Skills Matrix__________ ________________________________________________

No matter what field you have worked in, your skills will be as relevant as your experience and knowledge
when it comes to identifying positions of interest to you and marketing yourself to a potential employer. While it
is important to demonstrate WHAT you know, it is vital that you are able to articulate the SKILLS you possess,
the VALUE you added in previous positions, and the positive OUTCOMES you achieved through your work.

Whether you gained skills through work, volunteer positions, or extra curricular activities, your ability to show
your best qualities on your resume and cover letter and in interviews will set you apart from those you are
competing with. We know from discussions with employers that they are looking for some key skills. By
demonstrating skills gained through experiences accompanied by a solid knowledge base and positive
outcomes, you are providing an employer every reason to want to consider you as a potential candidate.

Determining your own skills can take a great deal of time and self-reflection. To perform the exercise efficiently,
you should not rely only on your most current work or volunteer experiences. Reflect upon the positions you
have held, the activities you have engaged in, the barriers you have overcome, the teams you worked with in
all of your past experiences, and what you enjoy doing to gain a clear picture of the value you can bring to a
prospective employer.

• Employment background • Performance appraisals

• Accomplishments • Publications, products, or research
• Training and education • Presentations made to key individuals
• Special assignments, responsibilities, or • Honors/awards within the past three years
positions

Sample Skills – this list will give you a starting point to develop your list of skills.
Analytical Thinking Problem-Solving Goal Oriented Interpersonal
Leadership Decision Making Cultural Sensitivity Risk Taking
Creativity Information-Gathering Implementation Enthusiasm
Flexibility Ability to Delegate Communication Organization
Mentoring Strategic Thinking Capacity to learn Quantitative

The Skills Matrix

The skills matrix will help you identify the essential elements you need to develop bullet statements for your
resume as well as provide examples for you to cite in cover letters and interviews. By formulating statements
which contain each of the essential elements, you are answering the questions employers will have about how
you can best meet their needs. You are directly marketing what you have to offer to match the needs of their
position which is the objective of an effective resume, cover letter, and interview.

Create your own matrix. You should provide multiple examples for each skill so that you will have many
different examples of your skills to use in different ways. Consider experiences you have had through work as
well as volunteer or extra-curricular activities.

*Developed by: Sarah Minnis—Mays School of Business/Texas A&M University

**Customized for students at University of Kentucky
SKILLS MATRIX FORMAT_______________________________________________

CURRENT CAREER GOAL: Seeking a role in project management and/or events coordination.

WHAT did you do? HOW did you do it? WHY did you do it? What was the RESULT?
Focus on Focus on Focus on value Focus on positive
SKILL task/function. skills/method used. added. outcome.
(S/T) (A) (A) (R)

Increased quality and

Researched To provide SOP
consistency of
industry standards, for new CS reps
Wrote customer customer service
Written assembled data and document
service manual for efforts, reduced
Communication into clear and policies and
startup client complaints, and
concise format, and procedures for job
increased customer
customized text specs
satisfaction by 30%

Written
Example #2 Example #2 Example #2 Example #2
Communication

Written
Example #3 Example #3 Example #3 Example #3
Communication

Project
Example #1 Example #1 Example #1 Example #1
Management

Project
Example #2 Example #2 Example #2 Example #2
Management

Project
Example #3 Example #3 Example #3 Example #3
Management

Implementation Example #1 Example #1 Example #1 Example #1

Implementation Example #2 Example #2 Example #2 Example #2

Implementation Example #3 Example #3 Example #3 Example #3

After you have completed your matrix, you can begin selecting the best examples to fit the position to which
you are applying to draft your resume, cover letter, and interview preparation. Because you will change your
resume to market your experience to each specific position, this matrix should provide you with ample
examples to offer. As you gain more experience and develop your skills, you can add to your matrix over time.
In this way, you will continue to develop self-marketing statements which will set you apart from other
candidates by clearly demonstrating what you have to offer an employer.

*Developed by: Sarah Minnis—Mays School of Business/Texas A&M University

**Customized for students at University of Kentucky
SKILLS MATRIX TEMPLATE_____________________________________________

CURRENT CAREER GOAL:

WHAT did you do? HOW did you do it? WHY did you do it? What was the RESULT?
Focus on Focus on Focus on value Focus on positive
SKILL
task/function. skills/method used. added. outcome.
(S/T) (A) (A) (R)

*Developed by: Sarah Minnis—Mays School of Business/Texas A&M University

**Customized for students at University of Kentucky