108SEM. SKILLS AUDIT WORKSHOP:

IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING YOUR OWN SKILLS


List of Contents

Introduction3

Conducting a SWOT4

SWOT matrix5

Identifying skills levels6

Skills chart example7

Skills Chart8/9

Skills audit to action planning10

Further help/Further Reading11

IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING YOUR OWN SKILLS

Introduction

Right now you are making a major investment in your future by actively taking part in Higher Education. Perhaps you are already in a career, or a career may seem a long way away at present. Either way thisAcademic and Professional Development module will encourage personal skills development to help you now, as an undergraduate student to develop the skills that you will need for learning, in both your academic and professional life.

The focus in this session will be on analysing your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may arise. (SWOT-analysis). By taking stock of your own skills, you will be identifying what you are good at and areas that you may need to improve upon.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this session you should be able to:

  • Conduct a personal skills audit
  • show an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
  • identify your current skills level
  • identify evidence of your abilities
  • identify skills you could improve upon

Conducting a SWOT-analysis

When conducting a SWOT-analysis, consider yourself to be a product (Cameron 2005: 12)

You are to a certain extent a product/service and that product or service will need to retain value, to stay ‘marketable’, now and in the future. Specialists in the field of marketing make use of what they call a ‘SWOT’ analysis to formulate a marketing strategy. This same analysis you can apply to yourself as 'product', thus making you aware of developments in the employment market, skills and experiences, some of which you will already have , but without valuing them or updating them who would know?

The SWOT will help you to recognise those skills, to identify areas to improve, and to spur you on so you continuously and actively develop yourself and your own skills to achieve success at university and widen your future employment opportunities. It will only be you who is able to promote yourself to others so to be conversant in this area is imperative to your success.

SWOT-analysis helps you to identify:

Strengths -the traits/skills do you already have

Weaknesses - that you can possibly reduce or work around

Opportunities -available to you to that you can exploit to enhance your strengths

Threats -what threats you perceive that are hindering your progress and could take action against

Based on this information, fill in the matrix below with bullet points, and start building your own. Then pick out the main areas of note and explain (analyse) why you have written what you have written. Be honest and open, perhaps discuss with friends, family and colleagues. Such an approach shows you are taking a much more active and proactive approach to your owncareer development, rather than leaving the responsibility with your lecturers/employers.

Portfolio Exhibit - SWOT

Strengths
E.g. Advanced IT skills / Weaknesses
E.g. Watch too much TV
Opportunities
E.g. In house training / Threats
E.g. Boredom

Analysis of SWOT:

1......

2......

3......

4......

How do I identify my skills?

Often, the most difficult question to answer is, "What am I good at doing?" This makes identifying your own skills a tricky exercise. It is generally easier if you think of a particular situation, for example, a piece of coursework, a project at work, etc and then rate yourself as to how well you did on different activities involved.

Before you start working on your skills audit, ask yourself the following questions:

When thinking about my skills, am I inclined to…

  1. Put myself down?
  2. Put my positive side forward?
  3. Be over confident?
  4. Vary according to the situation?

In order to rate yourself accurately in the skills audit you should follow the following guidelines:

  • Make sure you are clear on what the criteria means
  • Rate yourself then return to your rating after a few days in order to amend it
  • If you have a tendency to put yourself down, rate yourself a point higher than you first meant to
  • Find evidence to 'prove' your rating in your portfolio
  • If you think you tend to be over-confident, ask others for their view of your rating

After you have completed the skills audit it might be helpful to obtain feedback from your peers but listen to their feedback without interrupting or even defending yourself. Make sure you understand one another. Most importantly you have to weigh up the different aspects of feedback you agree with and what you do not. Some misunderstandings may occur, so seek further clarification.

Drew and Bingham (2001:17-19) suggested the following skills audit. This will also be in Moodle to do online and keep in your portfolio. This exercise is to be repeated at the end of each year of study in order to determine to what extent you have developed your skills. Date and keep this for future reference.

Example

Current skills level, where 1 = very good and 4 = not good at all.

Priority for improvement, where 1 = high priority and 4 = less important.

Skill / Your estimate of your current level of skills
1 2 3 4 / Evidence and examples / Priority for improvement
1 2 3 4
Organising yourself and your time /  / Wrote an essay: stayed up all night, missed deadline date / 

Portfolio exhibit– skills chart

Begin to complete the skills audit here in rough, so that you can increase the spacing when adding your personal comments.

Skills Chart no...... Date Completed ......

Current skills level, where 1 = very good and 4 = not good at all.

Priority for improvement, where 1 = high priority and 4 = less important.

Skill / Your estimate of your current level of skills
1 2 3 4 / Evidence and examples / Priority for improvement
1 2 3 4
Action Planning
Coping with pressure
Critical Analysis
Essay Writing
Retrieving and managing Information
Improving your Learning
Negotiating and Assertiveness
Note taking
Oral presentation
Organising yourself and your time
Reflecting on your experience
Report Writing
Revising and Examination technique
Solving Problems
Others (please specify)

Skills auditing to Action Planning…

What a tiring but rewarding experience! Do you agree? Possibly! If so, you have done the job well. The previous exercise was exactly what the name implied: A skills audit, with the emphasis on the word AUDIT. You still need to proceed to the next step, namely to identify from your personal Skills Audit what you now need to address.

Use the following as a checklist to identify where you should spend time improving a skill:

  • Where you are not too confident on completing a task, e.g. what was the reason – knowing what the correct report format was?
  • Did evidence (feedback) show that a skill needed to be developed, e.g. improving bibliographical references?
  • What were the Weaknesses and Threats listed in your SWOT-analysis, could they be improved?
  • Skills that you often need to apply in your studies/workplace need more development, e.g. working as a group/team member.

Self Guided Study Task. Create an Action Plan

Having identified any skills gaps or needs for improvement you should now embark on creating an action plan to address these. An action plan could resemble a chart, (Cameron 2005: 31) of which there will be a template in Moodle to use, or could just be Action Points at the end of your reflective writing, but remember to do something specific and measurable – plan the action, make a date, read a book or article, make an appointment, with whom and when?, make it achievable and comment on the result/outcome.

You must achieve something, having identified the skills gaps, new knowledge, overcome a fear or obstacle, this is a register or measure of the steps you choose to take to record what you have done to address those gaps. This is how you chart your progression and you are then taking responsibility for your own growth, learning and personal development.

Independence and progression! Well done.

Where do I get help?

Your first source of help will be these personal skills development sessions. Your EPT/APTs will also offer advice. Purchasing the recommended text books will also help. The module aims to support your studies by strengthening these skills and recommending further reading. The library has numerous sources normally listed under the title "study skills" that you will find on the ground floor. Your lecturers, fellow students, colleagues and friends are often a useful source of information. Why not make this a topic of conversation next time you have a 'pub lunch'? Apart from the 'expert' advice you will receive under such circumstances, there are other specialists available e.g. counselling services, skills courses delivered under supervision of the students union and often in the workplace itself.

A good positive attitude is a great tool to kick-off studying with. A negative attitude is like an illness pulling you down. Be assertive, set time aside for this positive rewarding practice and keep a diary or blog/journal in portfolio to monitor what you are doing, thinking and feeling as well as noting your achievements. Thus helping yourself!

List of references and further reading

Cameron, S. (2009) Business Students Handbook.5thedn. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd (earlier editions are also fine)

Drew, S. and Bingham, R. (2010) The Guide to Learning and Study Skills. . Hampshire: Gower.

Cottrell, S (2008) The Study Skills Guide, Palgrave McMillan

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