How to tell about your skills and expertise
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This document provides guidance on identifying and communicating skills and expertise. It discusses the concepts of competence, expertise, and skills needed in various careers. It encourages self-reflection to identify formal, non-formal and informal learning that has contributed to one's skills. Examples of skills needed in future careers include social intelligence, computational thinking, and virtual collaboration. Employers value competence, fit within a work community, and potential. The document provides tips for identifying an individual's strengths, describing skills with examples, using the right terminology, creating competence-based CVs and elevator pitches, and understanding that skills develop over time through experiences.
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How to tell about your skills and expertise
- 1. How to tell about your skills and expertise Career Services at the University of Turku Autumn 2023
- 2. Career Services’ info sessions ? found in the Study Guide & event calendar 1. Working in Finland 2. How to tell about your skills and expertise 3. The Hidden Job Market 4. CV & Application 5. How to succeed in a job interview
- 3. If you want to complete the course, 1 ECTS: 1. Write your name and student number in the chat (use private message-mode) 2. Enroll for the course in Peppi in your PSP 3. Attend all five info sessions 4. Sign into Moodle, where you can find more information: https://moodle.utu.fi/course/view.php?id=27192 Job seeking in Finland
- 4. Content ? What is competence, expertise? ? Skills needed in working life now and in the future ? Self-reflection and identification of your expertise ? Expressing your skills ? Employer expectations
- 5. What is competence and how does competence accumulate?
- 6. Know-how Competence Expertise Professional competence Field-specific knowledge and skills, methods, technologies, information, “hard skills”. General competence, working life competence Basic IT-skills, languages, social skills, project management, networking skills, “soft skills”. Metalevel competence Learning skills, self- reflection, self- regulation, adaptability, prioritizing, giving/receiving feedback etc. Competence, expertise 3 levels
- 7. Where we learn ? Formal learning ? Degrees ? Nonformal learning ? For example, staff training organized or funded by the employer, hobby and language courses at civic and employee colleges, continuing vocational training courses, driving school, dance school, etc. ? Informal learning ? Informal learning is a learning activity that is less organized and structured than other education. Informal learning is not institutionalized, ie it is not the responsibility of any organization. It does not include student-teacher setup, schedules, or admission requirements. ? learning that occurs away from a structured, formal environment ? Informal learning can take place almost anywhere, regardless of location; with family or friends, at work and in everyday life. Informal learning can take place self-directed or, for example, guided by a family or other social context. ? Continious learning ? learning to learn, flexibility
- 8. Competence of graduates, skills needed in working life now and in the future
- 10. Learningskill Ability to organize andmanage time Personal strenghts Problemsolving skillsand analytical skills Lifemanagement Interaction skill Listening skill Oral communication skill Written communication skill Communicationskill Abilitytocoordinate Abilitytomake decisions Ability to lead Abilitytocontrol conflicts Ability to plan and organize Leading peopleand tasks Ability to comprehend Creativity, beinginnovative sensitivitytochange Ability to takerisks Ability to visionize Accelerating innovations andchanges Workinglifeskills Individual resources that support working life, regardless of profession
- 11. Sense-Making ? ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed Social Intelligence ? ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions Novel & Adaptive Thinking ? proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based Cross-cultural Competence ? ability to operate in different cultural settings Computational Thinking ? ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning Skills needed in the future working life? Institute for the Future, 2020
- 12. New-Media Literacy ? ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication Transdisciplinarity ? literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines Design Mindset ? ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes Cognitive Load Management ? ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques Virtual Collaboration ? ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team Skills needed in the future working life?
- 13. What employers look for Competence Fit in a work community Potential
- 14. 67% 62% 50% 48% 45% 44% 41% 26% 17% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Ability to tell about own skills Other work experience Internships Degrees' combination of subjects International experience Other studies, education Contacts, networks Volunteer work or hobbies Activity on social media-platforms Source: Career monitoring, Career services (N = 1802) Impact on employment (very important – important)
- 15. What employers appreciate in interns? Self-directing Interest and ability to learn something new Being active Positivity and enthusiasm Ability to comprehend things on bigger scale Kindness Self-initiative Critical attitude Flexibility Courage to ask questions and take responsibility Interaction skills Competence of studied topics Activity and diligence Attitude Conscientious- ness and diligence Writing skills ? The intern’s initiative, learning alibity and diligence were clearly emphasized in the employer’s responses ? Reliability and adaptability to the comminity are also valued qualities ? Other imporant factors were e.g. attitude, industry knowledge and courage Source: Internship feedback 2021-2022
- 16. Identifying your skills and strengths
- 17. ? Listing and splitting experiences - think in “3 levels” ? Think about yourself in different environments/roles: hobby, volunteering, gardening, family, paid work, studying ? Collect your study work, go through the course descriptions: what topics, what methods, what did you learn? ? Ask someone: How would they describe your skills? ? What is your core competence? ? What is one thing you want people to associate with you? ? What is your role in teams? ? How do you start tasks? What kind of details are important to you? ? How do you deal with unexpected things? ? What kind of things are in your comfort zone? What's not? Why? ? Is your weakness your strength anyway? Questions to help to identify your competence
- 18. ? What do people admire about you? ? In what situation have you received good feedback? ? What kind of things do you really enjoy doing? ? Describe the achievement you are proud of. What did it take to get there? Also:
- 19. Expressing your competence and skills
- 20. ? Job application ? CV ? LinkedIn ? Social media/blogs ? Demostration of skills (e.g. own website, portfolio) ? Job interview ? ”Elevator pitch” / Presenting oneself ? Networks ? Meetings Written / Spoken (Oral)
- 21. ? Who are you writing/telling? ? customization ? What is important? ? prioritization (esp. cover letter) ? What connects your skills & experiences? ? story Try to connect the dots even if your background is “all over the place” and there are many red threads. Maybe it tells an interesting story about how you have ended up where you are now? Find a common thread
- 22. ? Instead of just listing your experiences, tell about knowledge and skills ? Give an example that concretizes to the listener what you mean ? Description: How did you do something? ? Eg. ”I have good project management skills. When I have done group work with a group of students, I have created a common schedule and planning platform for us and tried to ensure that we stay on schedule.” Describe with examples
- 23. ? Does another industry expert understand the terms you use? ? What kind of terms are commonly used in the industry? Imagination and precision evoked by the terms ? project management / time management / coordination / organization ? communication / presentation / production ? research / analysis / information retrieval / systematic thinking Terminology
- 24. ? An alternative to the traditional chronological CV ? In a competence-based CV, 3-6 key skills/areas of competence (core competence) and examples are highlighted ? The aim is to describe the skills in more detail on the traditional CV and to tell where the relevant skills were acquired ? With a competence-based CV, you can present skills and achievements from other areas of life than just working life ? Generally more recommended if you are switching careers later on in life Skills-based CV
- 25. ? Summarize your skills, background, and motivation ? Talking time ~ 30-60 seconds ? Tailor to your situation and audience: what could your possible future employer be interested in? ? Your elevator pitch and CV are your first impressions. Remember to answer the why questions: ? Why are you interested in the organisation you are approaching? ? Why are you interested in your field of studies? Practice your elevator pitch
- 26. ? Competence in relation to others: eg. people in the same field vs. people from different fields ? The scale of competence is difficult to define ? The more experience, the greater the understanding of what one does not know ? More meaningful to describe the quality of competence (“what kind”) ? As a novice, it also makes sense to describe the potential (“what I would like to practice, learn”) Am I really good at this? What if someone is better?
- 27. Tell your network what kind of work you are looking for. Be open about it. It is said that looking for a job is a fulltime job.
- 28. Final thoughts Getting really good at things requires practice and exposure. In many respects, abilities are built, rather than discovered. The question "What am I good at?" narrows down the options. Sometimes it's better to ask: "What could I be good at?" Discovering a career that aligns with your interests often involves the element of 'being in the right place at the right time’.
- 29. John D. Krumboltz, Prof. of education and psychology (1999): ? Not everything can or needs to be planned. ? Your career is influenced by the events you participate in, the people you connect with, how you approach others, and how you present yourself. ? By staying open for unexpected possibilities and doing things you enjoy, you're more likely to find yourself in situations that offer new opportunities. Planned: deciding what to do and putting things in place Happen: to occur by chance and unforseen Stance: the view of attitude you take – being open Planned happenstance Seizing opportunities
- 30. Career Q&A Get to discuss and ask your questions regarding job seeking and working in Finland in our on-site Career Q&A sessions in November! The sessions are loosely bound to the following themes: ? 15 Nov at 14.00-16 Work life culture in Finland ? 22 Nov at 14.00-16 Job seeking and networking ? 29 Nov at 14.00-16 What employers look for The sessions are held on campus (Calonia) by the Career Services. Register: Career Q&A | University of Turku (utu.fi)
- 31. Tips for working life and job searching: