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So you are thinking of altering careers? You have read the books and articles on career change and they all recommend that you start with a personal abilities audit.
That is a terrific concept. Of course you want to know what abilities and skills you have prior to you can work out what other jobs might suit you and undoubtedly prior to you commence applying for any.
Yes, but how do you really do a personal abilities audit? That is the bit of assistance that is so often left out. So you sit down with a sheet of paper in front of you and start to make a list....
Fifteen minutes later, you have possibly got five skills down and you are already beginning to really feel defeated. Is this certainly all you have to provide? Perhaps its time you took the dog for a walk or read the paper or you may possibly just be in time to catch the newest episode of your favourite soap on Television.
Does that sound familiar? If so, read on to locate out some wonderful strategies to help you honestly get to grips with producing a list of your personal skills.
There are three very simple approaches - Assess, Ask and Observe
Assess
This indicates taking stock of the activities have been involved in at function (past and present), at household and in your leisure time. Rather than just trying to list the skills you have developed, start by listing what you essentially do in these 3 areas of your life. Make it as long and detailed a list as you can. Write down what you do and what you have completed. Commence with the significant tasks - arranging meetings, organising holidays or producing a newsletter for your social club and then go proper down to producing coffee, collecting your youngsters from school and talking to your pals about the latest film you have observed. You will come up with a really lengthy list, I promise you!
Then your job is to assess what abilities you had to use in each and every of these activities. This is a lot less complicated now you have activities to assessment. Say you produced a newsletter, at function or for your social club. This possibly entails time management, writing and editing, negotiating, meeting deadlines, persuading, attention to detail and much more.
If you do this assessment with all your activities, you will have a extremely long list of transferable skills.
Ask
This is so obvious that it is fantastic that people don't do it. Just ask other people what they believe your abilities are! Begin with consumers at work, including your boss and your colleagues. Simply say 'If you had to list my best 5 skills, what would they be?' You will be amazed at the affirmation of your abilities and skills that comes from this easy question.
Do the same thing with buddies and loved ones. This could really feel safer, so ask this group first, if you prefer. You may well like to return the compliment too. Let your buddies know hat you definitely value and appreciate in them.
It is such a shame that we so rarely give each other this type of positive feedback. Whilst it is really useful when you are thinking about your transferable skills for career change, why not just do it anyway from time to time? You get to really feel fantastic about your self and assist make other people feel excellent too!
Observe
The third strategy of assessing your abilities and skills is to get into the habit of observing your self as you go about your day to day activities. Once more, it is critical that you watch your self at residence and at leisure as properly as at work.
So when you come out of a meeting, hand in a project report or finish serving a customer, just stop and take note of how you used certain abilities to make that occur. You can jot these down right away, or possibly you could get into the habit of spending a couple of minutes just before you go home just creating a note of what abilities you have put into practice right now. This can be a excellent way of developing up evidence for the abilities you have created which will be beneficial when you get to the interview stage for your new career.
So there you have it. 3 methods to get you past the abilities block that so a lot of career changers struggle with. As soon as you have tried these three approaches, you will feel a lot alot more confident about the wide range of abilities that you have to give future employers.