Assess Your Skills
To identify academic and professional goals in your Individual Development Plan, you must first assess your skills.
Why do we call them "transferable" skills?
- They are skills that realistically reflect your strengths, abilities, and gaps no matter your field of study.
- They correlate with competencies your future employers are looking for on a CV and/or resume.
- They are integral to every phase of your academic and professional development.
Communication
Communication as a Broad Objective
Skillfully express, transmit, and interpret knowledge and ideas.
Specific Skills
- Communicate across cultural backgrounds
- Communicate to a wide audience
- Communicate to a non-specialist audience
- Speak effectively
- Write concisely
- Listen attentively
- Express ideas
- Facilitate group discussion
- Provide appropriate feedback
- Negotiate
- Perceive nonverbal messages
- Persuade
- Report information
- Describe feelings
- Interview
- Edit
Research & Planning
Research & Planning as a Broad Objective
Successfully search for specific knowledge and conceptualize future needs and solutions.
Specific Skills
- Forecast, predict
- Create ideas
- Identify problems
- Imagine alternatives
- Identify resources
- Gather information
- Solve problems
- Set goals
- Extract information
- Define needs
- Analyze
- Develop evaluation strategies
Human Relations
Human Relations as a Broad Objective
Use interpersonal skills to resolve conflict, relate to, and help people.
Specific Skills
- Develop rapport
- Be sensitive
- Listen
- Convey feelings
- Provide support for others
- Motivate
- Share credit
- Counsel
- Cooperate
- Delegate with respect
- Represent others
- Perceive feelings, situations
- Assert
Management & Leadership
Management & Leadership as a Broad Objective
Supervise, direct, and guide individuals and groups to complete tasks and fulfill goals.
Specific Skills
- Initiate new ideas
- Handle details
- Coordinate tasks
- Manage groups
- Delegate responsibility
- Teach
- Coach
- Counsel
- Promote change
- Sell ideas or products
- Make decisions with others
- Manage conflict
Work Survival
Work Survival as a Broad Objective
Use day-to-day skills to promote productivity and work satisfaction.
Specific Skills
- Implement decisions
- Cooperate
- Enforce policies
- Be punctual
- Manage time
- Attend to detail
- Meet goals
- Enlist help
- Accept responsibility
- Set and meet deadlines
- Organize
- Make decisions
Get Started!
Download a Transferable Skills Checklist
This Transferable Skills Checklist was first developed by the University of Minnesota Duluth's Career & Internship Services.