Abilities and Skills

Why is it important to choose a career that involves tasks that you are good at?

Abilities are the things you are naturally good at. The things you have an aptitude for. They are the things you were able to do without a lot of effort and that you learned how to do relatively easily (when compared to other things you tried to do). If you practice them over a period of time (especially if you get special training) they become your skills. Finding an occupation with tasks that use more of your strengths and less of your weaknesses will certainly increase the likelihood that you will be successful at work.

You can gain more information about your abilities and skills by utilizing inventories that ask you to rate what you think you are good at, based on past experience. You can also take a vocational aptitude test or an academic aptitude test which assesses your abilities, aptitudes, or intelligence in a variety of areas. The assessment instruments provide a detailed analysis of your skills and abilities. They suggest what occupational pursuits may be more worthy of your efforts and be more likely to result in success.

Exploring Your Abilities and Skills:

Other Skills/Abilities Inventories:

ISEEK
This skills assessment activity selects potential occupations for you based on how you rate a skill.

O*Net
Use a list of your skills to find matching O*NET-SOC occupations.