities and interests.

While you're at Job Service, ask to see the Guide for Occupational Exploration and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (you can also get these books at most public libraries). These easy to read books, published by the Department of Labor, describe -- work duties for many different occupations -- skills and abilities needed for different types of jobs -- how to enter occupations -- where jobs are located -- training and qualifications needed -- earnings, working conditions, and future opportunities. Match the skills and abilities in your list to the skills and abilities of different jobs. Don't limit yourself. The important thing is not the job title, but the skills and abilities of the job. You may find that your skills and abilities match with an occupation that you have never thought about.