The document discusses soft skills training opportunities available at Workforce Investment Boards and One Stop Career Centers, including job readiness curriculum, incorporating soft skills into vocational training, and post-employment support like mentoring and coaching. It provides contact information for the San Diego Metro Region Career Centers and outlines an agenda covering topics like defining skills, what employers want, transferable skills, and leveraging accomplishments.

1. San Diego Metro Region Career Centers/Job Work’s, Inc.
LavarWatkins@workforce.org
619-266-4247

2. SOFT SKILLS TRAINING
AT
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARDS (WIB)
&
ONE STOP CAREER CENTERS

3.  Soft skills have more to do with how an employee
communicates and interacts with others than her
technical skills and abilities. Soft skills include personal
attributes such as attitude, work ethic and oral and
written communication skills. They are complementary
to a person's knowledge and experience and enhance
the overall contribution and effort an employee puts
forth. For instance, an employee with poor soft skills
may have trouble communicating with other
employees, lack leadership ability and possess a
negative attitude; however, he may rank ahead of
others when taking aptitude tests. The goal for a small
business is to find employees with a good balance of
soft skills and aptitude.

4. Although building workforce competency is generally focused
on first-time employees, human resource professionals say in
Critical Skills Needs and Resources for the Changing Workforce—a
poll released in June 2008 by the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM) in conjunction with WSJ.com/Careers—
that many workplace soft skills have become more important
for experienced employees than for new workers. These skills
include critical thinking and problem solving, leadership,
professionalism/work ethic, teamwork/collaboration, and
adaptability/flexibility.

5. There are different ways to provide soft skills training to individuals
moving into the workforce. A job readiness curriculum that emphasizes
employability skills is one approach. Soft skills training can also be
incorporated into vocational training and other program activities.
Agencies that provide employment-related services can structure
programs to simulate the workplace. In addition, post-employment
activities, such as case management, support groups, mentoring, and job
coaching, provide opportunities to work on soft skills based on clients‘
work-related experiences. One challenge for agencies is to assess and
document soft skills. Agencies can market their soft skills training to
employers and work with local employers to develop standards for job
readiness. This is not the end because there are collaborations that exist to
assist with this very need.

6.  Survey of 500 Executive Recruiters
identified these as the biggest job-seeker
mistakes:
 Too desperate / Willing to take Anything
 Target jobs that match your best skills
 Focus search on specific employers
 Poor Interview Preparation
 Research the company and job requirements
 Attend the Interviewing Strategies workshops
 Weak Résumés
 Customize the résumé to each targeted position
 Attend the Resume & Cover Letter workshop

7. Industry Name Annual Average Change
Infrastructure
223,500 to 255,000 31,500 or 14%
Construction
Healthcare 1,338,000 to 1,645,100 307,100 or 23%
Biotechnology 23,000 to 35,000 12,000 or 13%
Industry Name 2009 Employment Change
Green 1270 to 2080 810 or 39%

10. CalJOBS
www.caljobs.ca.gov

14. AGENDA
Skill Defined
a. The Many Facets
Skills and Employers
a. Job Requirements
b. What Employers Want
Transferable Skills
a. Types of Skills
Leveraging/Employer Matching
Accomplishments
a. Your Best Leverage
Closing Thoughts

15.  Skill is the learned or acquired
capacity to carry out pre-determined
results, often with the minimum
outlay of time, energy, or both
 Skill is the capacity to do something
well as opposed to abilities, which are
often thought of as innate
 Skill is a measure of a worker's
expertise

16.  Skills are often actions directed toward
people, things or data and are classified
accordingly
 The average person has from 500 to 800
skills.
 Relevant skills should be identified for each
target job based on what employers value
 Frequently-used skills may be difficult to
identify as they tend to become second-
nature and unperceived

17. Skills are:
 Gained through life experience
 Developed with diligent practice
 Enhanced by vocational education
 Applied to specific tasks
 Enjoyed in various hobbies
 Combined into job qualifications
Skills can define you!

18.  Employers want more than a listing of work
history, job titles and mundane tasks.
 What ―value‖ do you offer?
 Employers want more than just ‗business as
usual‘. How can you:
 Meet employer‘s needs?
 Solve employer‘s problems?
 Save employer money?
 Make employer more profitable?
 Increase employer‘s competitiveness?
 Help employer deliver better products or
services?

19.  Employers want to know what you can do
for them and how well can you do it
 Presenting your skills effectively shows the
employer that you have
 the right skills for the job, and
 a clear understanding of the job requirements
 Employers seek to eliminate learning curves
and training periods
 Hiring new staff can be risky and costly:
Those most qualified reduce risk and cost.

20.  Existing skills that can be used to meet the
requirements of other jobs or kinds of work or
can be applied to a wide range of activities,
such as communication, organization &
management
 Transferable skills are universal in nature and
are not generally bound to any job type or task
 ―You are defined not by your job title, but by the
skills that you possess, which are transferable from,
and to, any occupation you may happen to be
involved in at the moment.‖
(Richard Nelson Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute?‖

21. The following is a list of 5 broad skills areas:
 Communication
 Research & Planning
 Human Relations
 Organization
 Work Survival
You can search jobs by skills sets through
O*NET
http://online.onetcenter.org/skills/
Assess your ―motivated‖ or ―key‖ skills here:
http://www.stewartcoopercoon.com/jobsearch
/freejobsearchtests.phtml

22.  Transferring your skills effectively can
result in higher salary placement
 Failure to effectively transfer and
leverage your skills could result in loss of
job hire as employers consider you less
qualified
 Take great care to accurately evaluate
how each of your skills transfers to your
―target job‖ then leverage, leverage,
leverage!

23.  Are those considered particular to a
specific job or occupation
 Job specific skills will transfer effectively
to other jobs requiring those same skills
 For example: A Volkswagen mechanic can
generally work in any Volkswagen service
garage. However, before competing
effectively at a BMW service garage, specific
skills and knowledge relevant to BMW‘s
would be required.
 But, if they like you, they‘ll train you!

24.  Are those typically considered personality
traits
 We use them in every area of our daily lives.
 Are often used by those who know us best
to describe us to others
 Include elements not necessarily tied to
specific jobs or occupations. For example:
 Honest
 Friendly
 Warm
 Considerate
Include work ethics, values, and personal
traits and can be referred to as Personal Assets

25. A great attitude, an even temper, and a positive
outlook while faced with adversity or difficult
challenges are examples of self-management skills
 Other examples of self-management skills
include:
 Initiative
 Punctuality
 Reliability
 Organization
 Accuracy
 Efficiency
 These are also considered Personal Assets

26.  A job function is a defined area of
responsibility, a duty or activity that requires
a set of tasks.
 The function of Office Reception includes tasks or
duties such as greeting customers, answering
phones, directing calls, providing information,
performing data entry, etc.
 Skills are used to perform Tasks
 Tasks, in turn, perform a Function.
 Functions define a Job
 A job can be labeled or identified by a Job
Title

27.  Decide on a target job. If unsure what jobs
are suitable for you, take career interest and
work importance assessments at:
www.cacareerzone.org
 Examine skills used in previous jobs and
compare them to skills required for target
job.
 To find complete descriptions of jobs, duties
and skills, a very helpful website is:
www.online.onetcenter.org

28. Employers want their needs met
 Find employers that will hire your skills
 Use the employer locator feature on
www.acinet.org
 Go through job announcements for matches
 Network through family and friends, etc.
 Develop a structured job search action plan
Your best bet: Find jobs that match You!

29. Each job has two basic elements:
1. Job Title: This is a descriptive name given
to a set of specific tasks, duties, or essential
functions
2. Field: This is a realm of specialized work
or knowledge within a specific industry
When changing jobs, consider changing Job
Title or Field but not both at once to
maximize the effective leveraging of job
specific and transferable skills

30. Clerk
Original Job Job Title
_____________
Retail
Field
Target Job Job Title
________ Assembler
Field
Manufacturing
Changing both job title and field can result in
entry level pay at the target job. Try to avoid this.

31. Job Title
Original Job Clerk
____________
Field Retail
Target Job Job Title Clerk
_______
_ Medical
Field
Keeping job title can result in transferring most
skills and higher pay at the target job

32. Clerk
Job Title
Original Job __________
Retail
Field
Job Marketing
Target Job Title
__________ Retail
Field
Transferring industry experience and knowledge
helps job transition & leverages for higher pay
(Source-Richard Nelson Bolles -What Color is Your Parachute?)

33.  List your previous Job Titles in reverse order
 List all activities, tasks, duties & skills involved
 Previous job descriptions, O*NET Online or
personal recollection are all very helpful
 List the skills you most enjoyed using and
your level of expertise as well as those not
enjoyed
 Next, list jobs you would enjoy doing and
compare the required skills using their job
announcements with your preferred skills
 Repeat the process for each job in which you
are interested, then research the labor
market for viability, outlook, pay, etc.

34.  More complex, job-specific skills usually
place you in a higher step of the salary scale
rather than entry-level pay
 Complex skills require more initiative,
creativity and problem solving abilities
 Higher skills complexity usually means less
competition and higher pay
it is imperative that you carefully evaluate how
your best skills relate to your ―target job‖
opportunities and that you effectively
communicate this to prospective employers!

35.  Accomplishments are powerful statements that
speak louder than skills or words alone
 Consider accomplishments you achieved in
each job or in each job duty, if possible
 Tell Employers:
 How, when, and where you used skills
relevant to the position at hand
 How you excelled and saved the company
time, resources, or money, or improved on
services or operations, or increased
revenues
 How those skills and your initiative are
valuable to his or her success

36.  The most relevant accomplishments are those
from past employment activities directly
related to the target job title
 Job-related accomplishments that show what
you can do are also effective
 Use achievements in your personal life
experience that show you are an ―achiever‖
 Include accomplishments resulting from your
own personal efforts as well as those achieved
as part of a team. These can also showcase
your teamwork abilities

37. When stating an accomplishment, showing
measureable outcomes adds power.
For example:
 Increased efficiency in operations by 10% saving
thousands of dollars in production costs
 Exceeded sales goal at an average of 25% per
quarter and named salesman of the year in 2009
 Named as ―most friendly‖ Customer Service
Representative based on independent customer
satisfaction survey during last two quarters 2009
 Using the STAR method can be highly
effective

38. Customize each résumé and personal
commercial
QUALIFICATIONS – ―I have…‖
Experience / Job Knowledge
Education / Training
Credentials /Accomplishments
SKILLS – ―I can…‖
Job Specific Skills / Transferable Skills
PERSONAL ASSETS – ―I am…‖
Innate Skills / Self-Management Skills
Work Ethic / Values
Characteristics / Qualities

39.  Confidence comes from knowing what
employers want and how you are uniquely
qualified for the job
 Take note of any new skills acquired and how
to leveraged them with new job opportunities
 Update and customize your résumés and
personal commercials for each job to include
new skills or accomplishments acquired
 The right attitude can compel an employer
deciding to hire and train you!