Skills, knowledge, and traits…oh my!

When asking for career advice, how many times how we heard, ‘play to your strengths,’ or ‘focus on what you are good at?’  Or my personal favorite:  ‘share your gifts with the world.’  Although there is nothing wrong with these words, they offer plenty of encouragement but very little direction.

Here is my own version of these inspirational phrases:  You need to know what your strengths are before you can share them with the world.  There is a twist to this issue, though.  What if I am not sure what my strengths are? And what do we mean by strengths, anyway?

There are three different ways to define strengths in terms of career development and job search:  Skills, Knowledge and Traits.  To illustrate the differences among these three, let me introduce you to Mike.  Mike is a freshman with an aptitude for languages.  He is bilingual in Spanish and is working on his French. 

Skill is the specific ability to perform an action which could have been learned through the environment or deliberately acquired.  Skill mastery could be reached over time.  For instance, Mike’s ability to communicate in several languages is a skill.  He may have picked up Spanish at home.   So for him being bilingual is an inherent part of growing up.  But his efforts to become fluent in French are due to his own choice. 

Knowledge refers to information, data, and subjects learned by formal or informal means.    In Mike’s case, his ability to communicate in Spanish relies on words and idioms absorbed throughout of cumulative learning.  This database of information became the foundation to his ability to communicate in Spanish. 

Traits are personal tendencies that result in behavior.  These are natural preferences that influence how we perceive and behave.  For instance, Mike’s natural predisposition to being friendly and outgoing might have influenced his interest in languages.

Now that we are clear about the distinct differences among these three types of strengths, what skill would you like to strengthen? How about learning to network effectively?  Or perhaps you may want to become better at managing your time?

Whatever your next step may be, keep in mind that the road to self-discovery and self-improvement is an ongoing but rewarding process.  Enjoy the ride!

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Proactive career management 101

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Management guru Peter F. Drucker.

            Although Drucker’s words are over a decade old, they still ring true in many ways.  For instance, preventive health care aims to foster healthy eating and stress reduction habits to decrease the likelihood of future illness.  Financial literacy workshops look to arm adults with tools to make sound, long-term financial decisions that will generate wealth and economic security.  Through these efforts,  we attempt to create a healthier and more secure financial future for ourselves.

            Why, then, can’t we do the same for our professional future?

            You may be saying, ‘I’m already doing that. I am looking for internships and visiting the Career Center often.’ If you are taking steps towards your career, congratulations!  Every step taken in the right direction is a victory.  However, what I am proposing to you is to lay a foundation that will allow you to start building and managing your career during--not after-- your college years.  The goal is to become deliberate and conscious about shaping the future of your professional life.  Here are four initial steps to proactively start managing your career:

• Have strategic and tactical goals.  Strategic goals are those that have long term impact and create significant change.  Tactical goals are those that are generally short term and aim to solve a specific issue.  A strategic career goal could be to choose a major.  A tactical goal is to learn how to write effective cover letters.
• Understand and accept that YOU are in charge of your career.  Yes, your family may be helping you pay for college and the career counselor may be guiding through the process.  Ultimately, the decision of what path to pursue rests with you.  You are the chief executive officer (CEO) of your professional life.
• Start to narrow down your career options.  Choose two to four career paths, industries or companies that are attractive to you.  Having only a few will allow you to focus all your energy and time on learning all you can about them.  You can then decide if they are the right fit for you.  By the way, this step is a strategic goal.
• Be clear about your skills, traits and abilities.  The more you know about yourself, the better equipped you will be to build on what you have and improve and develop what you want to change.  There are tests you can take to identify specific traits.  Your career center office can guide you with this step.

            As the CEO of your career, are you ready to make an executive decision and take charge of your professional life?

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