By: Celestine McGee, Senior Employer Relations Specialist
About three months ago, the world was hit with a global pandemic that just changed everything as we knew it. In a work capacity this will be an opportunity to hone into your skills and polish them for use in the office, home, and volunteer functions. Here are some major ways you can take stock of your skills and enhance them in a remote work environment:
Tip 1: Do a skills assessment (identify) your current skills. Sign up to take the Strengths Quest assessment with your IIT email or email tdeguzman@iit.edu for access to the You Science skill assessment.
Tip 2: Make a list of projects (work, classroom, or volunteering) that you have worked on within the past 9 months.
Tip 3: Break down your skills and place them in categories (top, mid-level, and competent)
Tip 4: Review various job descriptions for trends in remote work skills recommended and beyond
Tip 5: Create a list of creative ways to utilize these skills in the workplace in a remote environment
After doing this homework, you will gained a greater understanding of your current skill sets and the ones you need to build on.
It is also important to know what employers want when it comes to skill sets especially as you are beginning a job or internship search. Here are some skills sets that top employers deem as relevant:
- Oral/Written Communication of projects, activities, status of events and the like
- Time management, completion of projects relevant with the department goals/needs
- Critical thinking and problem solving, providing suggestions and possible solutions
- Teamwork and Group dynamics along with collaboration
- Emotional intelligence, empathy think of others as plans are devised
- Digital literacy competency
- Initiative, being able to forward thinking
- Interpretation of data and distributing of information
- Professionalism/work ethic approach to
- Career management
Review your current resume and make sure that you have added recent/current projects. You will want to make sure that it is relevant to jobs that you may be seeking. We have provided a page to our website to help you navigate by major.
Career Services at Illinois Tech has a robust resource list to assist our students in their career development needs. Please take advantage of what our office has to offer. Thank you for reading this post and check out the resources below to gain even more information and coaching.
Top IIT Career Service resources
Happy Reading!!!
Be sure to schedule a virtual drop in appointment if you have any additional questions on how to get the best of your job search.