The Importance of Proactively Developing a Skills Inventory | NoBSJobSearchAdvice.com

This is a subject I haven't addressed with any regularity for reasons . . . I'm not exactly sure why but I haven't and I thought this would be a good time to do it. It's the subject developing a skills inventory for yourself at the beginning of your search and frankly throughout your career.

What goes into all skills inventory? For many of you, it's easy because you work in fields where skills are clearly identified. For example, you work in IT, you are experienced with certain technologies. Each of those are individual skills, but how about being able to work with senior management in your organization? How about proposal writing?, How about things that you have done while volunteering?, How about things that you do use a natural course to everyday life?

I just want you to record this kind of stuff because I want it to be in your mind as you are interviewing not because, they are necessarily going to saying, “So, you do laundry.” but there are organizational skills that sometimes people sell themselves short on that come out of volunteer work or other places in life that make them very attractive. .

For example, in my case, for years, I used to lead weekends for a volunteer organization. So, I had experience running large volunteer groups in intense environments where I had to deal with diverse personalities with different needs and objectives and get them all focused in one direction. That's what came out of that experience (and a lot more of course), but unless I really thought about that volunteer experience, it wouldn't be top of mind if I were the interview.

I want you to think of every aspect of your life and see where you can pull things in and just create this enormous list. Do not just simply isolate your work and say, “these are my skills very.” Once you have the skills list, particularly on nonwork related things, have a story related to it so that in this way, as you are interviewing with someone, you can say, “It is funny that you bring that up. Normally, I would talk about work related things. There was something that came from outside of work experience that I thought would be really interesting vis a vis what you are asking about you are asking about. Then, tell them a story about your volunteer work and how you were able to do that exact same thing.

It may not come up but this is a tactic that works in interviewing. It also works with people who are thinking of changing careers that involves older professionals. It also involves younger want to print and instead of launching are disappointed with how their original thoughts of career might benefit them and thus, frankly are disappointed.

So, becomes a way that for those of you who are your 20s or early 30s have decided that what you've invested the last years of your life in just sucks. You have another way that you can start beginning this process of career choice.