What skills do you have?

Ask a question like this and most of us would come up with a handful of ideas... 'I'm the king of spreadsheets', 'Hot on employment law' or 'Can change a fan belt faster than a speeding lawnmower'.

Very often, the skills we acknowledge are those related to our work. We learned them formally in school, college, university, apprenticeships or training courses. Somewhere in a dusty cupboard, we may even have the certificates to prove it. But recent studies show that the emphasis on job-specific skills is changing.

Well supported?
It seems that employers are increasingly recognising the significance of broader, more fundamental skills - those that underpin our ability to do any job. They're the supporting skills that make us competent, efficient and effective employees.

For example, you may be a great technical electrician. But if you turn up late for service appointments and team meetings, or spend far too long chatting with customers when you should be moving on to your next job, then your value as an employee plummets. Similarly, the highly qualified accountant who's rude to colleagues and clients has limited attraction for a practice wanting to move ahead of the competition.

So it's no longer just 'tools for the job' that make a top candidate. Here are just a few examples of the supporting skills that today's employers are looking for.

Communication is key

• Speaking: finding the right words to get your message across clearly
• Listening: attending, understanding and responding to what others say

People matter

• Co-operating: getting the best out of people by interacting readily with them
• Teamwork: working in harmony with others to achieve common goals
• Customer focus: making customers feel respected, valued and keen to return

Get organised

• Punctuality and attendance: being there - in the right place at the right time, every time
• Time management: able to plan, prioritise and fulfil multiple tasks on time

Strategic thinking

• Problem solving: willing and able to find ways of making things work or work better
• Decision making: workplaces need can-do deliverers, individuals who can make decisions and make things happen
• Overcoming difficulties: anyone can shine when things are going well; what counts is achieving results when the going gets tough
• Handling change: things move on fast these days - systems, people, jobs, organisations. Those who welcome change, work with it and get on with the future are real assets

The transfer market
It's good news for jobseekers, who typically underestimate their own skills and abilities and think primarily in terms of paper qualifications.

It goes without saying that supporting skills are the foundations not just of a valuable employee, but of a capable, effective person, whatever your role - wife, brother, carer, best mate, volunteer, neighbour... In fact, they're often known as 'transferable skills', because their value transfers to a whole load of activities rather than being useful only for specific tasks.

What's yours?
So maybe it's time to re-evaluate the skills you thought you had. Alongside all the job-specific skills you've acquired, you've probably amassed an even larger pile of transferable skills that see you through the ordinary - and extraordinary - challenges in your life. Good at gardening? Just consider all the transferable skills involved in producing great, fresh vegetables or a manicured garden display. Maybe you handle the household accounts? That demands a host of skills you may never really have considered were your strengths.

Take a fresh look
The recent drive for transferable skills highlights a broader, healthier and more realistic appreciation of what individuals contribute to their families, communities and society. It also reminds us to avoid defining ourselves by our current or previous jobs: we're far more than the sum of our academic or work-related achievements. Seeing the skills we really have - rather than just those we thought we had - gives a new perspective on where we might head in the future and the new goals we might set. Time for a new plan... ?

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