How To Know Our Skills And Strengths
Identifying your skills and strengths is crucial for personal and career development.
Understanding what you're naturally good at helps you choose roles, projects, and challenges
where you can excel. Here are several strategies to help you discover and evaluate your skills
and strengths:
1. Reflect on Your Past Experiences
• What to do: Look back at your personal, academic, and professional experiences. Think
about situations where you’ve succeeded or felt particularly capable.
• Questions to ask:
o What tasks or activities have I consistently done well in?
o What challenges have I overcome, and how did I approach them?
o What projects or roles have brought me positive feedback or recognition?
2. Take Personality and Skills Assessments
• What to do: Use structured assessments to get insights into your strengths, weaknesses,
and preferences. These tools analyse your responses and offer a clearer picture of your
natural talents and skills.
• Popular assessments:
o Clifton Strengths (formerly StrengthsFinder): Helps identify your top strengths and
how to apply them effectively.
o Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): While primarily a personality test, it provides
insights into how your personality affects your skills and strengths.
o DISC Profile: Focuses on behaviour and communication styles, showing where your
strengths lie in team environments.
o SkillsYouNeed Self-Assessment: Evaluates various skill areas, like communication,
problem-solving, and leadership.
3. Ask for Feedback
• What to do: Get feedback from people who know you well—whether colleagues, managers,
friends, or family members. They may notice strengths that you overlook or take for
granted.
• Questions to ask:
o What do you think my biggest strengths are?
o Are there skills you’ve seen me use effectively in the past?
o When have you seen me at my best?
4. Analyse Your Successes
• What to do: Consider times when you've been successful or felt proud of your
achievements. These moments often reveal key skills or strengths you used to achieve
success.
• Questions to ask:
o What was I doing during my most successful moments?
o What skills did I rely on to achieve those outcomes?
o What strengths did I apply to overcome challenges or obstacles?
5. Identify What Comes Naturally to You
• What to do: Think about the tasks you find easy that others might find difficult. These are
often areas where you have a natural strength or talent.
• Questions to ask:
o What skills do I use effortlessly without much thought or struggle?
o Do people often come to me for help or advice in certain areas?
6. Observe Patterns in Compliments or Praise
• What to do: Pay attention to any compliments or praise you receive from others. These can
provide clues to your strengths and skills, as people often notice things you might take for
granted.
• Questions to ask:
o What strengths or skills have others recognized or praised me for?
o Are there recurring themes in the feedback I receive?
7. Keep a Strengths Journal
• What to do: Start a journal where you record times when you feel you’ve used a particular
strength or skill effectively. Over time, this will help you identify patterns in your abilities.
• How to do it: After completing tasks or projects, write down what you did well, what
challenges you overcame, and how your skills contributed. Review your journal
periodically to identify consistent strengths.
8. Take on New Challenges
• What to do: Sometimes, stepping out of your comfort zone reveals hidden strengths. By
taking on new challenges or projects, you may discover skills you didn’t know you had.
• Ideas to try:
o Volunteer for tasks at work that you haven’t done before.
o Take up a personal project that requires different skills (like organizing an event or
leading a group).
o Engage in team activities that push you to develop new strengths.
9. Look at Your Hobbies and Personal Interests
• What to do: Your hobbies can often reveal strengths that you may not be utilizing in your
career. For example, if you enjoy organizing social events, you might have strong
leadership or project management skills.
• Questions to ask:
o What do I enjoy doing in my free time, and what skills do I use during these
activities?
o Are there skills from my hobbies that I could apply more effectively in my work or
life?
10. Assess Your Hard and Soft Skills
• What to do: Make a list of both hard skills (technical skills specific to a field, like
programming, writing, or accounting) and soft skills (personal attributes like
communication, empathy, and teamwork).
• How to do it:
o For hard skills: List the practical skills you’ve acquired through work, education, or
hobbies.
o For soft skills: Think about interpersonal abilities, like leadership, conflict
resolution, and adaptability.
• Questions to ask:
o What hard skills have I learned and consistently used in my life?
o Which soft skills have helped me work effectively with others?
11. Consider Your Problem-Solving Approach
• What to do: Analyze how you approach and solve problems. Your problem-solving process
can provide insights into your strengths—whether you excel at creative thinking, analysis,
or resourcefulness.
• Questions to ask:
o How do I approach complex or challenging situations?
o What problem-solving skills do I rely on to find solutions?
12. Use the SWOT Analysis Framework
• What to do: Use the SWOT analysis framework to assess your strengths in the context of
your overall career and personal development.
• How to do it:
o Strengths: List your personal and professional strengths.
o Weaknesses: Identify areas for improvement.
o Opportunities: Consider how your strengths can create new opportunities for
growth.
o Threats: Identify any potential external factors that could challenge your strengths.
13. Try Strengths-Based Exercises
• What to do: Engage in exercises specifically designed to uncover and develop your
strengths. These might include personality quizzes, guided reflections, or scenario-based
tasks.
• Example exercises:
o The VIA Survey of Character Strengths: Helps you identify your core character
strengths.
o Reflective journaling: Write about situations where you felt competent and
successful.
14. Track Your Progress Over Time
• What to do: As you gain more experience and try new challenges, your skills and strengths
will evolve. Tracking your progress over time will help you see how your strengths have
grown and what new ones have emerged.
• How to do it: Maintain a running list of your skills and update it periodically, adding new
abilities as you develop them.
15. Use Online Tools for Skill Identification
• What to do: Use websites and tools that can help you build a profile of your skills.
• Examples:
o LinkedIn Skills Assessment: Take skill quizzes to validate your competencies in
various areas.
o CareerExplorer: Offers a detailed skills inventory based on your work and life
experiences.
Summary of Steps to Identify Your Skills and Strengths:
Reflect on past experiences: Recognize patterns of success and strengths.
Take skills assessments: Use tests to pinpoint your strengths.
Ask for feedback: Get insights from others who know you well.
Look for natural talents: Identify tasks that come easily to you.
Track compliments and praise: Notice what others appreciate in your abilities.
Keep a strengths journal: Document your achievements and review.
Take on new challenges: Explore new roles to discover hidden talents.
Consider hobbies: Recognize strengths used in your personal life.
Assess hard and soft skills: Build a list of both technical and interpersonal skills.
