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Auditing your skills
A good place to start taking stock of your strengths and weaknesses is by thinking through what skills you have already which will be useful in your doctorate and identify ones that you need to develop or hone.
The research councils have identified a number of skill areas that they think are particularly important for completing a doctorate and pursuing a research career. This framework (the Joint Skills Statement) is an excellent starting point for your own skills audit. We have turned the Joint Skills Statement into a quick self-evaluation exercise to identify the skills that you have already and where you can develop them.
Reflecting on your strengths and weaknesses will help you to function more effectively.
You may wish to think about:
- your learning style
- how you function in a team
- your personality type.
There are lots of professional self-assessment tools which are designed to help you reflect on your attributes and aptitudes and you may find some of these useful. You may find that your university offers you opportunities to think about your strengths and weaknesses through training courses or other developmental opportunities.
You never fully complete your development. There is always room for more, so set priorities based on your areas of weakness and what skills you require for your doctorate, life and career.
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