Know your skills, Kia mōhio ki ō pūkenga

You develop skills throughout your life. Everyday experiences can help you build skills that employers look for.

These skills can come from experiences like:

• work
• study
• hobbies
• whānau activities
• sports teams
• cultural groups
• community involvement.

For example, caring for children in your whānau develops communication, empathy and problem-solving skills. And being part of a cultural dance group shows time organisation and teamwork skills.

Some common skills include:

• problem solving
• organisation
• communication
• teamwork
• empathy
• leadership
• willingness to learn
• caring for people
• positive attitude
• attention to detail.

Figuring out your skills helps you recognise your strengths, discover hidden skills and identify what you want to develop next.

There are 4 steps you can follow to figure out your skills:

1. Reflect on what you enjoy and do well
   Think about activities you enjoy, find satisfying and feel confident doing, as these can highlight your strengths.
2. Consider your everyday responsibilities and actions
   Think about the tasks you do at school, work, home and in your community and the skills you use to complete them.
3. Ask others for feedback
   Ask people you trust what they think your strengths are and what you do well.
4. Use a skills checklist
   Look at a list of skills to identify those that match your experience and find skills you may have missed.

Use our skills worksheet to bring your ideas together and build a list of your skills. The worksheet includes a larger skills list to help you discover new ones.

There are 7 key skills that employers value and may look for when they’re hiring new employees. These are called employability skills.

Skills employers are looking for

Understanding your values, skills and interests can help you decide which job or career might suit you.

You may want to explore your values first before looking at your skills and interests. You can use the worksheets on this page to guide you.

How to find your career path

Showing employers how you've used your skills helps them see the value you would bring. When you’re applying for a job it’s important to match your skills to those in the job description.

To explain your skills, use short, clear skill statements that describe where and how you’ve used them. Each skill statement should include:

• the skill the employer is looking for
• relevant experience that demonstrates the skill
• the result of your actions.

Where possible include amounts or outcomes that show the impact your actions had.

Our skills worksheet includes an exercise to identify your skills and describe them in your CV.

Organisation skills

Planned weekly netball training sessions, organised drills and equipment ahead of time. This improved player attendance throughout the season.

Leadership skills

Led a team of 5 people in my work, set clear goals and provided regular support. This increased project completion rates from 85 to 93 percent.

We have CV templates and advice so you can turn your skills and experience into tailored CVs and cover letters.

How to write a CV

Job Hunters' Workbook