What Can I Do to Build My Skills?
Employers are looking for employees who have the skills or can learn the skills needed to do the jobs they need done. Your high school years are perfect for building your own skill set so you can impress employers. Here are some of the main skills employers are looking for:
- A person who is friendly and good with customers.
- A person who works well as part of a team.
- A person who is well groomed and comes to work on time.
- A person who is responsible and gets tasks done.
- A person who communicates well with others.
- A person who is eager to learn new things.
- A person who is willing to ask for help when needed.
Here are some great ways to begin building these skills:
Helping out around the house: Do you have chores you are responsible for at home? Chores are a great way to build skills such as cleaning, organizing, planning and time management. If you have had the same chores for many years, ask your family if there are other ways you can help.
Be involved in the community: There are many ways to build work skills while also being a helpful member of the community. You could help gather goods for a food drive or offer to mow or shovel for a neighbor. Schools often have “service learning” projects where students plan a project that helps others. The best thing is that employers like to see people take initiative so make sure you list your activities on your resume or portfolio.
Try new things: How do you know if you are good at something unless you try it? It is much better to try something new and have it not go well than to never try anything new at all. And any new job you get will require you to learn new things, so why not practice now? This could mean trying being part of a theatre production or practicing making a food that is new to you.
Learn a new skill: Employers appreciate employees who are willing to learn new tasks. What is the last “new” thing you learned how to do? Challenge yourself to keep learning to do new things. For example, do you know how to use the washer and dryer? Is there a computer program you would like to be better at? Or maybe it’s learning how to start a conversation with someone.
Practice the skills needed for the job you want: When you think about the type of job you want, can you identify the tasks and skills needed to do the job successfully? A person who works with the maintenance team at a health club will need to be able to clean surfaces, sanitize equipment, stock towels, empty trash and vacuum floors. These are all skills you can practice at home. When it’s time for your interview, you can tell the health club manager that you are ready to do what needs to be done.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
This video includes information on:
- Hard skills, which include physical skills that are important to your job
- Soft skills, which are people skills like communication, teamwork, and adaptability
- The importance of both types of skills
Activity
Build a Vision Statement
Review the example vision statement below so you know what one looks like. Then download the “Vision Statement Template” and create your own. Insert a picture of yourself and tell the world your strengths, skills and vision for your future. This can also be used as a resume when you interview for jobs.
If you are using Microsoft Word, use the following instructions to insert a photo into your vision statement:
- Right click the rectangle at the top of the page
- In the small popup box, click “Fill”
- In the menu that pops up, click “Picture” towards the bottom of the box
- Search for the place on your computer where you saved your picture, landscape style photos work best here
- You may need to reshape your photo a little bit! Click and drag the handles at the top corners of the image to do so.