Postgraduate Careers Service

Skills & Behaviours Self-Assessment Exercise

Being able to identify your level of competency in your own skills and behaviours is a key tool in your job search
and personal development. Below is a list of skills and behaviours that reflect what many recruiters are looking
for in their candidates. This activity is designed to get you thinking about how well developed these are for you
and highlight what areas you can improve on. Work your way through the list, thinking carefully about what the
skill/behaviour means in the context of your target market, some have been hyperlinked to give you more
information. There are blank spaces for you to add further skills/behaviours. Think about when and where you
have applied them – this is your evidence.

1. I have no experience of using this skill/behaviour. I need support and opportunity to learn and develop this.
2. I occasionally use/demonstrate this skill/behaviour. I need further opportunities to learn and develop this
skill.
3. I frequently use/demonstrate this skill. I need to gain further experience in new environments.
4. I can confidently and competently use, demonstrate and evidence this skill. I use this skill regularly in a
variety of environments and have a number of experiences to evidence.

Skill/Behaviour 1 2 3 4 Evidence & ideas for further development

     X    
Adaptability & Flexibility
   X      
Initiative
  X       
Resilience
  X       
Emotional Intelligence
     X    
Growth mind-set
    X     
Commercial awareness
         
Collaboration & team work
X
    X     
Leadership
  X       
Innovative
   X      
Creativity
     X    
Critical thinking
  X       
Relationship building
     X    
Communication
 Postgraduate Careers Service

Skill/Behaviour 1 2 3 4 Evidence
X
Research
X
Problem solving
X
Decision making
X
Ability to influence others
    X     
Negotiating
      X   
Organising
X
Analytical ability
X
Networking
IT/digital skills X

Add your own skill/behaviour

here
Add your own skill/behaviour
here
Add your own skill/behaviour
here
Add your own skill/behaviour
here

Reflect & Review

 Which skills & behaviours are your top priority? Which do you need to demonstrate for your target
role/sector?
My target job is business consultant or business analysist. I believe these skills are required for such
job:
- Analysing skill
- Communication/ Teamwork
- Problem solving
- Emotional Intelligence
- Critical thinking
 Which skills and behaviours will you gain experience of on your programme? (consult your
programme handbook for the learning objectives)
- Analysing skill
- Teamwork
- Critical thinking
 What plans/goals can you make now? Where do you want to be by the end of your programme?
How will you achieve and measure this? (see below activity to help with action planning)

Action Planning and Goal Setting

Objective – what do you want to achieve? Be specific and realistic.

As I am more of an introvert person, I would like to become more initiative and confident to express my
opinion in front of strangers.
Actions – what do you need to do to achieve your objective? What support might you need? Are there any
barriers?

Make more friends, networking more.

I think the biggest barrier now is the lockdown policy which cuts down on the chance of meeting new people.

Measure – how will you measure success?

Target date – by when do you want to have achieved this by?

Relevant – how will I use this in the future?