Home  Michigan  The Work Place

Goals (Finding the Job You’ll Love) 

1. Discover the Things you love doing that are valuable to others (i.e. your interests, talents, hobbies, skills and passions). See Self Discovery Questionnaire and Exercises below.
    
2. Demonstrate that while doing what you love, you’ve acquired transferable skills essential for the workplace. See Self Discovery Questionnaire and exercises.
    
3. Revise Resume so it has a Summary Of Your Transferable Skills and the practical ways you’ve applied them. 
    
4. Target Employers Or Jobs that Require the Skills You Love Using.

Goal 1:

Discover the Things you love doing that are valuable to others (i.e. your interests, talents, hobbies, skills and passions). See Self Discovery Questionnaire and Exercises below.

Self Discovery Questions

Don’t think too hard on these. Just answer what first comes to mind.
The purpose here is to get at the real you.

What types of activities do you enjoy?

What are you really good at? What comes easily or naturally to you?

When you have free time, what do you usually find yourself doing?

What are your hobbies? Your fun activities?

How have you enjoyed helping your friends, relatives and neighbors in the past?

What do your friends and relatives usually go to you for when they need your help or support? 
(Examples: balancing a checkbook, mowing the lawn, shopping for the right clothing, house sitting for a dog or cat, etc.)

What talents, skills, interests, abilities, or hobbies have you been praised for?
(Examples: cooking, listening, teaching, hanging pictures, cleaning, interior decorating, fixing appliances, etc.)

What would you say are your most developed skills or talents?

What sorts of things do you look forward to, and get excited about?

What do you enjoy doing that causes you to lose track of time?
(Examples: debating, playing sports, teaching your kids to build things, etc)

How do you relax and unwind?

What do you like to read? What blogs, magazines, journals, books, newsletters, etc, do you subscribe to?

When you open a newspaper, what section of it do you turn to first?

What sorts of things capture and hold your interest?

|
Some Deeper Questions That Require More Thought

What would you say have been your most enjoyable & least enjoyable learning experiences?

What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment, achievement, or success story in life thus far?

If you had no fears, hang-ups or limits of any kind… what would you do to help people or improve the world?

Back To Top
 

Goal 2:

Demonstrate That in Doing What You love, You’ve Acquired Transferable Skills essential for the workplace. See Questionnaires and Exercises Below.

Exercises 

What we love to do can have immense value in the workplace. Without stopping to think. Look at each column and check the words describing the things you’ve most enjoyed and/or excel at. Then circle the 5 that are the most impressive or high level.

For example: Under helping you may have checked

“Aided”, “advised”, “brought”,  “dealt”, “clarified”, “diagnosed” ….etc.
And then circled “advised” & “diagnosed” (since these are the most impressive).                       

Back To Top
 

Next, go down each column and make a sentence or two using each of the circled words. Make sure the sentences are about your real life achievements or accomplishments. (for more help, refer to what you put down in the questionnaire).

For Example:

I “helped” the church get funding when they did not have enough $ for their Vacation Bible School Program.

I “organized” a class trip for my high school/church/family. I organized a protest to stop a prison from being built near my child’s school.

I “taught” my neighbor English. I taught my brother to ride a bike.

I “trained” someone at work how to use computers.

I “formulated” a plan to get rid of graffiti.

I researched how to buy a house.

Break down 10 of your examples into the following:

Make Sure to use your circled and checked action verbs when describing what you did. You may use other verbs in the chart as well.

Example:

I “helped” the church get funding when they did not have enough $ for their Vacation Bible School Program.

Goal: Raise Money for the Church’s Vacation Bible School Program.

Obstacles To Success:

The Church had run out of money and needed to raise $1000 in the next two weeks. Unfortunately, we had no idea how to get the money in time.

How You Overcame The Obstacle:

I analyzed their budget and saw that they could get $300 simply by buying cheaper grape juice. I then assessed their need for educational materials and advised the deacon we needed a fundraiser meeting. At the fundraiser meeting, I devised a calling list for potential donors. I also encouraged others to help me.  I then organized the fundraising, which required motivating the volunteers and  directing who would call who.  I then collected the amounts pledged by each donor. At that point I developed a plan on how to quickly allocate these funds before the deadline.

What Did You Achieve Or Accomplish?

Next , See If You Can Extract Transferable Skills That Would Help In any Situation.

Transferable Skills That Interest  Employers

 From this example, this person may be excellent at:

Do the same with your other accomplishments. Once you have a list of your transferable skills, your next step is to group them into themes.

Themes could include things like  “Managing”, “Web design” and “Training” "Problem Solving", etc.

Under each theme be sure to give specific examples of your achievements.

When it’s time to do a summary in your resume, be sure to include these themes as well as some specific supporting examples

(See Sample Resume Below)

For more help take the Transferable Skills Survey.

Back To Top

What If I Still Can’t Define My Transferable Skills and Core Strengths?

If you’re still having trouble describing your skills, enter key words into job search engines such as Monster.com  or Careerbuilder.com. You may find that an employer has already described some of your skills in a practical down to earth way you never thought of.  So even if you hate the position, copy how they described your skills so you can use it for your resume.

Example:

John has been unemployed for two years. He speaks fluent German and loves to travel. John enjoys bringing people together and from time to time has helped people get jobs or job leads. Many of his friends are immigrants that he met while trying to find them a good church or social club.

JOHN HAD TO FIND A WAY TO DESCRIBE HIS SKILLS SO EMPLOYERS WOULD SEE THE VALUE IN WHAT HE WAS DOING. And telling them he was a nice guy wouldn’t cut it. Fortunately, he found a job posting that did the work for him.

See Job Description Below:

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

·   Prepare clients for obtaining and retaining a job.  Assess client’s skills and needs.  Coach clients on completing job applications and preparing for interviews.  Accompany clients to interviews.  Intervene with creative problem solving when there are misunderstandings between employers and clients.

·   Generate employment opportunities for clients.  Identify job openings, arrange interviews, and negotiate job placements.  Research new potential employers and develop strategies for initiating contact.

·   Coordinate and conduct sessions on orientation to employment in the U.S. and job readiness skills.  

·   Maintain accurate and up-to-date files and case notes on services to clients and meet all case reporting requirements within established deadlines and standards. 

·   Participate as active member of the IRC Employment Services Team and as an effective staff member of the IRC Atlanta Team. 

 REQUIREMENTS:

Suddenly John saw that this description was touting his skills in a light more favorable than he had imagined. John now realized he was “reliable”, “team oriented” and very “sensitive to cultural differences”. He also had plenty of experience working with immigrants both at home and abroad. So he was now “multicultural”.  And by finding jobs for his friends, he had “generated employment opportunities” “Identified job openings” and “developed strategies for initiating contact.”

Thus, his passion for connecting people and helping immigrants could now be described as a valuable commodity. Something that would appeal to a whole class of employers, no matter what he applied for. So whether or not John got the job, he now had the added confidence to see that he was marketable-doing just what he loves. He also had the magic words to put on his resume to convince employers of such.

Back To Top
 

Goal 3:

Revise Your Resume so It has a Summary Of Your Transferable Skills and the practical ways you’ve applied them.

(See Summary Sample Below)

I.        LEGAL          · Adept at Researching and Interpreting Rules, Policy and Law.
                    · Excellent Written Communication Skills.
                    · Presided over 2000 Unemployment Appeals cases. 

II.     TEACHING     · Developed and Conducted Training Seminars at Emory University on
      &              “How To Manage Consumer Debt and Conduct Background Checks
                      on Individuals and Businesses.”
TRAINING      · Taught English As a Second Language (ESOL) to Refugees and
                      Immigrants at DeKalb Technical College.
                    · Taught Basic Computer Skills to the Homeless at The Atlanta Union
                      Mission.

   III.    INTERNET       · Expert at using Internet Search Engines to Find Information On 
                                   Products, Rates, Law and Trends.    

        RESEARCH      · Expert on Internet Background Checks (Businesses and Individuals).

  IV.     WEBSITES       ·Developed Pro-Consumer Website (www.consumer-sos.com)          
               &                with Information on 40 Legal Topics and links to thousands
                                 of State, Federal and Non-Profit Resources.
           MANUALS        ·Developed Statewide Hearing Officer Manual on GA Law, Policy And
                                 Procedures for the GA Unemployment Appeals Division.

Note: List your core strengths before your job history.  Your job history is nothing but a snapshot of where you’ve been. It says nothing of what you want, and barely hints at what you can do. First, show them who you really are! If they’re interested in you, they’ll look at your job history. If not, your job history won’t matter.

Back To Top 

Goal 4

Target Employers Or Jobs that Require the Skills You Love Using
The SIC Directory for Standard Industry Codes and the Dictionary of Occupation titles.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) Index

Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) Index

Review SIC Codes for New Industry Ideas
Some research sources organize information by Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes. Here's how to use those sources.

    If you are interested in construction, for example, you need to know that 15 is the code for the general building contractor industry. The two digit 15 represents the broad industry classification; the three digit designation of 152 corresponds to "housing and residential buildings"; and the four digit 1522 designates "residential buildings except houses." The more digits you designate (up to four), the more focused your subject will be. Listed below are three ways to find an SIC code.

1. Refer to the "Industries by SIC" list. Work your way through the classification system to determine code(s) of interest.
   
2. Look up a specific company in a research book such as Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Directory. Listed with the company will be one or more SIC codes, which can then be used to identify other companies in the same industries.
   
3. Check the cross-referenced list that follows. Look up the broad industry category you're interested in. You will find related SIC code(s) listed.

For more click, on the link below and scroll down a quarter page.

http://www.zoomjobs.com/site.pages/pro-industry_codes.html

Back To Top