Competencies Research Assistant, University in the North Central Region

Skills are capabilities that you develop over time. Different jobs require different skills. You will need them to do a good job in your roles, tasks, and duties.

Personal attributes are the traits that you are born with. You can develop them through your social context and personal experiences. Different jobs require different personal attributes. Personal attributes are important at work because they influence how you are, and how you do things.

Realistic jobs are all about handling objects, tools, machines, or animals in a standard way. Many of these jobs don’t involve a lot of paperwork or teamwork.

Investigative jobs are all about studying things in an organized or creative way. These things can be physical, natural, or cultural. People in those jobs must think a lot, work with ideas, search for facts and solve problems.

Artistic jobs are all about expressing yourself in a creative way to make visual, performing, written, or applied art. They often involve working with forms, designs and patterns. Most of the time, people in those jobs don’t have to follow clear rules.

Social jobs are all about working with people. This often involves interacting with others to help, care, teach, or inform them.

Enterprising jobs are all about taking action to achieve goals for a group or for yourself. This often involves starting and completing projects. People in those jobs often have to influence, lead and mobilize others. They sometimes also have to take risks and decisions or deal with business.

Conventional jobs are all about following procedures and routines. This may involve tasks like keeping records, filing paperwork and copying documents. It may also involve working with data to organize and process it in a planned way. People in those jobs often have to report to a clear chain of command. They tend to focus more on data and details than ideas.

Interests reflect your preferences for work environments and outcomes. Different jobs require different interests.

Knowledge refers to the understanding of different theories and practices. Different jobs require different knowledge. You need specific knowledge to do tasks and activities in a specific field.