TRANSFERABLE SKILLS AUDIT

Name: Rohan Ali Course: Business Year: 2 Date: 25/10/2019

Section 1

Consider the skills listed below and rate how important you think each skill is for employment and how competent you are in this skill.
Consider how each of these skills may enhance your performance, and allow you to develop and advance further. You may wish to discuss
these with your advisor of studies. Alternatively, you may wish to ask a friend or family member, and to compare and discuss your separate
findings.

Once you have rated yourself, multiply the number in the column marked ‘Competence’ with that in the column ‘Job Importance’. So, for
example, if you feel that you are not very proficient in verbal and written communication (i.e. you have rated your competence at 4), but that
these skills are very important for employment (i.e. you have rated it at 5), then your overall total score would be 5 X 4 = 20.

Section 2
This section will provide you with examples of the types of evidence you can provide to demonstrate your level of competence with each skill.

Competence – How competent are you Job Importance – How important do you
in this skill? think this skill is in Employment?
1. Highly proficient 1. Unnecessary
2. Fairly proficient 2. Not very important
3. Adequate 3. Helpful
4. Not very proficient 4. Fairly important
5. Unskilled 5. Essential
 SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF
IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
COMMUNICATION
Written:
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I have been able to show this through my college
Ability to express self well in writing coursework which had been done throughout the whole
of the first year. Most of the work, required us to write
our documents well.
Verbal:
Informal – ability to network easily 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 I have been quite good at this as I am continuously
with other people working around friends or other people as well as talking
to them informally.
Formal – ability to express yourself 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 15 I have been able to show this a few times as I had
clearly and concisely to a group of worked in a group multiple times, and we needed to
people express our ideas clearly to allow our objective to
become accomplished.
Non-verbal:
Listening – ability to attend actively to 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 10 I have shown this a few times in environments where
others’ views and ideas and understand listening is required to understand whats being said.
their point of view
Body Language – ability to match body 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 12 I think of having a contrasting body language to what's
language appropriately to what is being being said as I have been able to show this a few times
said verbally during interviews and presentations.
WORKING WITH OTHERS
Cooperation
Ability to collaborate effectively within 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 This was evidently shown in the first year as I had
a team worked a numerous amount of times in groups
successfully completing the task given.
Negotiation
Ability to reach a mutually satisfactory 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 12 I haven’t shown much of this skill, but it is fairly
outcome through compromise important in a workplace.
Sensitivity
Ability to respond appropriately to
individual differences, e.g., age, gender,
etc.
Leadership
Ability to encourage and motivate
others
SKILL
Ability to supervise or direct the work
of others
Ability to evaluate competing priorities
to plan ahead
APPLICATION OF NUMBER
Calculations
Ability to use a calculator or PC to
make calculations
Interpretation
Ability to interpret descriptive statistics,
e.g. ratios percentages, means, standard
deviations
Ability to interpret inferential statistics,
e.g., confidence intervals, statistical
significance, effect size
Application
Ability to organise and present
numerical data in an appropriate manner
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 4
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 9
COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE
IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 16
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 15
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 3
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 12
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 9
I have shown this a few times as I can compare one with
an interview and another on when I had to deliver a
session to a group of kids. For both of these situations, I
had to simplify my language for some cases as the kids
wouldn’t understand.
I am fairly experienced with this, I have shown this skill
a few times when leading a group to deliver a task, I
have had some cases where I needed to improve our
group’s motivation, that way the task could be completed
quicker.
EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF
I haven’t had much experience of this as I haven’t
reached the stage yet, but I believe if I were to ever
encounter this skill I would be quite competent with it.
I have had the ability to evaluate a few times last year
especially during the project management stage.
I have shown a various amount of times when working
on the finance unit last year, as calculations were
required.
I have a decent understanding of being able to interpret
all of the examples listed there.
I have little experience of being able to interpret the
example mentioned there.
I have shown this a few times in the first year, in some
cases I had to create a profit & loss account, sometimes a
finance sheet all made on a spreadsheet.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
File Management Techniques
Ability to create, store and retrieve files
Word Processing (e.g. MS Word)
Ability to use a word processing (WP)
package to produce a variety of formats
of documents
Spreadsheets (e.g., MS Excel)
Ability to use a spreadsheet to record
and manipulate different sets of data
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 10 I have needed to do this in some cases to save my work,
but also for referencing my coursework.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 I had used word documents almost the entire year, so I
believe I am fairly acquainted with producing different
types of formats for the documents made.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 12 I made a few spreadsheets last year to display the point I
needed to put across.

SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF

IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Databases (e.g., MS Access)
Ability to retrieve information from a 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I have done a few times, but mainly retrieving
database information from Classroom as we are provided
resources there.
Ability to create a database 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 12 I have little experience with creating a database.

Presentations (e.g., MS PowerPoint)

Ability to create and display a 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 10 I have done a fair amount of times to be quite competent
PowerPoint presentation with it, but as well as creating one, I was also able to
present it.
Information and Communication
Ability to send and receive email 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 I do this on a regular basis to receive resources but also
to ask anything if I were to have a problem.
Ability to send and receive attachments 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 I have the ability as well as a decent amount of
by e-mail experience to send and receive attachments through
email.
Ability to use an internet browser, e.g., 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 I am extremely competent with this skill as I constantly
Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL use internet browsers to research ideas.
Ability to download files from the 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I am quite good at being able to download files from the
Internet and transfer to WP internet and then add onto my document but I haven’t
had much experience with it.
Ability to use a search engine, e.g. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 I use search engines on a daily basis, making me
Altavista, Google extremely competent with this,
PROBLEM SOLVING
Creativity
Ability to generate new ideas or 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I have been able to show this when working in groups to
conceive existing ideas in a new way deliver a specific product, I had mainly come up with the
initial product in most cases.
Organisation and Planning
Ability to set down a systematic 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I have shown the ability of being able to organise and
sequence of activities and carry them plan a project in chronological order to successfully
through in an effective manner complete it. The main one was the Ebay shop project
which my group did last year.
Research
Ability to gather information in a 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 10 I have quite good research skills, I implement them
systematic way to establish certain facts when needed most such as, researching about a
or principles product’s marketing mix, which we had done quite a few
times last year.

SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF

IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Analysis
Ability to understand and summarise 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 4 I do this all the time when completing coursework, I
information always end it with a conclusion/summary.
Initiative
Ability to initiate, take decisions and act 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 12 I have the ability to do this, I have evidently shown this
resourcefully a few times when working in groups.
 IMPROVING OWN LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE
Self Management
Self awareness – the ability to identify 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I have shown self-awareness a few times in my
and reflect on own strengths and coursework especially when providing a SWOT
weaknesses in relation to: analysis. Also, within my career plan it states a few of
● Personal Development my weaknesses, and how I can be able to improve them.
● Educational Development
● Career Development
Effective learning – the ability to learn 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 I have learnt using a variety of methods, but most of it is
from a range of situations and apply through face-to-face presentations led by a teacher. But
learning in a variety of contexts when trying to learn alone, I use the internet as a source
of learning.
Reasoning skills – ability to defend 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 9 I am fairly adequate with this but it’s not often I am
argument using logical and systematic needed to argue with someone as we are mostly on good
thinking based on sound evidence terms.
Reflection – ability to reflect on and 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I am quite competent with this as I do this a few times
critique own performance after completing important things, and I do it naturally.
Important things such as: Interviews and presentations.

SKILL COMPETENCE JOB COMPETENCE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF

IMPORTANCE X COMPETENCE
JOB
IMPORTANCE
Study Skills
Ability to manage and prioritise time to 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 10 I have evidently shown this in my first year as I had
meet deadlines needed to manage my time effectively to hand in
coursework on time.
Ability to identify relevant sources of 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I had done this on my website quite recently.
information, including people and
reference material
Ability to use a library to find books and 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 9 I have access to the library but its not often that I use
journal articles books to help with anything as most of things are on the
internet nowadays.
Ability to take notes, organise them, and 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I do this most of the time in class, when the teacher is
integrate them with other sources of explaining the assignment or work-related to the
information coursework. I do this, so I don’t forget.
Ability to reference materials using an 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 8 I reference my work appropriately all the time, leaving a
appropriate system, e.g., Harvard or reference page at the bottom of the document displayed
Vancouver with a bunch of links alongside the last time I accessed
the website.

Identify your learning needs

Now pick three of the highest scoring skills from the above audit (by multiplying your scores as shown above) that you need to develop further.
List these below in order of priority.

Skill Area
1. Ability to supervise or
direct the work of others
Action Plan for Development and where you can access these
This was scored quite high because I haven’t exactly had much experience with supervising people as I more or
less tend to take the role of being a team player, so I work alongside others. There are some cases where I do
become a leader but I am quite a laissez faire leader. The main plan I have decided to go for to develop this is to
take a leadership role but fully take the role. Because I usually tend to make everyone the leader in the group
whenever I’m given the opportunity of being one. I should avoid this and rather use it to my advantage and
supervise and delegate tasks to my group members. Hopefully, this will then help me become a better leader and
acquire the skills I need to improve.
 2. Ability to express yourself
clearly and concisely to a
group of people
I am not well acquainted with this because I haven’t had enough experience with speaking to people formally.
There have been some scenarios of me showing an element of this but not enough to make myself familiar with it.
I tend to work better informally as I feel more comfortable, presentations and interviews are quite uncomfortable
for me which is also another reason why I don’t have good competence with this skill. A plan I could work
towards to enable me to improve this skill is stepping out of my comfort zone. I have spoken to my industrial
placement manager, regarding this and he will offer an opportunity for me to present some work in to a small
crowd, once I become comfortable the audience will gradually increase.

3. Ability to match body
language appropriately to
what is being said verbally
My body language tends to fluctuate due to whether I’m having a bad or good day. I am also not exactly good at
faking my body language, so whatever is shown is truthful. A reason for this is because I have not had enough
experience with displaying a positive body language or body language that contrasts to what I’m saying, so people
don’t tend to take what I’m saying seriously. A plan I have thought of to improve my body language is to practice
the presentations in the placement I had been given but also talk to employers whenever they attend the centre of
excellence and ask them to help give some tips on how to improve it.

Section 2: Providing Evidence you have the Skills

COMMUNICATION
Communication may be formal or informal, personal or impersonal, creative or factual. Messages may be delivered verbally, in writing or non-
verbally. There are many areas where examples of each communication approach may have been successfully applied, at university, at work, at
home, etc

Written - Ability to express self well in writing Ability to express self well in writing
I had shown this in my coursework which had been done last year. But on top of this was my CV which was also written quite well expressing
myself.
Written - Ability to express self well in writing
Verbal:
Informal – ability to network easily with other people
My informal language and networking was and still is quite good as I’m quite comfortable in these situations as through the whole of last year
we were able to build our relationship quickly, especially since none of us knew each other at first.

Formal – ability to express yourself clearly and concisely to a group of people

I have a small amount of experience with this, but there was one situation where I had to do a presentation to a few “Dragons” which included
selling our product to them.

Non-verbal:
My listening skills are fairly decent I would say as when given explanations during class I am able to simplify them into notes, helping me with
future assignments.
Body Language – ability to match body language appropriately to what is being said verbally
My body language isn’t as effective as I thought it would be due to it not contrasting to what I may have said verbally. There are a few examples
which displayed this, the main one being a presentation displayed in front of colleagues.

WORKING WITH OTHERS

Working with others is a skill highly valued by employers. Suitable evidence for this skill need not be limited to work experience. You should
think of all aspects of your work, studies and social life.

Cooperation - Ability to collaborate effectively within a team

I think of having excellent cooperation in a team as I have evidently shown this in project work which had been last year. This project was more
specific to being an Ebay shop and if we were to of opened it, it would have been successful due to our evaluation.

Negotiation - Ability to reach a mutually satisfactory outcome through compromise

My negotiation skills aren’t extremely good as I have little experience with it. However, there have been some cases where I have been able to
negotiate with team members to increase the success rate of our task.

Sensitivity- Ability to respond appropriately to individual differences, e.g., age, gender, etc.
I am quite good at this as before joining the college, I had work experience elsewhere which had taught me this skill. The work experience
involved delivering a sports session to a group of kids, luckily it was successful, however at the time it was quite nerve wracking as I did not
know what to expect.
Leadership - Ability to encourage and motivate others
There have been a few occasions of me taking the role of a leader. An example was when delivering the Dragon’s Den project, I was the leader
for that and it had gone through successfully.

APPLICATION OF NUMBER
Calculations - Ability to use a calculator or PC to make calculations
I had shown evidence of this last year when working on the finance unit, we had to use a calculator a few times to speed up the process.

Interpretation - Ability to interpret descriptive statistics, e.g. ratios percentages, means, standard deviations
- Ability to interpret inferential statistics, e.g., confidence intervals, statistical significance, effect size
Application -Ability to organize and present numerical data in an appropriate manner
I have all the skills mentioned above as I was able to get a decent grade in Maths for GCSE.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
File Management Techniques - Ability to create, store and retrieve files
I have shown evidence through Google Classroom & Drive. All my files are located there, I can retrieve, edit and create them from there
whenever I need to.

Word Processing - Ability to use a word processing package to produce a variety of formats of documents
I have used Word/Docs for different types of formats. Some examples I had done were a poster, leaflet and mainly reports.

Spreadsheets - Ability to use a spreadsheet to record and manipulate different sets of data
I had shown evidence of this in my first year of college and within the finance unit.

Databases - Ability to retrieve information from a database/ Ability to create a database

I can retrieve information from databases such as Google Drive.

Presentations - Ability to create and display a PowerPoint presentation

I had done a Dragons Den presentation which involved creating a powerpoint displaying our product with all the details required.

Information and Communication - Ability to send and receive email

I send and receive emails on a daily basis. I have my college mail synced with my phone to enable me to quickly acknowledge the emails.

Ability to send and receive attachments as email

I have sent my CV before through email. By doing this, I was able to receive feedback on my CV.

Ability to use an internet browser e.g. Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL

I use internet browsers on a daily basis.

Ability to download files from the internet and transfer to WP

I have downloaded a few files from the internet such as: Course notes, this enabled me to understand the assignments more.

Ability to use a search engine e.g. Altavista, Google

I have used search engines on a regular basis. Some to help research for coursework purposes and some external related such as shopping online.

PROBLEM SOLVING
Creativity - Ability to generate new ideas or conceive existing ideas in a new way
I am quite good at producing creative ideas for any task given as long as I’m given enough time to think of one. An example of an idea that I
thought of which became successful was the Dragons Den presentation we had done and it was a Health App.
Organisation and Planning - Ability to set down a systematic sequence of activities and carry them through in an effective manner
I am quite good at organising especially coursework as I have a schedule which includes every piece of work needed for the week.

Research - Ability to gather information in a systematic way to establish certain facts or principles
I am fairly good at researching and I had shown this when working within a group. A few times I was delegated the task of researching as this is
one of clear strengths.

Analysis - Ability to understand and summarise information (Detailed examination of structure and content)
I analyse myself after every piece of coursework handed in. As well as this I naturally do this outside of college, such as when losing a football
game, I try to evaluate what I had done wrong.
Initiative - Ability to initiate, take decisions and act resourcefully
I sometimes take the initiative to do something but that's only if I’m passionate or motivated enough to do it. But before attending college, I took
the initiative to find out about the course as this would be the first time doing a business course.

IMPROVE OWN LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE

Self Management

Self-awareness – ability to identify and reflect on own strengths and weaknesses in relation to:
● Personal Development: Are you confident in expressing yourself or is this something you need to work on? Are you fully aware of your
core strengths ie., skills, experience knowledge and attributes that are your ‘unique selling points’ in the employment market.
I am very self aware. I am able to display my strengths and weaknesses easily, I have done this in my career plan. But alongside doing this, I will
also show the possible opportunities and methods of planning to make those weaknesses into strengths. In my CV, it is also labelled to showing
most, if not all my strengths.

Effective learning – ability to learn from a range of situations and apply learning in a variety of contexts
I have learnt the ideal leader or captain. I was in a football team and had seen the way a captain verbally speaks, body language but most of all
how they motivate. I had taken some of those skills into academic learning to trial them and luckily they successfully worked.

Reasoning skills – ability to defend argument using logical and systematic thinking based on sound evidence
I think I am able to do this, however I haven’t had much experience in debating or arguing.

Reflection – ability to reflect on and critique own performance

Reflection is quite important as I tend to critique myself quite often. If I make a mistake, I tend to accept it and learn from it, if I do the same
mistake again I punish myself. This way I learn more correctly.

Study Skills - Ability to manage and prioritise time to meet deadlines

- Ability to identify relevant sources of information, including people and reference material
- Ability to use a library to find books and journal articles
- Ability to take notes, organize them, and integrate them with other sources of information
- Ability to reference materials using an appropriate system, e.g., Harvard or Vancouver

References are always used in my assignments, with sufficient detail beside it such as last time accessed.