A strength is a task or action that you can perform well. Strengths can include knowledge, skills, and talents. Understanding your strengths and skills is an important part of taking control of your career.
Knowing your strengths can help you make career choices that will allow you to succeed and enjoy your career. Your strengths are:
- Things you do well and enjoy doing
- Things people often praise you for
- Unique and personal for you
A skill is a learned ability to do something. You can acquire skills by studying, working, or doing activities, such as playing a musical instrument. Skills are often classified into three categories;
- Transferable skills: These are skills that can be used in different workplaces, such as the organization.
- Soft skills: Characteristics related to how you perform work, such as patience.
- Knowledge-based skills: Those acquired through education or training, such as accounting or project management skills.
How can this affect me?
In most recruitment processes, employers will want to know about your strengths and skills. During the application process, interview, or at an assessment center, they will want to see examples of your skills and strengths.
Knowing your own strengths allows you to better understand how you operate. This helps you explain to others what you enjoy working on. You may also have personal preferences related to your ideal work environment, how you like to be treated, and how you interact with others. By being aware of your strengths and preferences, you can target specific jobs based on what you are good at and what is acceptable for you.
Skills are things you learn. You can acquire them through work, school, or leisure activities. If you can recognize and talk about your skills, it will be easier to determine the career you want to pursue.
What can I do next?
Understand what your strengths and skills are.
Practical advice
To recognize your strengths and skills, you need to spend time gathering information about when and how you succeed. There are many ways to learn about them, and it’s important to understand them from different perspectives. Use the practical tips below to identify them:
Listen to the comments
You can develop a clear sense of yourself by listening to what others have to say about you. One of the most reliable sources is people who know you well. Listen to what positive qualities are mentioned and where you receive compliments. From there, you can determine what skills these comments describe. You can ask yourself: What are people asking me to help them with? For example, fixing the computer, checking their work, asking for advice on how to research a topic, etc.
Identify your interests
When you enjoy something, it’s often easier to develop skills and strengths in that area. Think about what you truly enjoy doing and the skills you use in that activity. For example, if you enjoy cooking, you’re good at paying attention to instructions, following directions, and being precise.
Understand when you are most productive
As you go through your day, note how long different tasks take and how productive you are during that time. If you feel like time is passing quickly and you’re accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time, you’re likely using your strengths. Make a list of the times when you feel most focused; these are often times when you use your skills and strengths. You might ask yourself: When do I feel most productive? For example, when I’m programming.
Ask others directly
Asking trusted friends, colleagues, or social workers can give you additional insights you might not have noticed. Ask for opinions from several different people to gain insight into strengths you may not have been aware of. Choose five people who know you well and prepare a series of questions for them to answer. You could write:
I want to understand my strengths so I can use them to find the right job for me. I value your opinion. Could you share your perception of my top 5 strengths and skills?
Thank you for your time and help .
Take skill-based or strength-based quizzes
There are many strengths- and skill-based tests you can take to help identify your natural talents. Take several tests online and collect the results. Then, review them and look for common themes. This will help you identify your strengths. A good example is the free VIA Character Strength Assessment : http://www.viacharacter.org.
Look for new experiences
By trying new experiences, you can expand your awareness of your skills and strengths. Until you try something new, you may never realize how good you are! You might be surprised at the strengths you discover.
Review job descriptions
Job descriptions tell you exactly what employers are looking for. Read them and identify the keywords they use, then write down the skills required. Think about ways you’ve demonstrated these skills in the past, then write an explanation for each one, remembering the context of the problem and how you responded to it. Use these stories to explain your strengths on application forms and in interviews. See also How to Prepare for an Interview .
Here are some other helpful tips:
- Ask many people to share their opinions about you. This will help you gather information about yourself and see what patterns emerge.
- Don’t be too quick to dismiss feedback. Remember that others will view your skills differently than you view yourself.
- By trying new activities, hobbies, or even volunteering, you can discover what you like and don’t like, which helps you understand your strengths.
- Usually, your university has a career center that can help you identify your skills. Contact them and see if they can help you.
- Make a plan for how you will gather information about your skills and strengths.
