Tools for self-assessment - getting prepared for work search

Work search and getting prepared for is is one of my favourite topics. It is also important part of my work where I guide and coach engineering students for the world of work.

Internet is full of websites and tools to help in getting in started with work search, but sometimes it is hard to find really good ones and filter the best ones from the mass. In this post, I will present two tools, that I have found really useful.

To get started, you cannot just rush into job ads and start writing the application. Well, of course you can do this, if you already have done the background work or know exactly what is it that you are looking for - this might be the case if you already have some years of work experience and have some experience from the job hunting as well. 

However, in most cases, this is not the case. Especially if you are a student or have just recently graduated, or do not have much work experience, you have to do some background work first. You have to identify and assess your own skills and qualities, your wishes and values. You have to know what is it that you are selling, if we compare job search situation into a selling situation where there is a product - you and your skills - that you are trying to sell to the customer - the company that you are offering your competence to. It is impossible to do the selling, if you are not sure what to sell; what are the matching qualities the employer is looking for.

Identifying and describing skills

How to identify your skills and how to describe them? That is the place to start. If you do not have a lot of work experience, remember to use all the experience you got; you have used your skills and developed them also in your hobbies, in free-time activities, in volunteering, at school and even at home and with your family. It is also important to describe your skills with examples - how is it that you have the skill, where did it come from and where have you used it. All job applicants can say that they have for example good communication skills. Ok, let's belive they do. Or not. How to stand out from the crowd of people saying the same thing, is to use examples. Describe where did you use the skill, what was the occasion where you developed it into a better level.

Practice one

One practical practice to do the analysing to yourself is to create for example the following chart:

Skill/quality	Where did you use is or develop it?	What other skills are related to that same situation?
Organising skills	I organised three large events for students during my university studies and was a project manager in two of them	Communication skills Project management Creating websites Doing social media marketing campaign Working as a team leader Preparing presentation materials
Customer oriented thinking	I worked in a coffee shop during my studies for two years and was awarded with a customer service of the month award many times	Being friendly and polite to people  Coming up with ideas (I got to join the re-organising of the layout) Team work Visual planning (I got to decorate the shop and shop windows a couple of times)

In the first column, list the skills that you have and think are your best skills that you should mention in work search situation.

In the second column, describe where did you get it or what was the situation where you used that skill.

In the third column, describe what other skills did you use or learn in that situation.

In my experience, in many cases you think about your skills in a narrow way. It is difficult to list and point out one's own best features, especially in Finnish culture. Doing the exercise might help you in finding the skills that you have and you want to mention to the potential employer. In many situations, you come up with some skills, but when you dig a little deeper, you might notice that you have even more important skills to mention.

Practice two

Another good tool for self-assessment was found through Videos and Digital Stories Demonstrating Competence course by OAMK. In this website, https://www.careers.govt.nz/plan-your-career/start-to-plan-or-change-your-career/figure-out-your-skills/, you can find a nice practice that will help you recognise and describe your skills. The perspective is a little different than in the previous one:

Source: https://www.careers.govt.nz/plan-your-career/start-to-plan-or-change-your-career/figure-out-your-skills/

In this practice, you use your previous tasks and find your skills through analysing them. Works nicely as well!

Useful material

One useful website especially for international higher education students related to work search is this: http://www.studentintegration.fi/. The career guidance section includes a lot of support material for work search for both students and staff members of HEIs.