presentation18 wibs and one stops-watkins
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Lavar Watkins at Southern California Biotechnology ConferenceTRANSCRIPT
Lavar Jamaall Watkins M.A., M.S.,PPSC
Workforce DevelopmentBusiness and Employer Services Coordinator
&Biotechnology/Life Sciences Sector Strategist
San Diego Metro Region Career Centers/Job Work’s, [email protected]
619-266-4247
ARE THEY REALLY READY FOR WORK?
SOFT SKILLS TRAINING AT
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARDS (WIB)&
ONE STOP CAREER CENTERS
What Are Soft Skills?
Soft skills have more to do with how an employee communicates and interacts with others than her technical skills and abilities. Soft skills include personal attributes such as attitude, work ethic and oral and written communication skills. They are complementary to a person's knowledge and experience and enhance the overall contribution and effort an employee puts forth. For instance, an employee with poor soft skills may have trouble communicating with other employees, lack leadership ability and possess a negative attitude; however, he may rank ahead of others when taking aptitude tests. The goal for a small business is to find employees with a good balance of soft skills and aptitude.
Although building workforce competency is generally focused on first-time employees, human resource professionals say in Critical Skills Needs and Resources for the Changing Workforce—a poll released in June 2008 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in conjunction with WSJ.com/Careers—that many workplace soft skills have become more important for experienced employees than for new workers. These skills include critical thinking and problem solving, leadership, professionalism/work ethic, teamwork/collaboration, and adaptability/flexibility.
There are different ways to provide soft skills training to individuals moving into the workforce. A job readiness curriculum that emphasizes employability skills is one approach. Soft skills training can also be incorporated into vocational training and other program activities. Agencies that provide employment-related services can structure programs to simulate the workplace. In addition, post-employment activities, such as case management, support groups, mentoring, and job coaching, provide opportunities to work on soft skills based on clients’ work-related experiences. One challenge for agencies is to assess and document soft skills. Agencies can market their soft skills training to employers and work with local employers to develop standards for job readiness. This is not the end because there are collaborations that exist to assist with this very need.
Statistic’s by TheLadders.Com
Survey of 500 Executive Recruiters identified these as the biggest job-seeker mistakes: Too desperate / Willing to take Anything
Target jobs that match your best skills Focus search on specific employers
Poor Interview Preparation Research the company and job requirements Attend the Interviewing Strategies workshops
Weak Résumés Customize the résumé to each targeted
position Attend the Resume & Cover Letter workshop
Growing Industries2006-2016
Industry Name
Annual Average Change
Infrastructure Construction
223,500 to 255,00031,500 or
14%
Healthcare1,338,000 to
1,645,100307,100 or
23%
Biotechnology
23,000 to 35,00012,000 or
13%
Industry Name
2009 Employment
Change
Green 1270 to 2080 810 or 39%
San Diego Metro Career Centerswww.metrocareercenters.org
San Diego Workforce Partnershipwww.workforce.org
CalJOBSwww.caljobs.ca.gov
Bureau of Labor Statisticswww.bls.gov
Occupational Information Networkwww.OnetOnline.org
America’s Career Info Networkwww.acinet.org
LEVERAGING SKILLS &
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AGENDA Skill Defined
a. The Many FacetsSkills and Employers
a. Job Requirementsb. What Employers Want
Transferable Skillsa. Types of Skills
Leveraging/Employer MatchingAccomplishments
a. Your Best Leverage Closing Thoughts
SKILL Defined
Skill is the learned or acquired capacity to carry out pre-determined results, often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both
Skill is the capacity to do something well as opposed to abilities, which are often thought of as innate
Skill is a measure of a worker's expertise
What about Skills?
Skills are often actions directed toward people, things or data and are classified accordingly
The average person has from 500 to 800 skills.
Relevant skills should be identified for each target job based on what employers value
Frequently-used skills may be difficult to identify as they tend to become second-nature and unperceived
Skills Define Your Performance
Skills are: Gained through life experience Developed with diligent practice Enhanced by vocational
education Applied to specific tasks Enjoyed in various hobbies Combined into job qualifications
Skills can define you!
Know Your Prospective Employer
Employers want more than a listing of work history, job titles and mundane tasks. What “value” do you offer?
Employers want more than just ‘business as usual’. How can you: Meet employer’s needs? Solve employer’s problems? Save employer money? Make employer more profitable? Increase employer’s competitiveness? Help employer deliver better products or services?
What Employers Want Employers want to know what you can do
for them and how well can you do it Presenting your skills effectively shows
the employer that you have the right skills for the job, and a clear understanding of the job requirements
Employers seek to eliminate learning curves and training periods
Hiring new staff can be risky and costly: Those most qualified reduce risk and cost.
Transferable Skills Existing skills that can be used to meet the
requirements of other jobs or kinds of work or can be applied to a wide range of activities, such as communication, organization & management
Transferable skills are universal in nature and are not generally bound to any job type or task
“You are defined not by your job title, but by the skills that you possess, which are transferable from, and to, any occupation you may happen to be involved in at the moment.”
(Richard Nelson Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute?”
Transferable Skills ExamplesThe following is a list of 5 broad skills areas: Communication Research & Planning Human Relations Organization Work SurvivalYou can search jobs by skills sets through
O*NEThttp://online.onetcenter.org/skills/Assess your “motivated” or “key” skills here:http://www.stewartcoopercoon.com/jobsearch/freejobsearchtests.phtml
Transferring & Leveraging
Transferring your skills effectively can result in higher salary placement
Failure to effectively transfer and leverage your skills could result in loss of job hire as employers consider you less qualified
Take great care to accurately evaluate how each of your skills transfers to your “target job” then leverage, leverage, leverage!
Job Specific Skills Are those considered particular to a
specific job or occupation Job specific skills will transfer
effectively to other jobs requiring those same skills For example: A Volkswagen mechanic can
generally work in any Volkswagen service garage. However, before competing effectively at a BMW service garage, specific skills and knowledge relevant to BMW’s would be required.
But, if they like you, they’ll train you!
Innate Skills Are those typically considered personality
traits We use them in every area of our daily lives.
Are often used by those who know us best to describe us to others
Include elements not necessarily tied to specific jobs or occupations. For example: Honest Friendly Warm Considerate
Include work ethics, values, and personal traits and can be referred to as Personal Assets
Self Management SkillsA great attitude, an even temper, and a positive outlook while faced with adversity or difficult challenges are examples of self-management skills Other examples of self-management skills
include: Initiative Punctuality Reliability Organization Accuracy Efficiency
These are also considered Personal Assets
Skills: The basic elements A job function is a defined area of
responsibility, a duty or activity that requires a set of tasks. The function of Office Reception includes tasks
or duties such as greeting customers, answering phones, directing calls, providing information, performing data entry, etc.
Skills are used to perform Tasks Tasks, in turn, perform a Function. Functions define a Job A job can be labeled or identified by a Job
Title
Leveraging for New Jobs Decide on a target job. If unsure what
jobs are suitable for you, take career interest and work importance assessments at: www.cacareerzone.org
Examine skills used in previous jobs and compare them to skills required for target job.
To find complete descriptions of jobs, duties and skills, a very helpful website is:www.online.onetcenter.org
Match Your Skills to Employers
Employers want their needs met Find employers that will hire your skills Use the employer locator feature on
www.acinet.org Go through job announcements for
matches Network through family and friends, etc. Develop a structured job search action plan
Your best bet: Find jobs that match You!
The Art of Leveraging
Each job has two basic elements:1. Job Title: This is a descriptive name
given to a set of specific tasks, duties, or essential functions
2. Field: This is a realm of specialized work or knowledge within a specific industry
When changing jobs, consider changing Job Title or Field but not both at once to maximize the effective leveraging of job specific and transferable skills
Skills Not Leveraged
Clerk Original Job
Retail
Target Job
Assembler
Manufacturing
Changing both job title and field can result in entry level pay at the target job. Try to avoid this.
Job Title
________Field
Job Title_____________
Field
Leveraging Job Title
Original Job
Clerk
Retail
Target Job Clerk
Medical
Keeping job title can result in transferring most skills and higher pay at the target job
Job Title____________
Field
________
Field
Job Title
Leveraging Field or Industry
Clerk
Original Job
Retail
Marketing
Target Job Retail
Transferring industry experience and knowledge helps job transition & leverages for higher pay(Source-Richard Nelson Bolles -What Color is Your Parachute?)
Job Title__________
Field
Job Title
__________
Field
Skills Identification List your previous Job Titles in reverse order
List all activities, tasks, duties & skills involved Previous job descriptions, O*NET Online or
personal recollection are all very helpful List the skills you most enjoyed using and
your level of expertise as well as those not enjoyed
Next, list jobs you would enjoy doing and compare the required skills using their job announcements with your preferred skills
Repeat the process for each job in which you are interested, then research the labor market for viability, outlook, pay, etc.
Leveraging Your Skills is Essential
More complex, job-specific skills usually place you in a higher step of the salary scale rather than entry-level pay
Complex skills require more initiative, creativity and problem solving abilities
Higher skills complexity usually means less competition and higher pay
it is imperative that you carefully evaluate how your best skills relate to your “target job” opportunities and that you effectively communicate this to prospective employers!
Accomplishments Accomplishments are powerful statements
that speak louder than skills or words alone Consider accomplishments you achieved in
each job or in each job duty, if possible Tell Employers:
How, when, and where you used skills relevant to the position at hand
How you excelled and saved the company time, resources, or money, or improved on services or operations, or increased revenues
How those skills and your initiative are valuable to his or her success
Highlight Your Accomplishments
The most relevant accomplishments are those from past employment activities directly related to the target job title
Job-related accomplishments that show what you can do are also effective
Use achievements in your personal life experience that show you are an “achiever”
Include accomplishments resulting from your own personal efforts as well as those achieved as part of a team. These can also showcase your teamwork abilities
Measure Your ResultsWhen stating an accomplishment, showing measureable outcomes adds power. For example:
Increased efficiency in operations by 10% saving thousands of dollars in production costs
Exceeded sales goal at an average of 25% per quarter and named salesman of the year in 2009
Named as “most friendly” Customer Service Representative based on independent customer satisfaction survey during last two quarters 2009
Using the STAR method can be highly effective
Leverage Résumés & Interviews
Customize each résumé and personal commercialQUALIFICATIONS – “I have…”
Experience / Job KnowledgeEducation / TrainingCredentials /Accomplishments
SKILLS – “I can…”Job Specific Skills / Transferable Skills
PERSONAL ASSETS – “I am…”Innate Skills / Self-Management SkillsWork Ethic / ValuesCharacteristics / Qualities
Closing Thoughts Confidence comes from knowing what
employers want and how you are uniquely qualified for the job
Take note of any new skills acquired and how to leveraged them with new job opportunities
Update and customize your résumés and personal commercials for each job to include new skills or accomplishments acquired
The right attitude can compel an employer deciding to hire and train you!
QUESTIONS?