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What Are Job Skills?

Everyone has strengths and skills. If you want a job that's a good fit for you, start by looking at your skills. Also, employers look for people with certain skills when they hire.

Skills are things that you can do or abilities that you have.

Many job skills are:

  • Learnable: You can get education or training that will teach you skills or improve the ones you already have.
  • Transferable: Many things you do at one job can also be used at a different job.

It's important to think about the skills you have at different times in your career. Pay attention to when you've learned a new skill. And be aware of what strengths and skills you might be able to use in a different job.

There are several types of job skills:

  • Basic skills, like listening, speaking, reading, and writing, are necessary for all workers.
  • People skills, or soft skills, like negotiating, persuading, and coordinating with coworkers, help people to work well with others.
  • Management skills, like keeping track of time and money, assist people to keep things organized.
  • Technical skills, like operating or repairing computers, and installing and maintaining other machinery, enable people to work with equipment.

Get Started:

Think about your strengths, skills, and all the things you know how to do. Now, think about a time when you did something you were proud of. Write down which skills you used to do that.

The skills that you enjoyed using often can be transferred to other work settings. Use the list of Common Transferable Skills to look at your transferable skills.

Next Steps: