How To Find A Job That Matches Your Skills
By Sera Kazungu
“I find it challenging in my job search to match my skills to a job that I want to apply for. How do I know that my skills match the job?” Asks Matthias Kuria via email.
This is a concern among many job seekers in today’s Nigerian job market. It is important to note that your skills are able to help you land a job that you have been longing to have. To do this, you have to know what skills are.
According to Melody Mwendwa, a Professional CV Writer and Career Advisor at Corporate Staffing Services, skills are developed through interests, work, volunteer activities and trainings. They vary from Entry level to Managerial.
“It is important to note that skills go hand in hand with competencies. The skills you learn are what enable you to perform tasks,” she says.
How To Find A Job With Your Skills
1. Analyze a job
You should carefully go through a job advert before deciding on whether to apply for it or not. Different jobs have different skill sets. For example, while a Managerial job will require leadership skills, an entry level job may not.
You should ensure that you meet at least 70% of the skills required for the job to know that you stand a chance of qualifying for it.
2. Identify the skills that you have
To be able to use your skills to get a job, you need to know what your skills are. This will enable you to identify those jobs that you qualify for and those that you do not.
The best way to identify the skills that you have is by focusing on those that you can prove. For a skill to be valid to potential employers, you must have used it at some point. For example, if you say you have good organizational skills, there must be something that you have achieved that clearly shows that.
3. Identify what you are good at
The key to having skills that are marketable to potential employers is choosing what you are good at. Knowing this will help you do what you enjoy doing and you are more likely to succeed at it.
It is important to work on those skills so that they may grow and open up new job opportunities for you in the future.
Your skills are valuable assets in any job search process. Do not take any skill that you have learnt for granted.
Wishing you the very best in your search.
