Job-specific skills are the abilities that allow freshers to excel at a given job. Job ready skills can be acquired via industry oriented training under specialized institutes. Other skills can be acquired via experiential learning while on the job. These skills needed for a specific job role are called a skill set.
When employers are looking to hire, they will naturally include the skill set required to carry out jobs of a job posting. The applicants who closely match the required skill set to be able to carry out the job in the job posting will get called for a job interview. In this article, we deal with examples of job-specific skills, advice on how to match skills and experience with what is expected for a job and tips for identifying job-specific skills.
Examples of Job Specific Skills
Job-specific skills differ based on the positions. For instance, a data analyst is required to have skills in programming, reporting, Data scrapping and analysis. A cloud engineer has skills like web services, virtualization, networking, storage, disaster recovery, working with RPC, REST.
Transferable skills vs. Job specific skills
Job-specific skills are usually technical skills while transferable skills are generic ones that are common desirable skills across a broad array of jobs. Some of them are organization, planning, communication, presentation, teamwork, and time management. These skills can be used in almost every IT job. Employability skills are traits and skills needed to succeed in every job.
Some transferable skills will be valued way more in some IT job roles than others. For instance, a consultant would need strong presentation skills and data analysts will require a good amount of research skills. These transferable skills must not be confused with job specific skills as they represent general areas of ability that is valued across all kinds of jobs. On the contrary, job specific skills are needed for a specific job and maybe entirely unnecessary for other jobs. For instance, the ability to scrap data and analyze it is a job-specific skill of a data analyst.
Generally, job-specific skills are hard skills that are easily teachable or quantifiable. Transferable skills on the other hand are soft skills.
Identifying job-specific skills
When you apply for a job, you would want to know job-specific skills that are needed for positions, so you can stress on your matching skills and abilities in your resume. Job-specific skills can be typically found for the required position, so one can emphasize related abilities and skills. One can find job-specific skills within job postings in a section that is usually titled “Qualifications” or “Required Skills” that include Job specific skills. You can even look up similar job postings in order to get a better understanding of required skills for the position.
Matching your skills to job specific skills
When applying for a job, one must clearly identify job-specific skills for the position. Making a list of these skills, and checking off the list with how to prove you have that asset is a must-do exercise. You can think about the work experience you may have that has helped develop any of the required skills. Make sure you mention the job-specific skills in your cover letter to immediately get the attention of the interviewer. Make sure you also make these mentions in your LinkedIn profile. Use the same keywords as listed in the job descriptions that match your skill set. Prior to an interview, review your resume and cover letter and make sure you can answer questions about the times you have demonstrated the listed skills in a job or in a project. You should be able to answer questions about the skills you have mentioned clearly.
When you are missing a skill
If you happen to miss a critical job-related skill, then it is a clear cue for you to start developing it. The skill you lack could be the one you need to progress on your career track and this could be crucial for furthering your career. When you sign up for a job specific skill course, you also emphasize in your resume that you are a fast learner and can pick skills as and when required. This in itself is a huge factor for convincing a potential employer about you. IIHT offers IT job role specific training across several fields. For more, go to iiht.com.
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