Discover Your Top 10 Skills: Conventional
Are you struggling to communicate your value to potential employers? You're not alone.
In my career consulting experience, I've found that this is one of the most significant areas clients need help with. While many clients have a clear job title and company in mind, they'll struggle to land their dream job without a solid understanding of their unique skillset.
So, do you know your top skills and enjoy utilizing them?
To help you identify your strengths, I've written a series of blog posts focusing on the six essential skill areas every company looks for in an employee. By reading my posts, you'll discover your top 10 skills and be well on your way to effectively communicating your value.
Don't miss out on opportunities because you are not confidently communicating your worth. Check out my blog.
Today's skill area: Conventional Skills
Conventional skills work with Things + Data.
These skills usually revolve around detail work. Think about math, numbers, and loads of information. Individuals highly skilled in Conventional Skills can create great systems that allow organizations to follow through on tasks.
So, let’s look at the conventional skill list through the lens of one of my success stories.
This success story is titled: Brickyard Battalion.
The Brickyard Battalion is the name of a non-profit organization I was a founding member of as a junior in high school. I wanted a professional soccer team in Indianapolis. Some other passionate soccer fans wanted the same thing. So we founded a supporters group (a supporters group is like an official fan club) for an imaginary soccer team. We hoped to gain enough support to attract a real professional soccer team to Indianapolis. Long story short, it worked, and our team Indy Eleven was born.
Let’s look at a list of Conventional Skills and see how many I used at the Brickyard Battalion.
Controlling Inventory
Using Excel Spreadsheets
Things are in on time
Speeding things up
Being a resource expert
Tracking details
Organizing data
Checking things
Using numbers
Remembering things
Knowing rules/ procedures
Reasoning with numbers
Estimating
Analyzing cost
Bookkeeping
Using math
I had a fantastic experience working with the Brickyard Battalion. My role was to market our supporters group and expand our membership base by managing our social media accounts and promoting our mission to bring professional soccer to Indianapolis.
My job description only required one or two conventional skills. I must admit that this is one of my weakest skill areas among the six areas of skill.
However, I'm not planning to seek more conventional skill experience anytime soon. I firmly believe that one should only pursue skills that they enjoy using, and I wouldn't find joy in learning or using more of these skills. In all my "success stories," I've found fulfillment in the work that I've done. So, if none of my success stories required conventional skills, then I know to steer clear of this area of skill in the future.
Regardless of whether you plan to use conventional skills in the future, clarifying that you possess these skills will help you get unstuck and create opportunities. The more effectively you can communicate your top 10 skills, the better your chances of finding fulfilling work.
Conventional skills are just one of six areas of skill. Take a moment to compare your conventional skills list with your realistic and social skills. Which ones do you prefer using? Think back to a time when you enjoyed the work you were doing and see which area of skill you utilized the most.
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Want to go more in-depth with your conventional skills and discover where you can use them? Check out my LifeMappingU course to start living your purpose today.
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