Understanding Skills
Skills Overview
Skills are things you can do that are related to your job but also things that you do in the course of your daily life. Skills that a person uses for a specific job such as sewing, record keeping, cooking, cleaning, computer programming and welding are called job-specific skills.
Skills also include things you can do that aren't tied to a specific job or occupation, such as being on time, dependable, independent, flexible and ambitious. We call these self-management skills.
You use a combination of skills to accomplish any task. We accomplish many tasks each day. Tasks are part of our recreation, hobbies and volunteer work. Some tasks are related to employment.
An administrative assistant who writes a letter uses the following skills: typing, writing, editing and the ability to meet deadlines. See a sample activity/title and the tasks and skills. A computer programmer who troubleshoots a network failure uses proofreading skills to find errors in computer codes. A cook uses slicing and cleaning skills to prepare vegetables.
We also use skills to complete tasks in the course of our daily lives. Balancing a checking account, shopping, driving and mowing the lawn are all examples of tasks that require skills.
A combination of tasks makes up an activity. Think of an activity as a major area of responsibility that requires a set of tasks. Many times skills and tasks seem interchangeable. That's because both are elements of an activity. It's up to you to apply these principles to your own job search.