,-TRANSFERABLE SKILLS AUDIT

Name: ​ Sanya Kauser Course: ​Business Level 3 Year: 2018 Date: 15/10/2018

Section 1

Consider the skills listed below and rate how important you think each skill is for employment and how competent you are in this skill.
Consider how each of these skills may enhance your performance, and allow you to develop and advance further. You may wish to discuss
these with your advisor of studies. Alternatively, you may wish to ask a friend or family member, and to compare and discuss your separate
findings.

Once you have rated yourself, multiply the number in the column marked ‘Competence’ with that in the column ‘Job Importance’. So, for
example, if you feel that you are not very proficient in verbal and written communication (i.e. you have rated your competence at 4), but that
these skills are very important for employment (i.e. you have rated it at 5), then your overall total score would be 5 X 4 = 20.

Section 2
This section will provide you with examples of the types of evidence you can provide to demonstrate your level of competence with each skill.

Competence – How competent are you Job Importance – How important do you
in this skill? think this skill is in Employment?
1. Highly proficient 1. Unnecessary
2. Fairly proficient 2. Not very important
3. Adequate 3. Helpful
4. Not very proficient 4. Fairly important
5. Unskilled 5. Essential
 SKILL COMPETENCE JOB IMPORTANCE COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF
X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
COMMUNICATION
Written:
3 5 15 When writing an email I am informative and able to
Ability to express self well in writing express myself and the message I am trying to get across.
Verbal:
Informal​​ – ability to network easily with 3 5 15 I can communicate with people in an informal and still get
other people my point across.
Formal​​ – ability to express yourself 3 5 15 When speaking in class I am able to communicate formally
clearly and concisely to a group of and make conversation.
people
+
Listening​​ – ability to attend actively to 3 5 15 I believe I am a good listener, I can listen to people when
others’ views and ideas and understand they come to me with personal problems and give advice.
their point of view
Body Language​​ – ability to match body 3 5 15 My body language shows that I am eager and keen to listen
language appropriately to what is being and not that I am lazy and do not want to be there.
said verbally
WORKING WITH OTHERS
Cooperation
Ability to collaborate effectively within a 3 4 12 I am able to give my ideas and collaborate within a team.
team
Negotiation
Ability to reach a mutually satisfactory 2 4 12 I am able to reach a compromise however if it something
outcome through compromise that I am not willing to compromise on I will find it
difficult.
Sensitivity
Ability to respond appropriately to 3 5 10 I always treat everyone fair regardless of their age, gender
individual differences, e.g., age, gender, or race, These things do not matter - their worth ethic
etc. matters .
Leadership
Ability to encourage and motivate others 3 5 15
I believe that I can motivate and encourage people that
need it - which links back to my verbal skills, I am able to
put people back on track.

SKILL COMPETENCE JOB IMPORTANCE COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF

X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Ability to supervise or direct work of 3 5 15 During group projects I will usually take charge - This
others means that I will assign work to my team and give them
desdalines on when it needs to be done by.
Ability to evaluate competing priorities 3 4 12
to plan ahead
APPLICATION OF NUMBER
Calculations
Ability to use a calculator or PC to make 3 4 12 I can use a calculator do do basic maths - but not
calculations complicated problems.
Interpretation
Ability to interpret descriptive statistics, 2 4 8 This is something that I am not that confident in but I hope
e.g. ratios percentages, means, standard to turn this around.
deviations
Ability to interpret inferential statistics, 1 3 3 I do think that this is a important part of my career but not
e.g., confidence intervals, statistical something that is vital.
significance, effect size
Application
Ability to organise and present numerical 2 4 8 Again, I am not that confident in this but hope to get
data in an appropriate manner better.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
File Management Techniques
Ability to create, store and retrieve files 3 4 12 I am an organised person and this will come useful to me
when I am needing to store work documents.
Word Processing (e.g. MS Word)
Ability to use a word processing (WP) 3 5 15 I use Microsoft documents to produce work on a daily
package to produce a variety of formats basis - I have become accustomed to it.
of documents

Spreadsheets (e.g., MS Excel)

Ability to use a spreadsheet to record and 2 4 8 Recording data will be a part of my future job to review
manipulate different sets of data the progress made by my team.
0.
 SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF
IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Databases (e.g., MS Access)
Ability to retrieve information from a 1 4 4 I have basic knowledge on databases but not about
database retrieving information.
Ability to create a database 2 4 8 I have created databases in the past but I have only
minimal experience with them.
Presentations (e.g., MS PowerPoint)
Ability to create and display a 4 5 20 Powerpoint Presentations are my strong suit, I have
PowerPoint presentation created and displayed a powerpoint many times and I am
comfortable presenting it also.
Information and Communication
Ability to send and receive email 4 5 20 I send emails on a daily basis and receive them
Ability to send and receive attachments 3 4 12 I send attachments through email regularly to my tutors
by e-mail or colleagues..
Ability to use an internet browser, e.g., 4 5 20 Using the internet is a skill that a majority of people
Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL have - I use the internet on a daily basis.
Ability to download files from the 1 3 3 When trying to download files I struggle slightly and
Internet and transfer to WP need assistance off others.
Ability to use a search engine, e.g. 4 5 20 Like I mentioned above, I am very familiar with using
Altavista, Google the internet.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Creativity
Ability to generate new ideas or 3 5 15 When it is a subject that I have interest in I am able to
conceive existing ideas in a new way generate and carry out new ideas to improve.
Organisation and Planning
Ability to set down a systematic 2 5 10 When I am set an activity or project to do, I will do each
sequence of activities and carry them activity in chronological order.
through in an effective manner
Research
 3 5 15 I am able to gather information in a systematic way to
Ability to gather information in a establish certain facts or principles
systematic way to establish certain facts
or principles

SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF

IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Analysis
Ability to understand and summarise 3 5 15 When I am researching information for an assignment I
information will pick a website that is easier to understand and from
there I will summarise the information and interpret it
into my own words.
Initiative
Ability to initiate, take decisions and act 3 4 12 I use my own initiative before making decisions that
resourcefully will affect me.
IMPROVING OWN LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE
Self Management
Self awareness​​ – ability to identify 3 4 12 I can recognise the areas in which I can improve on I set
and reflect on own strengths and myself goals and aims and develop my skills. By going
weaknesses in relation to: onto University I will be developing my education and
● Personal Development once I achieve my degree I will then be progressing into
● Educational Development my career.
● Career Development
Effective learning​​ – ability to learn from 2 4 8 Whilst I am at work I pick up many skills and they are
a range of situations and apply learning all related in the field of work I am wanting to be in,
in a variety of contexts
 when I am doing my assignments I then talk about these
skills and how they will help me in the future.

Reasoning skills​​ – ability to defend 3 5 15 Last year in project I was a part of a debate and in this
argument using logical and systematic both teams were given a motion to debate on - I
thinking based on sound evidence
presented facts and statistics

Reflection​​ – ability to reflect on and 3 5 15 There has been times where I have felt like I am slacking
critique own performance in my work; whether this be physically at my job or with
my assignments, once I realise this I will try my best to
do better.

SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF

IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Study Skills
Ability to manage and prioritise time to 4 5 20 I will make myself a schedule and work around my own
meet deadlines time for deadlines and I know when to give myself
breaks and not leave everything to last minute.
Ability to identify relevant sources of
information, including people and
reference material
Ability to use a library to find books and
journal articles
Ability to take notes, organise them, and
integrate them with other sources of
information
Ability to reference materials using an
appropriate system, e.g., Harvard or
Vancouver
3 4 12 When I am needing information on a certain thing - for
example if it is a real life situation I will go to my
parents or tutors, however if I am needing information
for research I know to look online at different websites.
2 4 8 I admit that I am not a big fan of or use many books - but
I do like to visit the college library for any books with
course content
4 5 20 I take notes in class and refer back to them when doing
my assignments, I keep them in a easily accessible place
and and keep them organised to avoid them being
muddled up.
4 4 16 Throughout all my assignments from last year also, I
have used Harvard Referencing for all my references.
Identify your learning needs

Now pick three of the highest scoring skills from the above audit (by multiplying your scores as shown above) that you need to develop further.
List these below in order of priority.

Skill Area Action Plan for Development and where you can access these
1. Ability to organise My plan for University is to go onto studying Business and Human Resource Management and a portion of the
and present course will be Accounting and Finance - This module will include a lot of numbers and numerical data and this is
numerical data in not an area which I am confident in. My plan to turn this around is to do my own revision and practise in the
an appropriate subject area, also at the moment I am doing a Unit in Finance - I am much more confident in it than I was last
manner year and this is down to me asking questions when I am struggling, to understand it better. I am focusing more
and paying more attention in class and this makes me understand any difficult problem solving questions.
Coursera is a website that offers online courses for Accounting and Finance and specialises in them - they offer
detailed and accurate courses in all aspects this. This website has great reviews and I would definitely use it and
do some revision online when it comes to studying for Finance exams or assignments.

2. Ability to manage and I would like to think that I can prioritise my time in meeting my deadlines and working around my personal
prioritise time to meet schedule, but there are times that I can become lazy or get caught up in other things. Before I start University I
deadlines want to be able to organise and prioritise work, studying and my personal life. Whilst revising for my GCSEs I had
made an written schedule for a full week which I would stick to and it helped me through the few months of
exams. Since then when it comes to meeting deadlines I have always met them but I seem to cram my work into
a few days rather than spending time on my assignments. I am not one to leave my work to the final hour
however I feel like I can reduce the stress and anxiety leading up to the deadline date. I have made a personal
promise to myself that I will make time for my assignments and get them done beforehand to not stress about
having an overload of work.
3. ​Reflection​​ – ability to
reflect on and critique own
performance
I am an individual who will always expect the best out of myself and push myself into doing the very best I can,
however there are times that I let myself slack whether this be with my assignments or at work and I will not
critique myself on it. For the future I need to learn to produce work to a high standard and not expect anything
less of myself. In order to achieve and get to the place that I want to be in expects nothing less than complete
dedication and commitment and by going easy on myself I am only making the chances slimmer.

Section 2: Providing Evidence you have the Skills

COMMUNICATION
Communication may be formal or informal, personal or impersonal, creative or factual. Messages may be delivered verbally, in writing or
non-verbally. There are many areas where examples of each communication approach may have been successfully applied, at university, at
work, at home, etc

Written - ​Ability to express self well in writing

I have always been more of a verbal communicator than a written on, however that does not mean that I cannot express myself in writing.
When I have had issues at college I have been able to type my feelings and opinions into emails and have an outcome. I am currently in the
process of writing my Personal Statement, this is very important to me as I have express my desires and goals into this and this potentially will
get me into the University and course of my choice. My CV is also something that I take pride in as it contains all my achievements and
experience.
Written​ - Ability to express self well in writing

Verbal:
Informal​ – ability to network easily with other people
When it comes to socialising and interacting with people I do find it easy - I believe I am easy to talk to and get long with and that is why I can
easily make friends. For example, for a short while last year I was in charge of finding placements for students. I reached out to students and they
had approached me about it also, this shows that they find it comfortable speaking to me.

Formal – ​ability to express self clearly and concisely to a group

k of
Presenting to groups of people is something that I am confident and strong in. I have a loud voice so I can be heard clearly, I will always look
professional and have good body language. Last year I presented to the Principal of the College; Nav and he was very impressed with my work
and the way I presented, although I do want to get better as standing up in front of a large number people will be something I will have to do
regularly at work.

Non-verbal:​
Whilst sat in class I take notes and instructions on what I need to do, I do this by listening which I believe I am also good at - Aside from
listening in class I am also someone that friends will come to for them to speak their mind just have someone to listen to them and sympathise
with. I am able to understand others’ point of view and their ideas.
Body Language​ – ability to match body language appropriately to what is being said verbally
Personally I would find it very rude if I was expressing my feelings or opinions to someone in a serious manner and their body language
seemed to be off; no eye contact made, no facial expressions and no empathy. This is why when someone is expressing themselves to me my
body language is always inviting, eye contact is always made and my posture is not lazy or uninviting.

WORKING WITH OTHERS

Working with others is a skill highly valued by employers. Suitable evidence for this skill need not be limited to work experience. You should
think of all aspects of your work, studies and social life.

Cooperation - ​Ability to collaborate effectively within a team

When working in a group I can work effectively and fair within the team; I would not let the workload fall on one person and since I usually put
myself forward for team leader I will make sure that each person is assigned a task and that the task is completed to a standard.

Negotiation - ​Ability to reach a mutually satisfactory outcome through compromise

In September before I had come back to my second year of college I had to drop a few days of work to make time for college and myself; I was
a full-time worker often working up to seven days a week, I had to sit down and negotiate with my manager on a new rota for me and times that
are more suited around my schedule. Right now I work three days a week and this was done when me and my manager compromised.

Sensitivity​​- ​Ability to respond appropriately to individual differences, e.g., age, gender, etc.
Regardless of what age, gender, race or sexuality someone is everyone should be treated the same failure to do that would be discrimination.
However you would not approach someone who is twenty years old as the same as someone who is only six, you would be much more
sensitive.

Leadership - ​Ability to encourage and motivate others

Like I mentioned above, when it comes to group work I usually take the lead role in team leader - This is not only because I like the position and
power but also because this is experience for me as leadership and management is what I want to make a career out of in the future.
APPLICATION OF NUMBER

Calculations - ​Ability to use a calculator or PC to make calculations

Interpretation - - ​Ability to interpret descriptive statistics, e.g. ratios percentages, means, standard deviations
- Ability to interpret inferential statistics, e.g., confidence intervals, statistical significance, effect size
Application -​Ability to organize and present numerical data in an appropriate manner
When it comes to maths I am not the strongest but I can do basic mathematical calculations using a PC but when it comes to ratios and
percentages that is my downfall, I am working on turning this around. Numerical Data is also something that I am not as confident in and
organising them in appropriate manner.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

File Management Techniques - ​Ability to create, store and retrieve files

For college all my files are put in their own folder - For example this assignment will be named correctly and put into the folder of which Unit it
belongs to. I find this to be the easiest way for me to access my work.

Word Processing​​ - ​Ability to use a word processing package to produce a variety of formats of documents
I use Word to produce the majority of my work, including this piece of work. My important files such as my CV, Personal Statements and
coursework are all produced on this and always will be as it is the easiest to use.

​ bility to use a spreadsheet to record and manipulate different sets of data

Spreadsheets​​ - A
I have been using spreadsheets for my work for a long time but they are not something that I find very easy to use - also not enjoyable either. I
have used them in the past to produce graphs and calculate formulas but with a lot of help along the way. I aim to get better at this.

​ bility to retrieve information from a database/​ ​Ability to create a database

Databases​​ - A
I have had no experience in creating or retrieving information on databases.

Presentations​​ -​ Ability to create and display a PowerPoint presentation

All the presentations that I have done have all been made on PowerPoint and this is because the programme is the most helpful to use, easy to
create on and great for a beginner. The powerpoints have created have included images, graphics and hyperlinks.
Information and Communication​​ - ​Ability to send and receive email
My personal Email is on Outlook and I use it on a daily basis to interact with employers or others, I have been using Outlook for many years.

Ability to send and receive attachments as email

I often send attachments through email and receive them - recently it has been my personal statement I have been forwarding to tutors.

Ability to use an internet browser e.g. Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL

The internet is something that I am using constantly for work purposes also, including researching for information.

Ability to download files from the internet and transfer to WP

Whilst sitting my GCSEs I was downloading maths papers to complete from the web. If I am unsure about something I will go onto researching
about it online.

Ability to use a search engine e.g. Altavista, Google

Whether I am applying for a job, shopping for clothes or makeup or researching I am constantly using Google for this.

PROBLEM SOLVING

Creativity - ​Ability to generate new ideas or conceive existing ideas in a new way
If I am stuck or not being able to finish a piece of work I will take a break and find a new way of going about it.

Organisation and Planning - ​Ability to set down a systematic sequence of activities and carry them through in an effective manner
When I want to plan my work I will draw up a schedule for myself to stick to.

Research - ​Ability to gather information in a systematic way to establish certain facts or principles
Before using a website for research I will first check that it is legitimate and not something that can be altered; Wikipedia. The research could be
anything from University courses to assignments.
Analysis - ​Ability to understand and summarise information (Detailed examination of structure and content)
I enjoy going into depth when I am analysing a piece of work and digging into the history of it

Initiative - ​Ability to initiate, take decisions and act resourcefully

In my spare time I work and at work I will use my own initiative to complete tasks that are not exactly a part of my duties or job title but still
complete them.

IMPROVE OWN LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE

Self Management

Self-awareness​​ – ​ability to identify and reflect on own strengths and weaknesses in relation to:
I am aware of the areas that I need to develop and work on, I am aware of the skills, experience and knowledge I need to do these things.
When it comes to educational development I will set myself targets each time as to when any work should be handed in on time and become
more organised.
I have an up-to-date career plan which indicates where I am wanting to be in the next five years and the years leading up to it.

Effective learning​​ – ​ability to learn from a range of situations and apply learning in a variety of contexts
I have picked up Customer Service and communication skills from the jobs that I have been in and from that I have been able to apply them into
my assignments.

Reasoning skills​​ – ​ability to defend argument using logical and systematic thinking based on sound evidence
Before defending myself in an argument I will weigh up the evidence I have; from books, articles before presenting them.

Reflection​​ – ​ability to reflect on and critique own performance

When receiving feedback from my tutors on my assignments I will take it into consideration before doing my next assignment.
Study Skills - ​Ability to manage and prioritise time to meet deadlines
- Ability to identify relevant sources of information, including people and reference material
- Ability to use a library to find books and journal articles
- Ability to take notes, organize them, and integrate them with other sources of information
- Ability to reference materials using an appropriate system, e.g.,​ Harvard or Vancouver

I am able to prioritise my times to meet all my deadlines and whilst doing these assignments I will include relevant sources of information from
relevant and legitimate websites. To reference all my findings I use Harvard referencing.