Qualifications and skills

Why do these matter?

When you think about qualifications you may well think about paper qualifications and exam results. However your skills and experience are equally relevant when it comes to career planning.

Some jobs or courses do require particular qualifications but many do not.

Even when a job asks for certain qualifications, the person who gets the job is likely to have additional life skills and experiences.

What do I need to do?

There are so many ways to get qualifications these days. It does not always mean you have to go back to school. Check out the different options to find one that suits you. You might want to consider:

Part-time study
Distance Learning
Full-time College or University courses

Remember, throughout your life you also develop a range of skills; even if you are not aware of them. Thinking about things you have done and the activities you currently do will help you to identify what you can offer.

For example skills can be:

Verbal communication: talking to/dealing with people
Written communication: writing letters and emails
Dealing with paperwork and numbers
Problem solving: coming up with better ways of doing things
Practical and mechanical: fixing or repairing things
Information technology: using computers

Find out more

Understanding qualifications
Self assessment from the Careers Scotland leaflets series.