Skills to Build Your Career
You probably have more skills than you realize.
A skill is a learned or natural ability to do something. Planning a meal is a skill. Taking care of people is a skill. Managing your money is a skill. Employers will hire you to use your skills in good-paying, in-demand careers.
First, know what your skills are, which careers match your skills, and how to strengthen your skills.
You have two types of skills that you can use at work: occupational skills and employability skills. Occupational skills, or technical skills, are a set of knowledge and skills that employees need for a specific job or occupation.
Examples of occupational skills:
- Understanding medical terms
- Driving a forklift
- Customer service skills
Know what occupational skills you need to start or advance in your career. Look for short-term training that will help you build on the skills you need in a new career.
Employability skills prepare individuals for any job. They are also known as soft skills or workplace skills. Employability skills easily transfer to many careers. If you are thinking of changing careers, you might be more qualified than you realized.
As you think about the right short-term training for you:
- find out which skills employers value
- think about which skills you have that will help you get hired and keep a job
Employability skills or soft skills can help you advance in your career. Employers are looking for people who have essential skills, like being organized, arriving on time, and having a positive attitude. Communication skills and getting along with people are also needed for most jobs.
Look at job postings and talk to your networking connections to find out which essential skills are valued by employers in your career area. Think about short-term training to help you build skills you lack.
Examples of essential employability skills:
- Read and understand written materials
- Able to follow directions
- Quickly learn required technology and use appropriately
- Willing to start, stop, and switch duties
- Work calmly in busy environments
- Take initiative and work with little supervision
- Motivate and direct people as they work
- Build partnerships and teams with coworkers
Pro tip: Put the employability skills you are most confident in on your resume. Learn more about employability skills.
Are you aware of all the skills you have? Do you know all that you could contribute to the workplace? It’s common for job seekers and career changers to underestimate their skills and abilities.
First, think about what skills you already have. Then try the following:
- Your skills may transfer to a different type of job. Learn more about transferable skills.
- Decide which short-term training options you want to try to build on the skills you have.
This Skills Matcher tool lets you rate how strong your skills are and finds career options that match your skills. You can use the results to see what skills you might work on to qualify for a new career.
Just Be Yourself
Some employability skills are personality traits. If you understand what employers value, you will know how to talk about your skills during job interviews. Employers in all career areas want to work with people who are dependable, willing to learn new things, and are good team members.
Other personal qualities that can help your career:
- Be organized. Arrive to work on time, or early
- Have a positive attitude toward work
- Be comfortable working with people of diverse backgrounds
- Complete tasks on time and accurately
- Be flexible and adaptable
- Complete all tasks, even if unpleasant
- Be friendly and polite
- Resolve conflicts calmly and appropriately
- Take responsibility for own decisions and actions
- Be honest and trustworthy
If there is something that you need to work on, find a short-term training workshop or basic skills class at a Minnesota State campus that can help you strengthen your employability skills.