Curtin Careers Centre
Curtin University of Technology
Ph: 9266 7802
careers@curtin.edu.au
www.careers.curtin.edu.au
Identifying Skills and Gap
Analysis
Information contained herein is the property of Curtin Careers Centre and cannot be reproduced without
permission of the Centre.
Resource ID Number:
Last Updated On: 30April 2009
Self Assessment & Employability Skills
Self assessment is about having an introspective look at your values, knowledge,
skills and abilities.
Even if you already have a good idea of your skills, it is worth taking the time to do a
focused self-assessment. The benefits of such an exercise include:

Drawing your attention to previously unrecognised skills

Improving your job applications and interview performance

Increasing your self awareness and confidence

Goal setting: Self assessment is a way of learning what you do well,
what you do not so well, and what you might do in the future. Therefore by
identifying what you do not do so well you can determine your goals for
addressing this.
When applying for a graduate job you need to be aware of your talents, inclinations
and skills so you can make good decisions, and can communicate clearly too
potential employers. Employers will expect you to have assessed yourself and they
will be assessing you – trying to discover your potential, the sort of contribution you
might make to their organisation, the nature and range of your skills and how well
you communicate.
The aim of our self assessment during the training session today is to focus on our
employability skills. Everybody has a range of skills – identifying them and being
proud of them sets you on the path to career success. Hopefully after today you will
have identified and written a number of skills you can add to your resume with
actual examples of how you have demonstrated these skills previously. This sets you
up for writing selection criteria and addressing interview questions in the future.
Employability Skills
Today we are going to focus our self assessment around the 8 employability skills
identified by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business
Council of Australia. They undertook a research project titled Employability Skills for
the Future for the Department of Education, Science and Training. The report is
highly regarded and uncontested within industry, and Curtin is incorporating this
framework into its curriculum in 2010 to ensure it is producing highly employable
graduates.
Employability Skills Framework
Skill
Communication 
…that contributes

to productive and
harmonious

relations across 
employees and 
customers







Element – facets of the skills that employers identified as
important noting that the m ix and priority of these facets would
vary from job to job
Listening and understanding
Speaking clearly and directly
Writing to the needs of the audience
Negotiating responsively
Reading independently
Empathising
Speaking and Writing in languages other than English
Using numeracy
Understanding the needs of internal and external customers
Persuading effectively
Establishing and using networks
Being assertive
Sharing information
Team work

Working across different ages and irrespective of genders, race,
…that contributes religion or political persuasion
to productive 
Working as an individual and as a member of a team
working

Knowing how to define a role as part of the team
relationships and
Applying team work to a range of situations e.g. futures
outcomes
planning, crisis problem solving

Identifying the strengths of the team members

Coaching and mentoring kills including giving feedback
Problem Solving
Developing creative, innovative solutions
…that contributes

Developing practical solutions
to productive 
Show independence and initiative in identifying problems and
outcomes
solving them

Solving problems in teams

Applying a range of strategies to problem solving

Using mathematics including budgeting and financial
management to solve problems

Applying problem solving strategies across a range of areas

Teasing assumptions taking the context of data and
circumstances into account.

Resolving customer concerns in relation to complex projects
issues
Self Management

…that contributes

to employee

satisfaction and 
growth

Having a personal vision and goals
Evaluating and monitoring own performance
Having knowledge and confidence in own ideas and visions
Articulating own ideas and vision
Taking responsibility
Planning and 
Managing time and priorities – setting time lines, co-ordinating
organising
tasks for self and with others
…that contributes

Being resourceful
to long an short 
Taking initiative and making decisions
term strategic 
Adapting resources allocation to cope with contingencies
planning

Establish clear project goals and deliverables

Allocating people and other resources to tasks

Planning the use of resources including time management

Participants in continuous improvement and planning processes

Developing a vision and a proactive plan to accompany it

Predicting – weighting up risk, evaluate alternatives and apply
evaluations criteria

Collecting, analysing and organising information

Understanding basic business systems and their relationship
Technology

…that contributes

to effective

execution of tasks



Having a range of basic IT skills
Applying IT as a management tool
Using IT to organise data
Being willing to learn new IT skills
Having the OHS knowledge to apply technology
Having the physical capacity to apply technology e.g. manual
dexterity
Learning

Managing own learning
…that contributes

Contributing to the learning community at the workplace
to ongoing

Using a range of mediums to learn – mentoring, peer support
improvement and and networking, IT, courses
expansion in

Applying learning to ‘technical’ issues (e.g. learning about
employee and
products) and ‘people’ issues (e.g. interpersonal and cultural
company
aspects of work)
operations and 
Having enthusiasm for ongoing learning
outcomes

Being willing to learn in any setting – on and off the job

Being open to new ideas and techniques

Being prepared to invest time and effort in learning new skills
Acknowledging the need to learn in order to accommodate change
Initiative and 
enterprise

…that contribute
to innovative 
outcomes



Adapting to new situations
Developing a strategic, creative, long term visions
Being creative
Identifying opportunities not obvious to others
Translating ideas into action
Generating a range of options
Initiating innovative solutions
Exercise: Exploring your skills
Instructions:
1. List the roles you have through study, work & extracurricular activities
2. List all the responsibilities you have under each of these occupations &roles. Be very specific
in detail. In your own time you might want to refer to O*Net online.onetcenter.org or
MyFuture www.myfuture.edu.au to help you list your duties & responsibility – but be
warned, do not copyright these sources.
3. List the skills you developed based on the duties you undertook. Refer to the employability
skills outlines on pages 2 to 4.
Role/Occupation
Example: IT Intern with Microsoft
Task/Activities
Example:
 Write user help guides
 Test IT programs
 Respond to Enquires on help desk
Skills
Example:
1. Write user help guides
 Writing to the needs of the audience
 Sharing information
 Technical knowledge…
 Editing skills
 Working independently
 Managing time and priorities – setting time lines, co-ordinating
tasks for self and with others
Analysis of Skills I Need
The next step in the skills analysis process is to identify what skills you will need to
be a competitive graduate within the labour market. You can do this a number of
ways, for today we are going to research current graduate positions and compare
the selection criteria and job descriptions to the skills you identified during the
Exploring Your Skills exercise. At home and in your own time you will need to do this
activity based on jobs you would actually like to apply for. During the session today
we will use the examples below.
The next step in the skills analysis process is to identify what skills you will need to
be a competitive graduate within the labour market. You can do this a number of
ways.
The most straightforward way is to research current graduate positions and compare
the selection criteria and job descriptions to the skills you identified during the
Exploring Your Skills exercise. And importantly, to identify the gap – that is, what
skills are employers recruiting for and which ones can you NOT demonstrate yet.
This is your goal, to be able to demonstrate all skills by the time you graduate.
Below is an example of a graduate level position advertised on seek.com on 30th
April 2009. You need to read the job advertisement and highlight the skills,
knowledge & abilities the employer is searching for in a graduate – see below.
Highlighted are some of the duties you would complete as a successful applicant,
and also the selection criteria. Although they are not asking you to demonstrate
direction experience in the duties listed, it is still good to highlight these duties
because they will direct you to areas of development you could focus on in the lead
up to graduation. For example, you might want to gain work experience writing and
updating e-newsletters.
The purpose of this analysis is to help you identify some goals you might want to set
before graduation to make you a competitive graduate.
WEB ADMINISTRATOR/ PR ADVERTISING TRAINEE
WINDSOR SMITH/LIPSTIK SHOES
We are a National Footwear Company who has an exciting position for someone to
join our GROWING MARKETING/ADVERTISING team.
The position will require the right candidate to be trained as a Web Administrator,
Public Relations, Advertising and Designing.
The successful applicant will need to be computer literate. Programs such as
Photoshop, Word, Excel and Web Site knowledge is a must.
You must have creative writing, some research skills, and verbal communication
skills.
Some of the duties with this position will be managing and updating our internet
site. Looking after our internet sales and any other general office duties.
A genuine PASSION for the fashion industry and a passion to be trained in Public
Relations will be a necessity.
You must be prepared to travel interstate when required.
Apply now to learn more about this exciting opportunity with one of Australia's
Wholesaler and Retailer Footwear Company.
JUNIOR MARKET RESEARCHER/ RESEARCH ASSISTANT
If you are interested in working in a flexible, small and collaborative team and have
some market research exposure and experience this role is for you. 12-18 months in
a market research agency environment experience would be ideal!
Ideally you will have key skills in using SPSS and an understanding of statistics,
charting, Excel & PowerPoint as you will be involved in SPSS analysis, charting in
Excel or PowerPoint, Data checking and questionnaire and report writing.
Excellent writing skills are essential as is excellent communication and a bright and
enthusiastic attitude!
GRADUATECAREERS WITH INNOVATION
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science & Research expect to recruit up to 40
graduates for our 2010 Graduate Development Program. All positions are based in
our Central Office in Canberra.
Disciplines
* Economics
* Commerce
* Law
* Business
* Business Management
* Public Policy
* Science
* Information and Communication Technology
* Accounting
Applicants who 'also' have post-graduate qualifications and some work experience
are strongly encouraged to apply.
We value people who have strong skills in:
* Communication;
* Teamwork;
* Research and Analysis;
* Adaptability;
* Flexibility;
* Initiative; and
* Judgement.
And if you’ve also got work experience, political awareness, business acumen,
knowledge of change management issues and some marketing knowledge, it’s a
bonus!
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
The Western Australian Farmers Federation (Inc.) (WAFarmers®) is Western
Australia’s largest and most influential rural lobby group. Representing more than
4,000 members across the Western Australian agricultural region, our members
contribute significantly to the multi-billion dollar agricultural economy.
WAFarmers endeavours to address the key issues in each of its commodity sections
representing wool producers, grain growers, meat producers, pastoralists, dairy farmers
and beekeepers as well as issues that impact on whole rural communities. WAFarmers
prides itself on being a member driven organisation.
The role of the Marketing & Communications Officer is extremely important as this
position drives the communication with WAFarmers members, the wider agricultural
community, government and media (TV, radio, print and online). The role provides
fantastic opportunities to network with media and businesses across the country,
while helping the agricultural community.
Key Responsibilities:
* Source, edit and produce media releases
* Build strong relationships with media including TV, radio and print
* Field media enquiries
* Edit and produce member newsletters
* Write articles and ensure the Farm Weekly page is completed for publication
weekly
* Coordinate the production of the WAFarmers Annual Report
* Update and maintain the WAFarmers website
* Conduct regular media monitoring and produce media analysis reports
* Assist with the planning and coordination of field days
* Assist with the planning, promotion and coordination of conferences
Selection Criteria:
* Possess tertiary qualifications in journalism, communications, public relations
and/or marketing
* Outstanding analytical, time management and organisational skills
* Highly developed oral, written and interpersonal skills
* A self motivator with a high level of innovation and dedication
* Be willing to work hard and effectively
* Knowledge of rural issues and political processes is desirable
* A working knowledge of Microsoft Office essential
* A working knowledge of Adobe Indesign and Photoshop desirable
* Current ‘C’ class drivers licence
* Photography skills advantageous
Remuneration:
* $38,000 - $44,000 plus superannuation and leave loading of 17 per cent,
depending on qualifications and experience
* Mobile phone provided for work calls
* Free parking
* Extended festive season leave
* Drinks and snack food provided
Applications should be directed to the Marketing & Communications Manager and
include a resume (max 4 pages) and cover letter addressing selection criteria. A
sample of your work (e.g. a media release) would also be welcomed.
Applications close Friday May 8, 2009.
WAFarmers
28 Thorogood St
Burswood WA 6100
(08) 9486 2100
Email: Please click the 'Apply Now' button below.
Please Note: If you have a laptop with you may search for your own positions that
you would like to apply for, and make sure you do this activity at home!
Notes Page
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Gap Analysis & Goal Setting
Now we have identified our skills, we need to reflect on what skills we have yet to develop that will increase the likelihood of securing
graduate employment, and develop an action plan to ensure we have developed these skills before we graduate.
Exercise: Exploring the Skill Gap
You have explored your skills, now determine which skills you have yet to develop or refine. List them below:





Now develop an Action Plan for how you intend to develop these skills. This might be through university, volunteer work, work
experience, casual work opportunities etc...
Skill to
develop
Strategy/Actions
Date to be
completed/
reviewed
Costs/ Recourses
Required /Obstacles
Results/ alternatives /
Other Information /
Progress
SMART Goals
A good way to write your goals is by using the SMART goals model:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Specific
Your Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. This
makes sure your efforts are focused and you clearly understand what you have to
do.
Being specific means answering What, Why, When, Where and How.
WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate,
lead, develop, plan, build etc.
WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately
accomplish?
WHEN do you wish to achieve these goals by? This makes sure you stay on track.
WHERE do you need to go to achieve your goals?
HOW are you going to do it? (By...)
Measurable
Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. You need
to be able to tell when you have achieved your goal. If you measure your progress
you are more likely to stay on track and reach your targets.
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Attainable
When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out
ways you can make them come true. If your goals are too far fetched you most likely
will not commit to trying to achieve them. A goal needs to stretch you so you feel
you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. The feeling of success
which this brings helps you to remain motivated.
Realistic
Realistic, in this case, means "do-able". A realistic goal should push you but not break
you. Devise a plan or a way of getting there which makes the goal realistic. The goal
needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment. Be sure to set goals
that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure,
but too low sends the message that you aren't very capable. Set the bar high enough
for a satisfying achievement!
Timely
Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, by third year. Putting
an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don't set a
time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can
start at any time. Without a time limit, there's no urgency to start taking action now.
Your time limit or deadline must be measurable, attainable and realistic
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