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College & Work   |   In the Workplace   |   Finding the Right Job
Determining Your Marketable Skills
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By Jenny Frank, CSW, and Roberta Omin, CSW-R.
Published: March 25 2009
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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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3 Comments

  1. Determining Your Marketable Skills
    Unable to figure out a way to complete the chart! I have strong organizational and writing skills. I cannot be a leader of others. I tried hard to be a medical transcriptionist (I have word-processing skills), but my visual perception problems and my anorexia eventually cost me this career. I am now working part-time in a preschool, in a class of 3 year-olds. I thought I would enjoy this, but I am drained and very pessimistic at the end of each day. I have done some public speaking and way back when I first went to college wanted to be a (Kindergarten) teacher. Thank you for your time.

    Posted by: Cindy Ann Linder on Tuesday, 29 March 2011

  2. Determining Your Marketable Skills
    I work as an Employer Liaison for an organization that helps people who have disabilities find employment. I recently had an aquaintance, who is a supervisor, tell me a story that incuded the statement, "I always give those tasks to the guy with OCD because he won't quit until it is finished and perfectly done. That made me think that many, if not all disabilities have some sort of advantage. I have spent a few hours serfing the 'net looking for a list of disabilities with their cooresponding 'marketable skills' that are actually a result of the disability rather than 'in spite of the disability'. Can you give my any information on this?

    Posted by: Barry on Monday, 13 December 2010

  3. Determining Your Marketable Skills
    This was helpful!

    Posted by: alane on Monday, 24 May 2010

Leave a Comment

We invite your comments on this article, but we are unable to answer personal questions. If you have a question, you may find these LD.org resources helpful: Resource Locator; LD Basics section; Frequently Asked Questions.
 
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