Job Skills

This article offers a treasure trove of information about job skills. O-Net Online describes six categories of skill groups. Select multiple skills that relate to your current status or ones you plan to obtain to learn about the types of jobs that require these skills and the experience and job training these jobs reflect.

Many employers value workers with soft skills – interpersonal and thinking skills needed to interact successfully with people and to perform efficiently and effectively in the workplace.

Social Skills

  • Coordination
    • Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Instructing
    • Teaching others how to do something.
  • Negotiation
    • Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Persuasion
    • Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Service Orientation
    • Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Social Perceptiveness
    • Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.


Thinking Skills

  • Active Learning
    • Understanding the implications of new information for current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Active Listening
    • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Complex Problem Solving
    • Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Critical Thinking
    • Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and choosing the most appropriate one.
  • Learning Strategies
    • Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
  • Monitoring
    • Monitoring/Assessing the performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Time Management
    • Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Source: O-Net Online, https://www.onetonline.org/skills/soft/
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Last modified: Thursday, February 29, 2024, 10:04 AM