Today employers are looking for individuals who can be trained and who fit into the company right away using existing skills and training in a variety of ways.  Skills are most easily defined as the “things you do well” and can be obtained from school or work, interacting with people or pursuing a hobby.  Try sorting them into three categories:

1.   Professional – specific talents in particular field/occupation

2.   Personal – natural born abilities to get along with others or to adapt to new situations (i.e. creativity, persistence, self-confidence, self-reliance, humour, tolerance, teamwork, trustworthiness, understanding, versatility)

3.   Practical or generic – natural or acquired that have been nurtured throughout life in work and play (i.e. communicating, listening, calculating, negotiating, conceptualizing, keyboarding, computing, planning, problem solving, goal setting)