If you are interested in investigating possible careers from the comfort of your home or are interested in trying to figure out how to strategically break-into a hot industry, I’d highly recommend exploring the competency models created by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Employment and Training Administration in collaboration with various industries leading professional associations. This site offers the competencies needed to grow one’s career in a variety of hot industries.

As a job seeker, the competency models offer hints on the knowledge, skills and abilities you should posses in order to land a job in your selected industry – even at the entry-level.

Demonstrating workplace competencies, even at the entry-level, enables you to be one step ahead of others who are also trying to break-into your chosen hot industry. You may be able to demonstrate necessary skills or abilities -- even if they were gained while being the treasurer of your sorority or your condo association board member. In fact, many skills and abilities gained or honed in one situation can be applied effectively in another situation. You just need to package your skills in abilities in a way that will be attractive to employers in your desired industry. In other words, make it easy for a future employer to see what an outstanding fit you are for the job!

Let’s me illustrate how these competency models can be used to help you stand out in the pile of resumes. For this illustration, let’s pretend you are interested in an entry level job in the field of Energy. Go to the Energy Competency Model.

While you might not be able to demonstrate your excellence in “nuclear generation” (an advanced-level competency) you may be able to demonstrate your skills with “safety awareness and quality control” and “continuous improvement” (both lower-level competencies). How? Perhaps while you were in college you spent a few semesters as a work-study student in Public Safety and worked on a campus-wide safety awareness campaign. Or, maybe you were part of a continuous improvement team for customer service when you worked your part-time job at a clothing store at the mall.

In both of these examples, you are working in unrelated industries but demonstrating competencies valued in the Energy industry.

Showing a better alignment with the competencies needed and having an awareness of what it takes to be successful will help you stand out from others who are also seeking opportunities in the same hot industry.

Paula