To sell yourself in the job market you need to have a good grasp of what exactly it is you're selling.  That is especially true when you are moving from one career to another, not just to convince other people that you  have lots of transferable skills, but also to convince yourself.  The exercises below are designed to help you trawl through your life in detail, leaving no stone unturned in the search for all that you have to offer.

Your life to date

Take a large piece of paper and place it lengthways in front of you.  Depending on how old you are and how eventful your life has been, you may like to take two or more pieces of A4 and tape them together in a row.  Draw a long horizontal line to denote your life, and starting at the beginning of the line on the left, write the word ‘birth'.  Then moving from left to right, in chronological order, write down every major landmark or change in your life, from your birth to the present.  Include any geographical moves, life events, and changes in terms of education or job.  Once you have your full history on paper, start with your early years, and take a moment to imagine yourself back the body of the younger you. 

At each stage ask yourself:  

Where am I?

What is going on in my family, education/work, leisure/social life?

What am I experiencing and learning?

What am I achieving?

What are the expectations/influences on me?

What choices am I making, and why?

Is there anything unusual or remarkable about my life at this point?

Make a note of anything significant that emerges from this process.

The QuAKE Review

The QuAKE Review looks at your assets under four main headings:

Qualifications

Abilities and skills

Knowledge

Experience 

Qualifications

Looking at your time line, write below every qualification or objective sign of success that you have picked up along the way:

Certificates

School exam passes and grades

Music/drama/dance exams

Sports medals, certificates

Prizes and awards

Entry to schools/college

Diplomas

Degrees

Completion of courses

Abilities and Skills

Assess your abilities and skills by giving each item in the list a score between 1-5 where:
1 =  poor
2 =  below average
3 =  average
4 =  good
5 =  very good

                                                 Score     Want to use   Want To develop

Establishing rapport with people  __

Networking                               __

Keeping fit                               __

Hand-eye coordination              __

 Manual dexterity                      __

Fixing things                             __

Analysing data                          __ 

Computer skills                         __ 

Problem-solving                        __ 

Advising                                   __ 

Understanding people                __ 

Listening to people                    __ 

Research and evaluation            __ 

Analysing options                       __

Having new ideas                       __ 

Inventing new ways of doing
things                                       __

Seeing things in original ways      __ 

Developing theories                   __

Making decisions                        __

Using tools or machines              __

Caring for people, physically        __

Maths/statistics                          __

Driving (car, boat, motorbike)      __

Sports                                       __

Assembling things                      __

Analysing problems/situations      __

Finding out how things work         __

Reading or searching for facts      __

Committee work                         __

Fund-raising                               __

Organising events                       __

Self-awareness                           __

Having insight/intuition               __

Implementing others' ideas        __

Playing an instrument                 __

Editing                                      __

Composing music                       __

Selling/marketing                       __

Explaining complex concepts        __

Painting, sculpture                      __

Writing                                       __

Taking photographs                    __

Making friends                            __

Managing projects                        __ 

Staying calm in a crisis                 __

Playing a particular game              __

Creating a happy work
environment                                 __

Interior decorating                         __

Negotiation                                   __

Planning                                       __

Checking detail and accuracy            __

Managing money                            __

Manipulating numbers                     __

Drawing meaning out of facts/
observations                                  __

Improvising/adapting                      __       

Leading                                         __

Making money                               __

Team work                                     __

Setting up a business                       __

Customer care                                 __

Getting jobs                                    __

Being interviewed                            __

Interviewing                                    __

Assessing people's strengths             __

Teaching/training                             __ 

Performing in front of people             __ 

Motivating people                             __ 

Making people laugh                         __ 

Mediation/diplomacy                         __ 

Getting things done                           __ 

Making new things happen                 __

Communicating through speech          __

Self-motivation                                  __

Personal development                        __

Writing action plans                            __

Inspiring love                                     __

Inspiring admiration                           __

Perseverance                                     __

Planning strategically                          __

Do things requiring physical strength     __

Organising events                               __

Administration                                    __

Dancing                                             __

Financial investment                            __

Initiating                                            __

Completing tasks                                __

Time management                              __

Being positive                                     __

Being flexible                                     __ 

Planning systems                                __

Entertaining                                        __

Multi-tasking                                       __ 

Being popular                                      __

Being precise                                       __

Seeing the best in people                      __

Imagination and vision                          __

Being flexible/adaptable                        __

Inspiring people                                    __

Being wise                                             __

Being kind                                             __

Showing appreciation                              __

Other skills                                             __

If you have some important skills that are not here, add them to the list.

Now take a highlighter and mark all the skills where you have scored 4 or 5. These are likely to be the areas where you have natural talent, and where acquiring skills therefore comes easily. For each of these, in the next column, put a tick if you would like to use the skill in the future, and in the final column, mark if you would like to develop the skill even more.

Now highlight, in a different colour, any skills that have scored 3.  These are areas where you have adequate skills.  While you may find some natural talents among these skills, that your life has not so far allowed you to develop, these are more likely to be skills you have acquired, and probably ones that you have found to be necessary in your day to day life.

Finally, scan through the skills where you have scored below average and notice your reaction to these. 

Summarising your abilities and skills

Take a pen and paper now, and write down your abilities and skills under the following headings.

Areas where my abilities/skills are above average

Areas where my abilities/skills are adequate

Areas I find genuinely difficult

Abilities/skills I have avoided because of my beliefs about them

Abilities/skills I would like to use in the future

Abilities skills I would like to develop further

Skills may be grouped in various ways.  Here are some examples:

O:    Organisation (management, getting things done, action)  

P:     People (communication, caring, getting on with, persuading, leading) 

PS:   Personal strengths (personal development, being cheerful, being positive, staying calm in a crisis, being flexible, self-motivation)

A:     Analytical (numbers, data, research, problem-solving)

PP :  Practical/physical (precision, detail, fixing things, using tools, dexterity, physical strength)

I:       Intuition/innovation/creativity  (Ideas, possibilities, big picture)

Looking at the skills in the summary, mark each one with the appropriate letter, and ask yourself, in which group of abilities/skills are my main strengths?

In which areas am I less skilled?

Knowledge and experience

Building on the previous exercises, consider your life history and record below the knowledge and experience you have gained at each stage of your life.  This may concern geography, schooling, religion, parental occupation, position in your family, places your talents have taken you, life events, etc.

So what are your assets?

Now write a paragraph summarising who you are, what you've done, and what you have to offer.

Let us know how you did - leave your comments below.

This article is based on a chapter in Anita Houghton's recently published book:

Finding Square Holes: discover who you are and find the perfect career.  Published by Crown House. £9.99.

Copies may ordered from www.workinglives.co.uk,  where you can also order an accompanying e-workbook.