Understanding Skill Gain by completing a Skills Audit
Skills Audit
A skills audit is a way or you to establish what skills you have, and your level of 'expertise' for each of those skills. This section will guide you through the step-by-step method of completing a skills audit, and an example you can use for guidance.
Make a list of your skills
Try and put together a long list of skills that you feel you have gained from the various experiences you have held during your time as a student or before you were studying at York. Skills could be from: Education, work experience, volunteering, personal experiences.
The examples to the right can be used as inspiration.
Top Tip: If you're struggling to think of what skills you have to reflect upon, you can think about the specific projects you have carried out or achievements you have gained.
Example: Student A works part-time in a bar in York, who volunteers regularly at an animal charity and is the treasurer of a society. In the future they would like to pursue a career as a teacher.
Communication, Teamwork, Time Management, Customer Service, Budgeting, Problem Solving, Decision Making
2. Rate your expertise for each of these skills
Using a scale of 1-10, 1 being weak in the skill, and 10 being proficient, evaluate how experienced you feel you are with that skill.
Be honest here, if you want to be proficient in leadership, but feel you still have things to learn in this space, then make sure you rate where you actually are rather than where you would like to be, as this will help you identify any areas for improvement.
Communication - 6
Teamwork - 4
Time Management - 8
Customer Service - 6
Budgeting - 7
Problem Solving - 6
Leadership - 3
3. Consider the jobs you would like to have in the future, or roles you'd like to take on
Think about what direction you would like to take your career as you finish your degree, and consider a few jobs you'd like to have.
If you're not at the stage yet of considering a certain role, why not think about what else you'd like to do during your time as a student, such as becoming a course rep or running for a college committee position.
Desired Career - Primary School Teacher
4. Identify the skills required to those jobs
Create a list of skills that you may need in order to be successful in that role.
Top Tip: You can use sites such as Glassdoor or LinkedIn to find job descriptions or person specifications.
Skills required as a Teacher (extracted from Glassdoor.co.uk)
Leadership, Time Management, Communication, Flexibility, Teaching Knowledge and Experience, Administration, Organisation
5. Spot any gaps between the skills you have, and the skills required to do your dream role
How does your skill list align with the skill list you've made for the job you want? Be realistic again here, if you feel you posess the desired skills, but don't feel particularly competent in them, then you might end up setting higher expectations of yourself to a future employer that are higher than what you can actually deliver.
Skills required as a teacher, not on my skills list, or ranked lower than 5:
Leadership
Teaching Knowledge and Experience
Administration
Organisation
6. Look at what you need to do to develop the skills
Now you hopefully know where your skills gaps are, what do you need to do to develop those skills? You may want to undertake a training course or need extra qualifications, or you may be able to gain those skills from more work or volunteering experience. You might also want to consider a more junior, or entry level position that requires less experience, where you will be able to work up the ladder and learn on the job.
Filling the skills gaps:
Leadership - Run for a position as a society president or college chair
Teaching Knowledge and Experience - Look for a volunteering placement in a local school
Administration - Look into further what administration skills might be, and which of those I already possess. e.g. time management.
Organisation - Complete a LinkedIn learning course on how to improve organisation skills.
6. Look at what you need to do to develop the skills
Now you hopefully know where your skills gaps are, what do you need to do to develop those skills? You may want to undertake a training course or need extra qualifications, or you may be able to gain those skills from more work or volunteering experience. You might also want to consider a more junior, or entry level position that requires less experience, where you will be able to work up the ladder and learn on the job.
Filling the skills gaps:
Leadership - Run for a position as a society president or college chair
Teaching Knowledge and Experience - Look for a volunteering placement in a local school
Administration - Look into further what administration skills might be, and which of those I already possess. e.g. time management.
Organisation - Complete a LinkedIn learning course on how to improve organisation skills.
7. Set yourself deadlines
At this stage you should have a plan for filling the skills gaps, so now begin to set some deadlines on when you are going to work on developing each skill. You may want to put this into your own skills development or personal development plan that you can then display somewhere to help keep you on track.
Skills Development Plan:
Leadership - Run for a position as a society president or college chair - At the next re-ratification cycle (March 2025)
Teaching Knowledge and Experience - Look for a volunteering placement in a local school - contact York Student in Schools in a week to enquire on available opportunities, aim to sign up to next available placement.
Administration - Look into further what administration skills might be, and which of those I already possess. e.g. time management - Begin research after examination period.
Organisation - Complete a LinkedIn learning course on how to improve organisation skills - Find a course over Summer with aim to complete before academic year begins.
Once you've made your plan and added deadlines, add to your calendar some future dates or times where you will review your progress, or even complete another skills audit with some rankings to compare your growth and development over time.