Business English - Identifying Your Key Skills and Career Goals

Activity 1: Let's Get Started! (Warm-up)

Think about this: Why is it good to know what you are good at? Why is it good to have work goals? How can this help you find a job?

Activity 2: New Words (Vocabulary)

Here are some new English words. These words will help us talk about your skills and what you want to do for work.

Your Good Skills (Key Skills): Things you are good at doing that can help you get a job or do well in work.

Example: Knowing your good skills helps you tell people what you can do well at an interview.

Work Goals (Career Goals): What you want to do or achieve in your job in the future, like getting a better position.

Example: Having clear work goals helps you choose the right job and work towards it.

Skills You Need to Learn (Skill Gap): A skill that a job needs, but you don't have yet, or need to improve.

Example: If a job needs computer skills and you don't have them, that's a skill you need to learn.

Skills for Many Jobs (Transferable Skills): Skills that you can use in many different types of jobs, not just one.

Example: Talking well with people is a skill for many jobs, like sales, teaching, or customer service.

Knowing Yourself (Self-Assessment): Thinking about what you like to do, what you are good at, and what is not so easy for you.

Example: Knowing yourself well helps you find a job that you will like and be good at.

Your Plan (Action Plan): The steps you will take to get the job you want or to learn a new skill.

Example: You should make your plan to learn new things that will help you get a better job.

Activity 3 (Reading)

Let's read about Alex. He just finished school and is thinking about jobs.

Alex just finished school. He was not sure what kind of job he wanted to find. First, he did some knowing yourself. He made a list of his good skills. He was good at solving problems, which he learned in his math class. He was good at working with other people from his time on the sports team. He was also good at writing clear sentences. These are all skills for many jobs.

Next, Alex thought about what he really liked to do. He found out that he liked working with computers and he also liked helping people. So, his main work goal became to find a job helping people with their computer problems. However, he saw that some of these jobs wanted skills with a special computer program that he didn't know yet. This was a skill he needed to learn.

So, Alex made his plan. He decided to take a short class to learn about that computer program. He also looked for places where he could help out as a volunteer to use his computer and talking skills. This clear plan made Alex feel much better and more confident about finding a good job.

Think about the story:

What was the first thing Alex did to help him find out what kind of job he wanted?
What was Alex's main work goal? What was a skill he needed to learn to reach his goal?
What was in Alex's plan to help him get ready for finding a job?

Activity 4: Role Play

Read this dialogue with a partner. One person is Maya (who is looking for a job), and the other is David (a career coach who helps people with jobs).

Maya (Job Seeker): Hi David, I want to find a new job, but I am not sure what my good skills are. Can you help me?

David (Career Coach): Hi Maya! Yes, that's okay. Let's start by doing some knowing yourself. What things do you like to do, or what things do you do well?

Maya (Job Seeker): Well, I am good at planning parties for my friends. People also tell me that I explain things very well. Are these skills for many jobs?

David (Career Coach): Yes, those are great skills! Now, let's think about your work goals. What kind of job do you want to have in a few years?

Maya (Job Seeker): I want to be a team leader one day. But I think I have a skill I need to learn about how to lead people in a team.

David (Career Coach): That's good to know. We can make your plan for that. Maybe you can take a short class about leading, or you can help lead a small project to learn.

After reading, discuss: What is one easy way Maya can find out more about her good skills today?

Activity 5: Let's Practice

Objective: Practice using the new vocabulary about knowing your skills and work goals.

Scenario: Sara (the learner) is talking to her teacher, Mr. Lee, about her plans for finding a job.

Mr. Lee: Sara, how are you thinking about your future job? What are your first steps?

Sara: I'm starting by doing some to understand what I'm good at and what I really like to do.

Mr. Lee: That's a very good first step. What have you found out about yourself so far?

Sara: I've made a list of some of , like being an organized person and being able to speak English well.

Mr. Lee: Excellent. And have you thought about what you want to achieve in your work in the future? What are your aims?

Sara: Yes, I have some . I think I want to work in an office and help customers with their questions.

Mr. Lee: That's a clear goal. Do you feel you have all the abilities needed right now, or is there anything new you might need to learn for that?

Sara: I think I might have a when it comes to using some of the common office computer programs.

Mr. Lee: Recognizing that is very useful. Many of your current abilities, like being a friendly person, are that will definitely help you in any job you choose.

Sara: That's good to hear! So, I need to make for how I am going to learn those new computer programs.

Try to fill in the blanks with appropriate words or phrases from this lesson!