What are "Essential Skills"? Which Essential Skills will I find here? How do I use the different search tools? What occupations are profiled here? What information is in an occupational profile? What are "Essential Skills"?    Essential Skills are enabling skills that: Help people perform the tasks required by their occupation and other activities of daily life Provide people with a foundation to learn other skills Enhance people's ability to adapt to workplace change Essential Skills are not technical skills but rather the skills people use to carry out a wide variety of everyday life and occupational tasks. For example, writing skills are required in a broad range of occupations. The complexity and frequency of writing varies, of course. Some workers fill out simple forms every day, while others write daily or monthly reports. Workers must have Essential Skills in order to do their work. For example, repair persons may have to read and understand written work orders before they can do the repairs. Workers who have Essential Skills at the levels required for their desired occupations will have enhanced employability. However, other factors such as honesty, persistence and a positive attitude to change also enhance employability. Top Which Essential Skills will I find here? The Essential Skills included here are: Reading Text Document Use Writing Numeracy (Math) Oral Communication Thinking Skills, including:           Problem Solving           Decision Making           Job Task Planning and Organizing           Significant Use of Memory           Finding Information Working with Others Computer Use Continuous Learning The descriptions of Essential Skills in this database consider the full range of use of these skills, from basic to complex. Top How do I use the different search tools? You may have specific information that you're looking for. A few scenarios follow. Try some of these and you will soon get a "feel" for searching the Essential Skills Occupational Profiles. Occupation: I want to see how the Essential Skills are used in a particular occupation. For example, "How do dental assistants use the Essential Skills?" Key Words: I want to search using a key word or key words. For example, "Which occupations require knowledge of geometry? The ability to work with blueprints? Moderate strength?" Most Important Skills: I want to see which occupations rate a particular skill, (e.g, problem solving or writing) as "most important." Skills: I want to search for occupations that use Essential Skills in a particular way. For example, occupations that involve complex decision making, or resolving conflicts, or reading assembly diagrams. Advanced Search: I am familiar with the Essential Skills Database and want to conduct a complex search using detailed elements or multiple search criteria. Top What occupations are profiled here?    There are some 190 occupational profiles currently available at this site. 150 of these profiles refer to occupations that can be entered with a high school diploma or less. There are also some 40 profiles that describe occupations requiring study beyond high school. Additional profiles will be added as they become available. Top What information is in an occupational profile? You may have specific information that you're looking for. A few scenarios follow. Try some of these and you will soon get a "feel" for searching the Essential Skills Occupational Profiles. The Essential Skills Profile for an occupation describes how each Essential Skill is actually used by workers in that occupation. Each Profile contains: Introduction A brief description of the occupation. A list of the most important Essential Skills for that occupation. Reading Text The complexity of the Reading tasks. Some example tasks. A description of how Reading skills are used, in a standardized form (a table). Document Use The complexity of the Document Use tasks. Some example tasks. A description of how Document Use skills are used, in a standardized form (a list). Writing The complexity of the Writing tasks. Some example tasks. A description of how Writing skills are used, in a standardized form (a table). Numeracy The complexity of the Numeracy tasks. Some example tasks. A description of how Numeracy skills are used, in a standardized form (a list). Oral Communication The complexity of the Oral Communication tasks. Some example tasks. A description of how Oral Communication skills are used, in a standardized form (a table). Thinking Skills Problem Solving The complexity of the Problem Solving tasks. Some example tasks. Decision Making The complexity of the Decision Making tasks. Some example tasks. Job Task Planning and Organizing The complexity of the Job Task Planning and Organizing. A description of the Job Task Planning and Organizing. Significant Use of Memory Some example tasks. Finding Information The complexity of the Finding Information tasks. Some example tasks. Working with Others A description of how much Working with Others is required in carrying out their tasks. A description of involvement in supervisory or leadership activities, in a standardized form (a list). Computer Use The complexity of the Computer Use tasks. A description of how Computer Use skills are used, in a standardized form (a list). Continuous Learning A description of their participation in Continuous Learning. A description of how Continuous Learning occurs, in standardized form (a list). Other Information Descriptions of: The Physical.shtmlects of performing the job. The Attitudes that workers feel are needed to do the job well. Future Trends affecting Essential Skills used in that job. Top