3 Ways to Uncover Your Abilities

You probably have a lot more to offer an employer than you give yourself credit for. The problem is, you don’t know where to look for concrete examples of your “soft” skills—skills that can’t be readily measured or assessed, such as interpersonal skills, ability to work in a team, or the other skills employers say they want. Here are some suggestions on how you can uncover your hidden abilities—and bring them to the attention of an employer. 

1. Look at your campus extracurricular activities.

For example, if you are a member of the debate team, participate in the drama club, or work on the campus newspaper, these all can serve to help you showcase your communication abilities, written and oral, as well as other key traits, such as flexibility. Do you play sports? You’ve got an activity tailor-made to demonstrate your ability to work in a team. If you hold a leadership role in an extracurricular club or activity, be sure to highlight that. 

2. Look at your course work, internships, co-op experiences. 

You can often find examples of how you’ve worked in a team (a class project, for example) or used your analytical abilities in your course work. A course that has a public speaking component, or one that requires extensive writing, can also be used to impress an employer with your abilities.

Additionally, internships and co-op experiences can provide you with examples of how you have used your “soft” skills. Besides giving you valuable practical experience, these work-related experiences are often real soft skill-builders that help you learn how to work with others effectively - which is what employers want. 

3. Look at your part-time jobs/volunteer experiences.

While your part-time jobs or volunteer experiences might not be relevant to the career you’re seeking, remember that they may well have helped you acquire or hone certain skills that employers prize, such as interpersonal skills (dealing with customers) and analytical skills (solving a problem on the job). Even if you flipped hamburgers or punched tickets, for example, you dealt with customers, and that experience can be used to demonstrate critical skills to an employer.

Source: CareerPlanit.com

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