Determining Your Marketable Skills

Many of your strengths and abilities are "marketable." This means that they are of value to employers. Your marketable skills can be applied to specific jobs. Employers will want you to have both job-specific skills and the right disposition and interpersonal skills to adapt to the workplace. Job-specific skills might include: carpentry, sewing, electrical wiring and bookkeeping. General skills could include getting along with others, being a team player, managing time, respecting diversity, organizing work, and problem-solving.

The Following Is a Sample of Some Key Marketable Skills and Ways You Can Develop Them:

When you do the following:	You build marketable skills in:
Participate in sports, clubs and other group activities	Leadership and team work
Participate in group presentations in class or at club or community meetings	Listening, organization, public speaking and processing information
Attend class, club, or community meetings on assignment; meet deadlines for turning in work	Time management, organization, follow-through, dependability and responsibility
Cooperate with others on team efforts and respect the different cultures and opinions of those with whom you work	Adaptability, flexibility, and teamwork
Write letters and reports; solve everyday problems at home, in school or at work	Critical thinking, writing and problem solving

All of the skills listed above are valuable to employers, but these represent only a sample. There are many other marketable skills that you may possess.

Complete the following chart to get a picture of the skills you have and the ones you would like to improve.

My Skills	Do well	Don't Have	Need to Improve
Writing
Public Speaking
Planning
Computer Skills
Budgeting
Managing People
Organizing Projects
Researching
Training Others
Decision-making
Negotiating
Problem Solving
Leading