Skills
Your skills are what make you stand out to your boss or prospective employer. If you can identify your skills, you can highlight them in a resume or improve them with more education.
What Is a Skill?
A skill is a learned or natural ability to accomplish a particular task. Certain skills help you accomplish certain tasks. For example:
- A skilled reader can understand an article, book, or set of written instructions faster and better than an unskilled reader.
- Someone with social skills can teach, communicate, or persuade others more effectively than someone without them.
- Someone with programming skills can write computer code better than people without this ability.
Skills are learnable. You can gain or improve any skill with practice or training. That's why it's important to continually assess your skills at all phases of your career.
Common Skill Sets
| Skill Set | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Basic skills | Skills needed by almost all workers. It's hard to overestimate the importance of these skills. Writing, for example, is a basic skill that can get you into (or keep you out of) a good job. | Learning new things Listening Math Reading Science Speaking Thinking critically |
| People skills | Sometimes called soft skills, these are among the most sought-after and marketable skills. These skills enable people to work easily and effectively with others in the workplace. | Being aware of others
Coordinating with others Helping others Negotiating Persuading Teaching others |
| Management skills | Not just for managers anymore. If you can organize projects, money, and your time, you’ll be a more valuable member of any team. | Managing money Managing people Managing things Managing time |
| Systems skills | Can you understand how parts and wholes work together? For example, can you predict what would happen to your organization if a particular employee left? Or how a new tax law might affect prices at the grocery store? Then you have systems skills. | Evaluating a system or organization Understanding a system or organization Making decisions |
| Technical skills | Almost all jobs today require some comfort with equipment and technology. Computers are common and there is some expectation — from entry level to advanced positions — that employees know how to use computer software and technology. | Choosing equipment or tools Controlling quality Designing equipment or technology Installing equipment or programs Maintaining equipment Monitoring equipment Operating equipment Programming computers Repairing Troubleshooting |
More About Skills
ISEEK Skills Assessment Tool
Use our free tool to create your skill profile and see which occupations would be a good match for you.
Plan Your Education
Need to add to your skill set? Find courses, short term training, or degree programs in Minnesota.
STEM Careers
Learn more about the demand for science, technology, engineering, and math skills in Minnesota.
Skills Needed in Green
Passionate about the environment? Find out about the skill requirements in green jobs.
Career Goals
Evaluating your skills goes hand in hand with setting your career goals.
O*NET Online
Everything you ever wanted to know about skills and the skill requirements of occupations. Here you can search for occupations that require specific skills or view the skill profile of any occupation.
CareerOneStop Skills Profiler
See how your skills match requirements in hundreds of different occupations.
FreeRice
Improve your basic skills with fun online quizzes— while feeding the hungry.
