By Paul Sears, WorkForce Center Staff
Many systems have been designed to guide career choices. A skill identification tool in the Minnesota WorkForce Centers Employment Ready U program has a SKILL CHECKLIST to help workshop participants reflect upon career choices.
Ideally, we want job seekers to be in the good place at the center of knowing what they can do, what they like to do, and what someone will pay them to do. Helping job seekers to identify their skills is an important step in finding the right job for them.
In WorkForce Center classes we urge participants to devote at least two hours to complete the SKILL CHECKLIST and to make lists to answer four questions crafted to identify their other skills:
1) What things are you an EXPERT on?
2) What things do people come to you for ADVICE about?
3) What things do you know so very well that you have TAUGHT THEM to others?
4) What do they miss about you back at your old place of employment, now that you’ve left?
As Richard Bolles wrote in What Color is Your Parachute, “There is a rich reward awaiting the job seeker who will spend the time to figure out his or her skills.”
I just worked a half hour past quitting time on this article, and didn’t notice the time. I must like my job!
SKILLS CHECK LIST
This person or person”s enjoy working in his or her environment because they gave more detail of their work structure.