Your skill set is your new curriculum vitae

 

By Sadiq Sabo

Imagine returning home after a hectic day at work and you are greeted with a leaking kitchen sink, a flooded basement and an oozing toilet. What would you do, call three different plumbers with expertise in kitchen sink, basement and toilet or call a plumber with a skill set of fixing a leaking kitchen sink, a flooded basement and an oozing toilet? I guess you would do the latter, just as every right thinking sapiens would do. That's what a skill set does!

Skill set is defined as the collection of skills and abilities that can be applied to a professional or creative endeavour. Simply put: a skill set is the abilities you possess that equip you to carry out certain tasks.

For example, your abilities to write well, think critically and work collaboratively as well as your relevant personal qualities, represent your soft-skills, an asset to any professional situation. Mastering one skill is great; becoming proficient is many skills is better and that's the gospel behind having a skill set, it gives you an edge over those without a collection of the skills you've mastered.

In a fast changing world as ours, one's only leverage is garnering enough skills as possible. In fact, the world's leading companies and employers now lay more emphasis on an applicant's skill set rather than the certificate such applicant parades. The idea of aptitude test was only a harbinger about the idea of possessing skills as against just mere paper qualifications. Your skill set is your new CV!

A skill gives you one thing, a skill set gives you additional results. For instance, it is a skill to research but being able to research, analyze data and develop an action plan from that data is a skill set. Computers have been programmed to filter out job applications that do not comprise of certain keywords in jobs application depending on the type of job and the requirements. You need related skills to your major skill like auxiliary services do to major services.

Since skills are now more integral to jobs than paper qualifications, the onus lies on today's youth to equip himself with the requisite expertise and skill set so as to place himself at an advantage position when it comes to job search. Some of the skill set that are in high demand today include: graphic design, UI, data analysis and data analytics, copywriting, communication skills, negotiation skills. Others are ability to maintain focus in an ever distracted world, interpersonal skills, work ethics. Take for example search skills: in a world that is constantly bombarding us with torrents of information, your ability to sift through this barrage of information and get the needed information is also a skill and it is in high demand, too.

The great news is that, these skills can be learned via the internet as free courses. They just require discipline and consistency. They are self-learning in that, you can learn them on your own without necessarily requiring a tutor or a professional. It behoves on today's youth to leverage on the opportunities the internet provides not just wasting productive hours in chat rooms and apps needlessly. No one would take you seriously if you don't add value to yourself and you do that but staying one step ahead of others.

Remember, your skill set is your new CV!