Learn what skills you have and want to develop, and how you can gain the skills you need for jobs you’re interested in.
Employers look for a mix of:
hard skills, or job-specific skills. You may get these from formal training or experience
soft skills, which include transferable skills like teamwork, communication and problem solving
To learn what soft skills and hard skills you’ll need for jobs you’re interested in you can:
check the job description
take a look at various job profiles
talk to people you know about their job
To identify your skills and decide what skills to develop, you could:
think about what you do in your current job
reflect on your past education and work experiences
think about the skills you’ve gained in daily life
talk to people who know you well outside of work, for a different perspective
write down a list of strengths and areas you’d like to improve
take a skills health check to see what strengths you have
Improving the right skills can make you a better candidate for the job you want. New skills may even take you in a completely different career direction.
You could work on improving your:
digital skills
people skills - for example, through volunteering
skills which may have gone out of date - for example, because of a gap in employment
communication or number skills
interview skills
You could gain new skills by doing a course, an apprenticeship, or learning on the job. For help deciding your next step and whether further training is for you, you can speak to an adviser. You could also contact your local:
colleges
library
training providers
Jobcentre
jobseeker support programmes
Taking a course does not have to be a full-time commitment. There are flexible ways to learn like:
online learning
short courses
evening classes
Use The Skills Toolkit to access free, high-quality courses to help you build up your skills.
Volunteering can help you to develop new skills and get useful work experience. It's also a good way to support your community and help others.
You can learn new skills and build your knowledge on your own. You could:
use ‘teach yourself’ style books and CDs
listen to podcasts from professional organisations
watch videos online
join online communities for specific skills, like cookery or motor vehicle maintenance
watch educational TV and radio programmes
download skills apps on your mobile or tablet
Set yourself some ‘SMART’ goals when deciding your next steps. These should be:
specific
measurable
achievable
relevant
time-bound
With these in mind, you can create a plan of action. Think about the time you can give to your goals, taking into account your:
personal circumstances
work and personal commitments
Concentrate on a job or qualification which is achievable for you and your skill level.
Develop your plan with a long-term aim and short-term goals so you can break up your time. You should think about all the different routes you could take to get to your career aim.
If you are looking at nursing as a career, you could volunteer or work in healthcare or home care. This will help build experience working with people in care. Your volunteering and work experience opportunities may not be the exact role you want to do. But relevant experience and training will make your job applications and CV stronger. For example, you might want to work with disabled people. You may only be able to get work experience in elderly care. This will still give you relevant skills that are transferable to the area where you want to work in the future.
Keep your CV up to date by adding any new skills and how you gained them. This can help you to tailor your CV to the job you want.
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/identifying-skills-and-upskilling
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/