Start with the Essential Skills Profile that most closely relates to the job you want to describe
Please note that profiles should be printed in Landscape.
Specific jobs may differ from the general description developed for their occupation. Look over the Essential Skills Profile and select those parts that describe what the job is to include in your company or organization. If the job relates to more than one occupation (for example, a secretary who is also a receptionist), you may want to review and select elements from more than one Essential Skills Profile
Essential Skills Profiles focus on the nine Essential Skills, though they may refer to tasks that also involve the use of technical skills.More information about the other skills and tasks associated with an occupation can be found through the links to additional resources that are found at the end of each Essential Skills Profile.
Using Essential Skills Profiles for deciding what skills to look for when hiring:
Start with the Essential Skills Profile that most closely relates to the job you want to fill
Please note that profiles should be printed in Landscape.
Show me how to find the Essential Skills Profile for a particular job.
Specific jobs may differ from the general description developed for their occupation. Review the Essential Skills Profile to identify tasks that you will want the successful job candidate to be able to do. If the job relates to more than one occupation (for example, a secretary who is also a receptionist), you may want to review and select tasks from more than one Essential Skills Profile. In hiring, you may want to seek evidence that candidates:
- Have done such tasks before, or
- Can demonstrate to you their ability to do such tasks, or
- Have demonstrated that they have the required skills (reading, oral communication, problem solving, etc.) at an adequate level to allow them to perform these tasks or learn to perform them in a time frame acceptable to you.
Information on other skills to look for can be found through the links to additional resources that are found at the end of each Essential Skills Profile.
Attitudes are also important for employment success. Some ideas on what you might want to look for there are found in the Other Information section near the end of each Essential Skills Profile
If you want to test to assess some of the Essential Skills, you may be interested in the Test of Workplace Essential Skills, TOWES.
This test uses authentic workplace materials and authentic tasks that reflect how reading, document use and numeracy skills are used in the workplace.
Using the profiles when developing staff training plans:
Start with the Essential Skills Profile that most closely relates to the current job of the employee for whom a training plan is being developed.
Please note that profiles should be printed in Landscape.
Show me how to find the Essential Skills Profile for a particular job.
Are there skill areas that are relevant to the job where the employee is, or feels, in need of improvement? Employees might view the strength of their skills in reading, document use and numeracy more realistically after visiting How Do Your Skills Measure Up?
If the job relates to more than one occupation (for example, a secretary who is also a receptionist), you may want to review the skills used in more than one Essential Skills Profile. You might also want to review the skills used in the next job the employee is likely to move on to. If the job the employee will move to will require skills or skill levels he or she is not using in his or her current job, training could be beneficial.
If you are considering whether or not training in reading, document use or numeracy is required in your company on a broader scale, you might want to make use of skills assessment tools, such as TOWES.
How Can I Find the Essential Skills Profile for a Particular Job?
To find the Essential Skills Profile for a particular job, you can search using Occupation. Within that search, use Search by Occupation Title. That will allow you to enter any common name for the job of interest to you and either find the Profile you need or be given a list of Profiles from which you can then choose. You might want to enter a general term first, like "clerk", and then make your selection from the list you are given. Even terms related to an industrial sector, such as "fish", can be used to get a list of occupations that might contain what you are looking for.
- For the remaining three "How could I use it" sections:
We do not expect employers to make use of this part of our site. The Occupational Profiles are expected to be of greater interest to employers.
Ideas for Using the Readers' Guide to Essential Skills Profiles
This part of the site will not likely be of interest to employers.
Ideas for Using the Authentic Workplace Materials
This part of the site will not likely be of interest to employers.
View the User Guide to Authentic Workplace Materials
