Identifying and articulating competence

Studying is easier when you know and can identify what you are good at and how to make the most of your competence in your study life. Competence comes in many forms, from interactive and problem-solving skills to emotional and self-reflection skills, and it is generated everywhere, not only in studies and work, but also in our free time.

Opiskelija parvekkeella keräämässä ansioitaan yhteen

By identifying your strengths and ways of working, you can streamline your studies: you will be able to, for example, work in ways that suit you best and set goals that support your personal growth. In addition, identifying your competences will help you to focus on your future working life after your studies.

What does competence consist of?

Competence is a multidimensional concept, covering a wide range of knowledge and skills, attitudes and intent, as well as experiences and networks (see Osaamiskäsi (in Finnish), Jamk).

Competences can be divided into, for example, generic and field-specific competences.

Generic competence covers skills that are transferable and applicable to different situations and disciplines. In other words, they are general competences that are not linked to a specific profession or task, but are needed in every field and that you have already acquired in a wide range of situations and contexts.

These competences include the following:

Communication and interaction skills
Cooperation and teamwork skills
Critical thinking
Creativity
Multilingual and intercultural interaction competence
Skills to learn and adopt new things
Digital skills
Language skills
Tolerance of uncertainty
Argumentation skills
Problem-solving skills
Self management
Time management

There is currently a lot of discussion about “future work skills”, which are usually seen as consisting of generic skills.

In addition to generic skills, you also have substance competence, that is, knowledge and skills related to the field you are studying. You build these up during your studies, for example through courses, internships, voluntary work in your field and professional networks. Field-specific skills include, for example, mastering the theoretical basis of your field and the expertise you have acquired through work experience.

Identifying competence

Once you have an overview of the different types of competences that exist, your next task is to find out which ones you have. Try to identify your own competences as broadly and from as many perspectives as possible. Once you have identified your competences, it is a good idea to think about how you can put them into words in the most concrete way possible.

Lookout (in Finnish) is a tool developed by Humak, the University of Jyväskylä, Gradia and Jamk University of Applied Sciences with the purpose of supporting the identification of one’s own competences.

As you may have already noticed, generic competence is quite broad and wide-ranging. This makes the identification of generic competences particularly important, as you are going to need skills related to them, regardless of what you are currently studying or what kind of job you end up in in the future.

You may have already developed your generic competences virtually anywhere: at home, at school, in your studies, at work, in your hobbies or otherwise in your free time. However, it is not always straightforward to identify generic competences. To outline your generic competences, you can start by answering the following questions.

What kind of things do you enjoy doing? What gives you energy?
What are the things you are able to do without too much effort? What are you good at?
What have you been praised for by others? Ask people close to you directly how they would describe, for example, the way you work or interact.

If you still find it difficult to identify your generic competences, you can also use tests to support the process, for example the Via Institute On Character’s Strength Survey.

Your substance competence is much more specific and personal than your generic competence. You can try to identify your competences specific to your field of study by thinking about the following questions.

What skills have the courses you have taken developed? You can make use of course titles, descriptions and objectives, for example.
If you have been on an internship, what did you learn and what kind of experience did you gain?
How would you describe your expertise to someone who is not from your field?
What are the most important things you have learnt in your education so far?

Articulating and conretising competence

Once you have managed to identify your various competences, it is useful to be able to articulate them verbally. Putting your competences and talents into words is a way of communicating them to others. This is useful, for example, when applying for a job.

When articulating your competences, you should aim to be concrete. Instead of saying that you have “strong interaction skills”, you could describe how you can pose questions and give feedback in a way that promotes cooperation and understanding, or how you can negotiate and resolve conflicts constructively and listen to the opinions of others in an equal way. You can describe your teamwork skills, for example, by describing a study-related project in which your skills were developed and what your assessment of progress is based on. Instead of referring to “good language skills”, you can describe what you are able to do with your language skills, like expressing ideas and opinions, actively listening to other language users and using the appropriate language register in a particular situation.

Sources and further information for the Academic study skills website

Identifying and articulating competence

Table of contents

What does competence consist of?

Generic competence

Field-specific skills

Identifying competence

Identifying generic competence

Identifying field-specific competence

Articulating and conretising competence

Academic study skills