Assess Yourself

This step helps you discover and organize all of the skills, interests, and values you will need to explore the world of work and present yourself to a potential employer. It is a good idea to do this step every year, even if you have a job, since you may have gained new skills, or your interests and values may have changed.

Starting by assessing your skills.
Exploring your interests.

Know Your Skills

A skill is the ability to do a certain task well. Skills can be a natural ability or they can be learned over time. You can gain or expand your skills with practice or training. It is important to assess your skills at all phases of your career since you develop new skills at work, school, and through extracurricular activities.

Professional skills: These are the skills necessary to perform a specific job. A pilot must know how to safely fly and land an airplane. An auto mechanic must know how to repair a flat tire and tune an engine.
Adaptive skills: These are personal characteristics that are unique to you, they describe you and how you interact with others. They assist you when adjusting to a new situation or job and include creativity, self-motivation and dependability.
Critical skills: These are skills necessary to maintain a job. They include the ability to consistently arrive at work on time, the ability to follow instructions and to complete job tasks in a timely manner.
Transferable skills: These are the skills you take with you from job to job. You can transfer them from one employer to another and are valuable in most work situations. They include public speaking, problem solving, project completion, and coping skills. They might also include computer skills or skills with specific software.

Examples of Skills

Professional	Adaptive	Critical	Transferable
You will want to specify or quantify these skills by prefacing them with a transferable skill. For example: Diagnosing a car engine malfunction.	These are so essential to achieving success on the job that employers value your adaptive skills above all other types of skills.	These are essential to maintaining your job.	You develop these naturally from all aspects of life.
Foreign languages	Deliberate	Arrive to work on time	Teaching
Cares	Analytical	Follow instructions	Public speaking
Organs of the body	Energetic	Punch in on timecard	Assembling
Food operating machinery	Strong	Submit timecard	Supervising
Parts of a refrigerator	Expressive	Complete assigned tasks	Computing
Minerals (specify)	Tactful		Researching
Buildings (specify)	Reasonable		Organizing
Floral arrangements	Precise		Analyzing
Hydraulics	Helpful		Deciding
Jewelry	Productive		Operating
Journalism	Dependable		Designing
Motors	Truthful		Repairing
Hair	Capable		Advising
Finance	Diplomatic		Appraising
Drills	Creative		Bargaining
Clothes	Enthusiastic		Budgeting
Income taxes	Industrious		Communicating
Musical instruments	Loyal		Developing
Inventory, stock	Patient		Interviewing

Common Work Skills
Skill Set	Description	Examples
Basic Skills	These are skills needed by almost all workers. These skills are very important to have. Writing, for example, is a basic skill that gets you into a good job. Not having it can keep you out of a good job.	Able to follow directions Academic Able to listen Read for Information Synthesize Punctual Honest Count, Numerical Organized Able to remember Analyze Spatial Reasoning Visualize Generate Ideas Physical Activity
People Skills	These are some of the most needed and wanted skills. They're sometimes called "soft skills." These skills help people to work well with others.	Deal with Feelings Coordinate with others Help others Initiate Change Persuade Teach others Teach, Train Mediate Cheerful Interview for Information Cooperative Patience Diplomatic Tolerant Generous
Management Skills	All workers need these skills, not just managers. Employers hire people who can keep track of projects, money, and their time.	Budget Observing Supervise Estimate Evaluate Act as liaison Expedite Take directions Plan, Organize Listening skills Make Decisions Motivate Researching Negotiate
Technical Skills	Technology includes computers and equipment. Computers are common in most workplaces. People in all occupations should know how to work with technology.	Counsel Manual Dexterity Plant, Cultivate Host/Hostess Make Arrangements Mechanical Use Carpentry Abilities Portray Images Produce Skilled Crafts Stage Shows Transport Treat, Nurse Observe Compose Music Entertain, Perform Classify Maintain Records Prepare Food Design Write, Proofread, Edit Sell Tend Animals

Do a skills assessment and then write down Your Top 10 Skills and Occupations that Match Your Skills (pdf).

Online Skills Assessments

Exploring your skills and occupations that match your skills using My Skills My Future.
Discovering your interests.

Match Your Interests to Occupations

The Match Your Interests to Occupations (pdf) exercise is a short interest assessment.

Read each statement. Check the white box next to the activities that you enjoy doing or would enjoy learning how to do.
Then, add the columns at the bottom of the exercise. Write down the number of checked boxes for each letter.
The letters with the highest amount of check marks indicate your interest code. Most people have a 2-3 letter interest code.

Each letter matches an interest group.

R = Realistic people are DOERS.
They are often good at mechanical or athletic jobs. They like to work with things like machines, tools or plants and they like to work with their hands. They are often practical and good at solving problems.
I = Investigative people are THINKERS.
They like to watch, learn, and solve problems. They often like to work by themselves, tend to be good at math and science, and enjoy analyzing data.
A = Artistic people are CREATORS.
They like to use their creativity and come up with new ideas. They usually want to work with less rules or structure. They enjoy performing (theater or music) and visual arts.
S = Social people are HELPERS.
They like to work directly with people rather than things. They enjoy teaching, counseling, or curing others. They are often good public speakers with helpful, kind personalities.
E = Enterprising people are PERSUADERS.
They like to work with other people. They often like to influence, persuade or perform for people. They like to lead. They tend to be assertive and enthusiastic.
C = Conventional people are ORGANIZERS.
They are very detail oriented and like to work with data. They are often organized and good with numbers. They are also good at following instructions. They also like working in structured situations.

Online Interest Assessment

My Next Move

Using the Interest assessment provided on My Next Move.
Identifying your work values.

Your Work Values

Job satisfaction comes from having a job that meets your needs and fits your goals. Match Your Work Values to Occupations (pdf) includes things people often value in their job. Not all these values will be met each day. However, choose an occupation that meets most of your work values and you are more likely to enjoy your job. You will be more motivated to succeed.

Online Work Value Assessment

O*Net Work Values

Using the work values assessment provided on O*Net.
Putting all of your assessment results together.

Put Your Assessments Together

Look at the occupations you listed on the worksheets for each assessment. These include:

These occupations match your skills, interests and work values.

List the occupations that show up on two or three of your assessment lists in Occupations that Best Match All of Your Assessments (pdf). These occupations are a good place to start as you think about your next career goal.

Now that you have a list of occupations that fit your skills, interests, and values you are ready to begin Step 2: Explore Careers.

Online Assessment Resources

Exploring careers that match your assessments.
What career changers need to know.