Learn to Assess Your Skills
To find a good civilian job, you need to clarify your skills. Skills assessment helps you
answer the question "What do I do best?" A skills assessment can also:
- Help you determine the types of jobs in which you are likely to excel (manager, mechanic,
nurse, salesperson, teacher, etc.)
- Help you prepare a focused resume (one that only includes the aspects of your background that
specifically relate to the job or career you are looking for)
- Help you answer job interview questions such as, "What do you like to do in your spare
time?"
Hint:
Relate your spare-time activities to the job for which you are interviewing.
Translating military experience into civilian language is one of the most common stumbling
blocks in the skills assessment process. One way to tackle this problem is to talk to friends
who have already left the service. Ask them about what civilian employers want do and don’t
want to hear. You should also consider attending workshops and seminars. Here’s a good
approach to assessing skills:
Step 1. Assignments: List the projects you have worked on, problems you have
solved, situations you have helped clarify, and challenges you have met.
Step 2. Actions: List the actions you have taken to carry out these
tasks.
Step 3. Results: List the results that your actions helped to
achieve.
The skills that appear on these three lists should be incorporated into your resume and job
interviews.
Skill assessment for many service members and their families requires assistance. The
staffs at the Transition Assistance Office and Education Center can provide that assistance.
For more assistance in skills assessment, go to Occupational Information Network the Dictionary
of Occupational Titles (O*NET): This provides detailed descriptions of most occupations. Available
online at:
http://online.onetcenter.org/ and
http://www.military.com/skills-translator/mos-translator
The
careeronestop.org website also has a resource that can
help you identify potential careers using your current occupation. By selecting a career on
myskillsmyfuture.org you can explore training,
compare skills banks, typical job duties and technology, search employers and jobs. This site also
provides information about the field and current labor market information for the career
selected.
Date Last Reviewed: September 28, 2011