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What are skills and how do I develop them?

Curriculum for Life editorial team
Curriculum for Life editorial team
Read this article to understand what skills are, how you can develop them and how to talk about them. Learning what skills you can develop and how you can use them is an important part of presenting yourself to employers. 
A rubiks cube balances on top of an old book, with a shelf of books in the background.
A rubiks cube balances on top of an old book, with a shelf of books in the background.

What are skills?

We are developing our skillset all of the time, throughout our lives. Whether in school, college, at home or out with friends, you are practising and developing a set of competencies, knowledge and abilities that can be transferred into your professional life. See the top 5 common skills employers are currently asking for in Greater Manchester and what they mean:

  1. Communication: the ability to convey and share feelings or ideas effectively
  2. Management: the ability to lead a team or oversee a project successfully
  3. Customer Service: understanding customer needs, and providing a quick and positive customer experience
  4. Teaching: the ability to increase learning, and effectively convey and explain academic subject matter
  5. Attention to Detail: the ability to complete a task whilst taking into account every aspect of all areas involved, no matter how small

When employers/organisations are advertising for a job or course, they will have a set of skills in mind that an applicant should be able to talk about that matches with the role. For example, a nurse should display good communication skills as well as compassion, and time management – amongst others!

Your skillset will mean some roles are better suited to you as a person, and so it is also always good to research the role and understand the skills that are required.

How do I identify my skills?

Some people will be naturally good at some skills depending on their lifestyle, upbringing and character. Other skills can be studied and developed over time through school, college or within your career.

If you are not sure where to start when thinking about your own skillset, use these 3 starters to help you:

    Personal qualities

    Your attributes are relevant to the type of work you do and the type of work you enjoy. For example, if you prefer working alone on a project rather than interacting with a number of people, a person-facing role such as working frontline in a shop or restaurant may not be best suited to you. Think about your behaviours and emotions, how do you react to things? You could ask those around you to identify your strengths and qualities as there may be some you haven’t considered!

      Skills developed through study

      You’ll be practicing lots of skills at school or college. For example, when working on a group project, you will be practicing your communication skills, teamwork, time management and leadership. You will also be practicing skills such as self-motivation and commitment (when completing work or homework) as well as time management (attending classes on time) and problem solving.

      Skills developed through experiences

      If you have a part time job, have been on work experience, or even do extracurricular activities after school/ college, you will be learning or developing skills. If you enjoy sports, you will likely have teamwork and leadership skills, if you enjoy art, you will likely have attention to detail. Think about each thing you do and which skills you are practising when you do this. It’s then also really good to think about which bits you enjoy and don’t enjoy the most.

      How do I develop skills?

      If you know you want to develop certain skills but not sure where to begin, here rae some things you could do to actively develop a specific skill(s).

      1. Practice! Like with anything, when you first start out at something, you are probably not going to get it perfectly right first time. Find the time (or activities) to practice skills so you gain more confidence and knowledge in them. For example: want to improve how you speak on the phone? Call people rather than message more frequently.
      2. Gain experience. Volunteering or doing work experience will give you an amazing opportunity to develop skills in a professional setting. This could give you a great understanding of how to transfer you skills from your personal and academic life to a professional environment.
      3. Learn from others – Find people who are good at the skill you want to improve, observe and listen and ask them to teach and monitor you. Also be open to feedback and suggestions!

      How do I talk about my skills to potential employers/organisations?

      So, now you know what skills you have, how do you then let a potential employer know about them?

      CV – adding your top skills to a CV is a really easy way of clearly outlining to an employer what your strengths are. This helps you stand out from other CVs an organisation will be looking through!

      Supporting information/cover letter – You will usually be asked to write a few paragraphs about yourself and how you meet the criteria. This is an opportunity for you to show off! Use the information an employer has given you, as well as do some research to understand what skills they are looking for, then embed them into your work. Use examples of how you have demonstrated these skills too, it doesn’t matter what context (school, college, personal, work experience), employers just want to know you can demonstrate these effectively.

      In an interview – Similarly to the supporting information/cover letter, if you are able to give examples that support the answer that you are giving, this will only reassure the potential employer that you understand the role and can demonstrate the skillset required for it. But, if you are asked a direct question about a skill that you are not confident with, be open and honest and show enthusiasm and drive to endeavour to develop that skill if you were to be successful with the role.

      Find out more

      GMACS and Xello: a one stop shop website for young people in GM looking at next steps. If your school is using Xello, you can also do some research and quizzes on identifying your skills and understand how they relate to different roles.

      Kloodle is an online platform where you can create a portfolio showcasing the development of skills and character. All young people can create a free account, but your school might also have an account for you!

      The Skills Toolkit (NCS) is a catalogue of free online training to help you learn or develop skills.

      Barclays Life Skills CV Builder a free online CV builder to help if you have never made one before.

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