Strengths

Skills

Your skill set comprises abilities in specific areas that showcase your competency. Employers look for both hard and soft skills.

• Hard Skills: These are technical or specialised skills, often easier to quantify and evaluate. Examples include coding, data analysis, or fluency in a second language.

• Soft Skills: These interpersonal and personal attributes often come up in competency-based interviews and are vital for success in the workplace. Examples include:

  • Communication: Essential for clear and effective interactions, whether presenting ideas, giving feedback, or engaging with clients.

  • Teamwork: The ability to work effectively with others, promoting a positive, collaborative work environment.

  • Leadership: Inspiring and guiding a team to achieve common goals, even if you’re not in a formal leadership role.

  • Negotiation: Useful for managing differences and reaching mutually beneficial solutions, whether in sales, project management, or team collaboration.

  • Problem-Solving: Demonstrates your capacity to analyse situations, think critically, and implement solutions, helping to overcome challenges efficiently.

Skills can come from diverse experiences—education, work, hobbies, volunteering, or extracurriculars. For instance, a teamwork skill might be showcased through group projects at university or playing on a sports team.

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Strengths

A strength is something you both naturally excel in and enjoy doing. Understanding your strengths allows you to seek roles that utilise your natural abilities.

• Creativity: Coming up with innovative ideas, thinking outside the box, or producing something unique.

• Adaptability: Handling change well, adjusting to new situations, and staying resilient in the face of challenges.

• Logical Thinking: Breaking down complex issues, analysing data, and solving problems systematically, essential for strategic decision-making.

• Attention to Detail: Ensuring accuracy and precision in tasks, valuable for quality control, compliance, and delivering high standards in all work.

• Problem-Solving: Tackling obstacles with creative solutions and maintaining focus under pressure.

It's also helpful to be aware of areas where you could improve. Recognising weaknesses is a step toward growth and will help you choose roles that allow for both your strengths to shine and areas of improvement to develop.

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Interests

Your interests are a window into what will bring you long-term satisfaction in a job. Reflect on questions like:

• What magazines, blogs, or news sources do you follow regularly?

• What were your favourite subjects in school or university?

• Who do you admire, and why?

• Which organisations or thought leaders do you follow on social media?

• If you had an extra free day each week, how would you choose to spend it?

These reflections can reveal clues about industries or fields that will keep you engaged and motivated.

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Values

Values represent the standards and principles you hold in high regard. These are the ideals that guide your decisions and actions, aligning closely with your morals and beliefs.

Common values might include:

• Integrity: Being honest and transparent in your actions and decisions.

• Respect: Valuing diverse perspectives and treating everyone fairly.

• Tradition: A commitment to stability, structure, and tried-and-true practices.

• Innovation: A drive to push boundaries and embrace new ideas.

• Unity: A belief in teamwork, community, and building strong interpersonal connections.

Your values should align with those of the organisations you join, a mismatch can lead to job dissatisfaction. Choosing a company with a culture that resonates with your values is essential for long-term fulfilment.