Know Your Skills
Job skills are not just those skills you gain by education, developing a talent, or building experience at an occupation or activity. Many employers also desire various core skills. These types of skills have as much to do with attitudes toward work as with abilities to do work. Employers want new employees to have certain skills and traits before they hire them.
Discovery is the first step. Learn what makes you tick job-wise to help steer you in the right direction. Get a quick picture of your skill level so you can prove your worth to an employer. Pinpoint what needs improvement to get ahead!
To help you sell your talents, make a detailed, realistic assessment of your qualifications and interests. But be honest—list your limitations, too. You should know what you can do and what you cannot do. But if you think you don’t have any experience, you are selling yourself short.
Your first visit to the Job Center starts with the Initial Assessment. This short test measures your basic skills like applied math, reading for information, and locating information. These tests provide reliable, relevant information about workplace skills levels.
New customers visit one-on-one with a Workforce Specialist to discuss test results, skills levels, and career interest. This consultation is a valuable first step in the discovery process for the customer. Based on the visit, the Specialist can advise further tests or interest inventories to help the customer set career goals. The Specialist may recommend specific training programs to help improve skills. Most important, the journey is underway toward achieving goals for a better job!
National Career Readiness Credential: Several employers in our region like to hire individuals they can be assured have basic literacy or other technical skills already in place. Obtaining the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) can help you demonstrate to an employer that you’re strong in math, reading, and locating information. The NCRC is a half-day assessment available on certain days in the Career Center. Check our calendar for scheduled days and call or visit the Job Center to reserve your spot.
Prove-It: Empowers employers to verify the specific skills you have for the technical requirements of jobs. Tests are offered at the Career Center in fields like manufacturing, healthcare, finance, legal, office technology, and more. Check with a Workforce Specialist at the Job Center to see if a specific job opening requires a Prove-It test or simply inquire about testing options to see how well you can and how you can earn certificates that help you get ahead.
My Next Move: When a job seeker meets that fork in the road to either change a career or keep seeking a job in the same field, the decision can be tricky. There is a lot at stake for the decision-maker. A new online career resource called My Next Move can help take some of the guesswork out of career planning.
On the first visit to My Next Move, a job seeker is greeted with the compelling question, “What do you want to do for a living?” Customers can go in three different areas for their career exploration. One channel allows simple searching of careers by keyword. Another looks at specific jobs in a business sector. The third method goes deeper by doing a 60-question interest profile that produces an array of recommended job paths based on likes and dislikes along with the willingness of a job seeker to train for the career.
O*Net: A wide variety of assessment tools are online through O*Net such as ability profilers, interest profilers, and importance profilers to help you get in touch with the ideal career fit and what you need to meet those goals.
Job Market Information: Ever wonder what fields offer the most jobs or what certain jobs typically pay in our area? How about what skills or education levels are often required? Visit the SectorReady Pathways or any of the links below for MERIC, O*Net, or the BLS to learn more online. You can also consult with a Workforce Specialist in the Career Center for one-on-one advice about career fields.
- Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC)
- O*Net Online Job Market Info
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Once you’re aware of your skills and career interests, the Job Center can guide you through the next phases to improve your skills and prepare for a better job.
