Education
You might be looking for a course with a specific job or promotion in mind. Or perhaps you feel out of date with what is going on in your chosen field. No matter how old you are or whether you have any qualifications, there is a suitable option for you.
For training to be effective, you must first know in some detail what specific knowledge and skills the job involves, what you already possess and what gaps the learning or development can fill. This assessment will result in an identification of:
- How you measure up to the required performance standard
- What learning or development you need to fill the gaps or to develop your potential
Analysing your job
The first step in deciding which skills you need to learn, is to work out which skills you need to do your job effectively. If you are not in a job or you are aiming for promotion, look at the skills required for the job you would like to do. This is not as difficult as it may seem. Start with your job description if you have one. Think about the things that you do every day or the things that you would do in the job you are aiming for.
You need to consider the core skills of the job, the basic behaviours that apply to any type of work (things like communication, team work and managing time) and any specialist or technical skills which you need to do the job effectively (things like vehicle maintenance, catering, using computer applications or managing finance).
You may also want to find out if a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) has been published for all or part of your job role. If so, this will help considerably in your task of analysing job skills and knowledge. NVQs break down occupations into:
- Units of competence – the main task area
- Elements of competence – the smaller task areas
You can contact the relevant National Training Organisation (NTO) for details of the NVQ that may be right for you.
NVQs are awarded at Levels 1 to 5, covering everything from basic to professional level skills. If you use the NVQ standards to analyse your learning needs, you may also decide to enrol on a suitable NVQ programme and work towards the relevant qualification. You can check if specific courses are available by contacting your professional association or your local Learning and Skills Council.
Analysing yourself
Once you know which skills you need for your current or future job, the next step is to analyse the extent to which you have those skills. To do this you will need to reflect on your own performance and identify particular areas of difficulty. This may be easier said than done. For one thing there is a danger in over or underestimating your capabilities. Try to be as honest as possible. It is always a good idea to balance your subjective ideas with the opinions of your boss and/or colleagues. It is also dangerous to assume that your skills are developed to the same level across all the areas you are considering. Use an analysis sheet like the one below to help you recognise these differences.
