Skill Spotting

Instructions (Part 1)
The first part of this activity involves asking these people around you what they think your skills are. What are you good at? This
will be the first step towards helping you to identify your skills.

Speak to 5 people around you that you trust. This might be your friends, family, colleagues and others who know you best. Ask
them about what they think your skills are.

We have put together some questions that you might want to use when having these discussions to give you a guide as to the kinds
of information that will be useful to start you off identifying your skills.

There is also a list of skills on the next page, along with a definition of that skill that you may want to refer to when carrying out this
exercise.

Example Questions
1. What do you think my skills are?

2. Can you think of a time when I have used these skills?

3. Can you define what those skills mean?

4. Are there skills that you think I could improve on?

5. When am I at my best? Can you tell me a story about that time?

Instructions (Part 2)
The second part of this activity is for you to reflect on your own skills. Below are some examples of strengths-based questions.
These are used by some employers in the recruitment process.

The aim of the questions is to encourage you to reflect on what you are good at and what you enjoy doing.
Answer each question based on your own self-reflection. There are no right or wrong answers. You may again wish to refer to
the list of skills on the next page.

Your answers will be reviewed using the peer assessment tool.

Questions
What are you good at?
What do you learn quickly?
What do/did you find easiest to learn at school or university?
Which subjects do/did you most enjoy studying?
What things give you energy?
Describe a successful day you have had.
When did you achieve something you were really proud of?
Choose five skills from the example list of skills which you feel best describe your strengths.

Example list of skills

Adaptability Being able to change one's attitudes or behaviour quickly in response to changing
demands or environments.
Advising Helping people to choose between options or courses of action.
Advocacy Speaking or acting on behalf of other individuals or groups.
Aesthetic Understanding and appreciating what is pleasing to the senses and artistic values.
Agility Suppleness, quickness or ease of movement of the body.
Attention to detail & checking Being meticulous and systematic. Spotting errors and inconsistencies.

Copyright The Careers Group, University of London [Date of this version: 09 May 2014]
The Careers Group believes that all information is correct at the time of publication.
Challenging Drawing attention to conditions, attitudes or behaviours that are unfair, unhelpful
or inappropriate in a way that is suited to the situation.
Comparison & categorisation Identifying correlations between data. Dividing information into appropriate
groups based on similar characteristics.
Completion Consistently seeing things through to the end, sometimes involves being able to
take over projects from others.
Conceptualisation & theorising Identifying patterns and providing realistic possible explanations for events or
behaviours.
Consistency Ensuring that an appropriate quality and standard procedures are applied
throughout.
Cooperation Working with other people in a non-competitive way. Sharing resources and
contributing effort towards a mutual goal.
Data collection & investigation Identifying and gathering relevant information. Effectively identifying and using
information sources.
Decision making Choosing from a range of possibilities in order to satisfy certain criteria.
Developing others Encouraging and enabling growth, progression and learning in others in order that
they become more effective or achieve greater levels of satisfaction.
Dexterity Skill and grace in manipulating objects.
Directing & delegating Instructing others so that they can perform given tasks effectively.
Entertaining Amusing and keeping people interested. Helping them to have a good time.
Evaluation & prioritisation Assigning and comparing relative validity, importance or worth.
Explaining Giving reasons and helping people to understand concepts.
Extrapolation & prediction Anticipating future consequences and possibilities based on existing understanding
and knowledge.
Goal setting Identifying and articulating appropriate objectives for one's self and others.
Idea generation Producing a wide range or large number of ideas or options. Brainstorming.
Informing Giving appropriate necessary information to people in a suitable format.
Initiative Thinking and acting appropriately without the need of detailed instructions or
guidance from others
Innovation Introducing change and new ways of doing things.
Learning ability Assimilating and applying new information and procedures quickly or thoroughly.
Listening & questioning Paying noticeable attention to people. Seeking to understand them. Asking
appropriate questions to gain information.
Mechanical ability Being able to understand and use tools, machinery and equipment.
Monitoring & assessing Maintaining awareness of the progress of others and comparing their performance
with given standards.
Motivating Providing stimuli and encouragements to others to ensure that tasks are completed
with sufficient enthusiasm.
Negotiation & conflict resolution Bringing about agreement and compromise between groups or individuals with
differing objectives or points of view.
Numerical & textual manipulation Being able to use mathematical and grammatical rules to obtain meaning from
numerical or written data or to convert information to different formats.
Observation Noticing details of events and surroundings.
Persistence Ability to maintain working on an activity despite difficulties or setbacks

Persuading Convincing people to follow a particular course of action.

Planning Establishing necessary sequences and realistic timescales for tasks in order to
achieve a goal.
Public speaking Expressing information and ideas out loud to small or large groups in formal or
informal settings.
Quick thinking Ability to react to new information or situations quickly and appropriately.
Recall & memory The ability to remember relevant information when required.
Resilience Ability to recover quickly from physical setbacks or stress.
Resource allocation & prioritisation Working out how to use time, money, facilities and staff effectively and efficiently
to ensure that tasks are completed.
Sensitivity & empathy Understanding and valuing the feelings of others and behaving appropriately.

Copyright The Careers Group, University of London [Date of this version: 09 May 2014]
The Careers Group believes that all information is correct at the time of publication.
Social interaction Putting people at their ease using conversation, behaviour and body language.
Spatial awareness Having a strong sense of the space around you and of three-dimensional objects.
Timekeeping Maintaining awareness of time constraints and ensuring that deadlines are met.
Writing Expressing ideas and information clearly in a written form that is appropriate to its
purpose and readership.

Copyright The Careers Group, University of London [Date of this version: 09 May 2014]
The Careers Group believes that all information is correct at the time of publication.