2. Work out your competencies
-professional as well as personal

3. Work out your competencies
•Working definitions and examples
•Ways of identifying and conveying your
qualifications and various competencies
•What are employers looking for?

4. • Experience – spotting your personal
competencies
• Your sales pitch – how to brand yourself to a
future employer, networking
• Your CVs – highlighting your (key) competencies
• Your first job in Denmark – planning ahead

5. • Qualifications or competencies?

6. Qualifications and competencies - distinction
• Qualifications:
Abilities acquired through a learning process, e.g.
formal education – university degree

7. • Competencies:
Qualifications used in practice
• Moreover, competencies are contextual

8. • Something you possess and are able to apply in
specific work settings in order to meet the
requirements, solve the problem…
- Because you know and do something using
previous experiences as well as specific
knowledge gleaned from your studies etc.

9. Definition of competencies by OECD
• ”The demonstrated – and individual – ability to
apply know-how, qualifications and knowledge
in order to act in familiar or altered working
conditions”
OECD – oecd.org (my translation)

10. General or generic academic competencies
• Examples? Name a few that would describe you

11. Generic academic competencies – examples
• Overview, perspective
• Research
• Project management, project work and coordination
• Innovative thinking
• Analysis and structure
• IT
• Critical approach
• Communication and presentation
• Selling ideas, projects, concepts
• Meeting deadlines - time and resource management
• Lifelong learning
• And more…

12. Specific professional competencies - examples
• Proficient at conflict management
• Highly skilled to give advice on international legislation..
• Very knowledgeable on EU and security policies
• Proven ability to work independently and as a team member
• Concise communicator
• Efficient and precise case handling
• Ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving
work environment
• And many more…

13. Personal competencies - examples
• Sense of humour
• Empathy
• Decisive, able to act promptly
• Perseverance and flexibility
• Tolerant – open-minded
• Quality-conscious, Result-oriented
• Curious, Proactive
• Polite, Loyal
• Awareness of your personal knowledge, skills and attitudes
• Interpersonal + intercultural communication skills
• And many more

14. • Never simply list your competencies –
”document” them, refer to the (work) context in
question – and do so succinctly

15. Your competencies – 4 components
• Knowledge – you must know how to …
• Ability or functional skill – you must be able to
carry out, do …
• Motivation – you must be motivated to …
• Personality – you must have what it takes to…
(Kompetencerådet 1999)

16. Comprehensive list and targeted CVs
• Your comprehensive list should never be sent to employers
Your personal document – an inventory of sorts
• A comprehensive list of everything you have done (paid work,
voluntary work, fieldwork, university studies, internships,
exchange studies, spare time/hobbies, travels abroad)
• Organise your qualifications and competencies – headlines
• From this list – targeted CVs
- skills-based (functional) CV
- chronological CV
- or a combination of the two (also recommended)

17. Cont.:
• Key competencies – your unique selling points - usually 2 to 4,
maybe more
• Results – big and small
• Profile – 5-7 lines of prose
– write a concise presentation of what you offer the employer –
may vary depending on the job in question. Leave out details,
highlights only.

18. • Adjust your targeted CV – and perhaps your
profile – in order to reflect the competencies
required for the job you apply for.
• Never exaggerate, don’t be too humble
– be realistic and to the point
• Let your friends, family etc. read your CV
- inputs and additions

19. Your CV
• In groups - using your CVs
Explore and discuss your competencies (professional, personal)
What should/could be explained in further detail?
What may be left out?
15 minutes per person

20. Academic jobs
• InterResource, AU Career
• Guidance and career advice from AAK
• Jobbank.dk - Jobs in English
• Work in Denmark.dk
• Your network, your network’s network
• LinkedIn and other social media