What are Skills?
Skills are simply the things you learn that enable you to perform certain tasks.
Work skills -- also called job skills -- are the competencies you need to perform tasks the job requires. An architect, for example, needs many job skills to succeed, like the ability to "design construction projects", "analyze spatial data", "make presentations" and "read blueprints".
By knowing the "language" of skills, you can communicate them to others by understanding, describing, and discussing them. This happens when you:
- Write a resume,
- Read about a job opening,
- Go for a job interview,
- Talk with your supervisor,
- Ask for a raise,
- Seek a promotion,
- Change your career, or
- Learn new skills.
Phrases like "read blueprints" are a part of your skills vocabulary.
To succeed in this high-performance, global economy, everyone needs to understand and be good at communicating about skills – students, employers, employees, job seekers, educators, and human resource managers.
Your success requires continuous improvement -- strengthening and learning new skills. Start directing your own skills education – you're making the first step by reading this article!
Next, let's learn about four types of skills.
