Knowing what your skills are is an important part of professional development and career advancement. It is important that you identify and appreciate what you consider to be your skills, abilities and personal qualities. When you understand what you’re good at you can focus those strengths to maximise your potential.
Identifying your skill set is done by evaluating your experiences and achievements. What have you done that’s been successful and ultimately made you happy in the process? You can then gain insight into which areas of expertise come naturally.
Ask other people what they think your strengths are, and although it’s hard, what your weaknesses are too. Their point of view could be invaluable in understanding where to concentrate improvement.
You could try an online personality profile like Myers Briggs, an indicator designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths and preferences. Myers and Briggs believed that they could help people select occupations that were best suited to their personality types and lead healthier, happier lives. There are lots of alternatives and it can be an insightful thing to do.
Once you've identified some of the skills that come naturally to you, it's helpful to write them down and that will give you a better understanding of your areas of expertise. Writing down these skills can also help when looking for potential job opportunities or when discussing potential promotions with your employer.
It is equally important to look at the areas where you could use improvement or additional training. Being honest with yourself about any weaknesses is difficult but it’s really necessary for growth and development. Focus on finding ways that you can improve, maybe with training—in order to become stronger in all aspects of your career.
Knowing your own unique talents will allow you to take ownership over your career advancement while making sure that no opportunity goes unrecognised.
