Articulate - Office of Postdoctoral Affairs - The Graduate School

Keep Track of Your Experiences

Three Big Reasons

Realize how many skills & qualities you actually have.
Remember when and how you showed those strengths.
Articulate your relevant strengths in context to employers.

Strengths

Skills, Qualities, and Expertise that are unique to you. Use your experiences as evidence of how you demonstrated them.

Experiences

You’ve used your strengths all along. Your experiences are full of evidence of your strengths. Think about everything you've done in school, work, volunteering, participating in extracurricular activities, taking on personal projects, or even facing big challenges in your life. They have helped shape you and your strengths.

Here is A SIMPLE strengths log to get you started

HERE IS A DETAILED STRENGTHS LOG WITH EXAMPLES

Are you missing any relevant skills?

Find experiences to develop the skills you need.

Leadership, communication, collaboration, organization, etc. are very valued by employers generally. They look for a candidate who will fit well with their team or department and is ready to collaborate, share insights, and bring value. If you see that positions of interest require skills you haven’t developed, look into these options for gaining or improving them:

Take free/inexpensive online courses offered by many top universities. Here is a list, one among many.
Shadow someone you know who practices the skill(s) you need.
Volunteer time in a lab where you can gain a certain skill while providing value through the skills you already have.
Volunteer with UPDA: organize events, invite speakers, propose/implement activities, and solve problems. Find UPDA here.
Seek an active role in your field’s professional associations (campus chapter, regional, national).
Join outreach opportunities offered by your department—or initiate one.
Gain experience in any context that can develop needed skills: many are transferable.

Articulate Your Strengths Through Experiences