A Skills Audit Before a Career Change: Start With Evidence

To identify transferable skills, start with a task you have actually done and unpack how you did it. Then compare that evidence with a specific task in the work you want to try. “Good communicator” is difficult to assess; explaining a complicated fault to a customer gives you something concrete to examine.

You do not need to choose a new profession before making an inventory. You do need a possible direction before deciding which skills are relevant. This worksheet is an editorial planning aid, not an aptitude test or a prediction that an employer will hire you.

A duty is the setting; a skill is what you used

McMaster University's self-assessment distinguishes duties from the skills used to carry them out and asks readers to recall situations in which they demonstrated a skill. It includes experience outside paid employment. We use that distinction here, without reproducing its questionnaire or treating a self-rating as proof of competence. [1]

Consider work, study, volunteering and household responsibilities, but describe the context honestly. Organizing a community event can demonstrate coordination; it does not establish experience managing a regulated industrial project.

A worked example

This is a fictional inventory for someone moving from retail operations toward administrative work. It is not a real person's career result.

Notice the last column. Transferable does not mean identical. A familiar skill may need new subject knowledge, tools, supervision or a qualification in another setting.

Explaining a current task so a colleague can act on it is a concrete setting for clear communication. The filled work-handover example shows that document structure; use your own permitted evidence when describing the skill.

Make your own inventory

Use the table below for a small number of situations you can remember in detail. A long list of adjectives is less useful than a few examples you can explain.

Keep separate notes on whether you enjoy using the skill and how recently you used it. You may be competent at a task you no longer want to do. Conversely, enthusiasm for a field is not yet evidence that you can deliver its work.

For a skill you last used years ago, record that date rather than calling yourself current. A small refresher task can reveal what still feels familiar and what needs practice.

Compare against actual work

Read several relevant job descriptions to identify recurring tasks, then check what those tasks mean in that occupation. Distinguish an employer's preference from a formal entry requirement. If the work requires a regulated qualification, verify the rules with the relevant authority in the country where you intend to work.

The German Federal Employment Agency's New Plan tool offers assessment and development suggestions for working adults. It is a Germany-focused option for further exploration, not a guarantee or a substitute for checking a particular job's requirements. [2]

You can also ask someone familiar with the target work: “Which part of this example would be useful in your role, and what would I still need to learn?” Ask about the example rather than asking them to endorse your entire career change.

At an interview, use your evidence to explain what you bring, then ask about the role you would enter. Our interviewer-question guide helps distinguish questions for a recruiter, manager and future teammate.

Choose a small next test

At the end, write one sentence: “I can demonstrate ___ through ___; I still need to test ___.” That is something you can use in a conversation, a learning plan or a CV. If the evidence concerns your current role, it can also support preparation for a salary review.

More practical work decisions: Career & Money.