New Breaks, New Horizons

Transkript

1 New Breaks, New Horizons What skills do I have? How will an employer value them? How can I prove I have them? 1

2 Stage One identify a list of all your strengths Stage Two describe why they would be attractive to employers Stage Three find evidence of using those skills Paid Work experience Music Drama Jobs Hobbies Crafts Sport Unpaid Part-time DIY Managing Direct Payments Neighbourhood watch Experience Gap PTA Travel Caring Managing PAs Outside work Guides/scouts Coach sports team Religious activities Charity work Voluntary work Crisis Samaritans 2

3 Courses/qualifications from school, college, university Courses since you left school first aid certificate, short course, further degree Knowledge from hobbies and interests Cultural knowledge or foreign language skills from countries you have lived in or visited Can you: Mend things? Organise people? Work out solutions to problems? Listen to people? Draw? Make things? Follow instructions? Organise events? Write? 3

4 Can you: Play a musical instrument? Drive? Find out information? Motivate people? Speak other languages? Act? Grow things? Use a computer? Design things? Can you: Train animals? Cook? Perform in choirs/bands/orchestras? Breed animals? Use desktop publishing? Enter data accurately? Use spreadsheets? Proof read? Navigate through unfamiliar places? Absorb information? 4

5 Creativity finding novel ways round obstacles Determination succeeding despite barriers Patience explaining things over and over again Managing Personal Assistants Managing personal budgets Keeping positive Sense of humour Project managing Are you willing to learn new things? Do you work well in teams? Are you cheerful? Are you reliable? Do you manage your time well? Are you flexible? Do you get on with people? Do you work well on your own? 5

6 You should have created a very long list of qualities. For each one, why it might be attractive to an employer? Keep asking so I m good at communicating People tell me their problems Customers have confidence in me That s good! Can use desktop publishing Will save money on design costs Accurate with figures Fewer mistakes saves money Works well in teams Less conflict and more productivity 6

7 Strength I m good with people I m good with detail Customers have confidence in me I can spot errors Evidence I had an angry customer who was threatening to sue us. I let him talk and listened to him, and offered a solution. He was happy with outcome I noticed we were spending too much on paper by using different suppliers. I negotiated a discount for bulk purchase from one supplier and cut our costs by 30% Ask friends and family to add to the list they will think of things you take for granted Extract relevant parts for your CV/job application Use examples when preparing for interview Look for themes are there other jobs you might want to explore? Are some of your skills transferable from one role to another? Motivating to see a long list of good qualities, useful to employers boosts confidence. 7

8 There are many ways of acquiring new skills: Read books/research on internet Local colleges Friends with different skills swap learning! Voluntary work Work experience Shadowing Distance learning Use the exercise to identify your skills Think about why they would be valuable to an employer Find evidence Identify any gaps and decide how to fill them Use your list to impress employers! 8