Employers value all experience where students developed or demonstrated a skill. Paid experience as well as unpaid experience. Local as well as international.
On this page you can find examples of skills developed in all aspects of your life.
See skills developed through…
Attending School
Class Projects
Skills like:
- Collaboration,
- Communication (writing/speaking)
- Negotiating,
- Organizational,
- Teamwork,
- Time Management,
Employer Requirement
Teamwork/collaboration
How it is used in the position
Collaborate with cross functional team to ensure that all project milestones are met, and timely status updates are provided to internal and external stakeholders.
From academic work
Collaborated on group project to complete separate sections of written report, as well as to prepare and deliver oral presentation.
Labs
Life science labs
Social science labs
Skills like:
- Data analysis,
- Executing detailed instructions or protocols,
- Organizational,
- Report writing,
Employer Requirement
Report writing
How it is used in the position
Document lab reports every time after experiments and cleaned all the experimental lab areas to ensure safety
From academic work
Wrote a 30 page paper to demonstrate the lab report writing and synthetic chemistry elements analysis, and received an A (90%)
Field course / experience
Skills like:
- Coordinating
- Data collection
- Evaluating
- Organizing
Employer Requirement
Evaluate
How it is used in the position
Examines, evaluates and prepares condition reports where required for incoming and outgoing specimens, including photographing specimens.
From field course
Examined, evaluated and photographed over 40 artifacts collected from an archaeological site as part of my archaeological fieldwork course.
Arts CCIT Commerce Computer Science Science
In additional to the examples look at UTM Program Plans or the UTM Career Centre Careers by Major for ideas about skills developed and specific knowledge gained in your academic program of study.
Interests and hobbies
Pursuing an interest or hobby demonstrates you have passions and drive to learn something new, to develop new skills or highlight personal attributes. (Attributes such as self-discipline, self-motivation, self-starter.)
Things like
Archery
Drawing/painting
Gaming
Music
Photography
Playing sports
Writing
Skills like:
- Analytical
- Communication,
- Coordination,
- Creativity
- Goal setting
- Pattern recognition
- Problem solving
Employer Requirement
Analytical skill
How it is used in the position
Conduct research about competitor's products to determine possible new product offerings.
From interest or hobby
Read online product reviews and attended photography workshops to determine which camera would meet my nature photography needs.
Familiarity with social media platforms
Provide input on the optimization of talent profiles across various social media platforms for maximum visibility.
Curated and grew own social media presence on both X and Instagram, focusing on women empowerment within the physical and mental health spaces.
Teamwork
Working in a team to provide excellent customer service.
Played basketball on a team of eight players of various skill levels.
Training
Train new employees on customer service standards.
Coached teammates on various basketball skills and led practice.
Those volunteer hours have enabled you to develop and enhance a variety of skills, both specific like marketing or transferrable such as time management.
Where:
Community groups,
Organized sports leagues
Religious groups
Non-Profit organizations
Skills like:
- Fundraising,
- Marketing,
- Organizational,
- Planning,
- Supervisory,
- Time management
Employer Requirement
supervisory
How it is used in the position
Overall responsibility for four part-time employees.
From volunteer work
At the community centre I coordinate the shifts and workload of the other volunteers according to the centre's needs.
Resources
Need help identifying experience?
If you need additional help with how to identify relevant experience, or how to describe and tailor your experiences for your application, Career Centre employment strategist can assist you. Book an appointment through CLNx.
Build Skills While at UTM
Learn about and take advantage of the many on-campus opportunities, jobs on-campus and joining student groups (Centre for Student Engagement and UTMSU). The Centre for Student Engagement also offers many opportunities both on-campus and off-campus.
- Take a look at the Career Ready video to see the key skills employers look for and where you can develop them
- To learn about the skills and knowledge gained through your course-work use the Skills Articulation Module Series. Use the self-enrolment link https://q.utoronto.ca/enroll/FAHHLL then select Modules scroll down to Assess Yourself.
- Review the Program Plan for your program for ideas about...
- Use your time at UTM to build your skills and knowledge. Take a look at Career Planning by Year for ideas.
Skills Training
If you are looking to develop specific technical and non-technical skills, you can take courses online and in-person. Here are a few suggestions (note: need to expand list with descriptions and links):
UTM Training Resources
- ICUBE – the ICUBE has many resources to help students who wish to develop their entrepreneurship skills including training, mentorship opportunities and grants.
- Li Koon Chun Finance Learning Centre – the LKFLC has resources for students interested in finance, investing, economics and business. This include workshops on finance software such as Bloomberg.
- Open UToronto This is a collection of free online courses on topics including introductory C
- Program for Accessing Research Program (PART) The PART program offers training and hands-on experience on a variety of research topics. This training will help prepare you for various on-campus research opportunities including ROP’s and Work Study.
Online Training Resources
LinkedIn Information
Current Students: As a current student at the University of Toronto, you have access to LinkedIn Learning, an online learning resource with high-quality instructional videos taught by recognized experts. Using your UTORid to log in, you may choose from more than 1,400 online self-paced courses that cover a wide range of topics, including business, IT, software and design. The LinkedIn Learning platform is available to any current student or employee at the University. For more details, please visit https://lnkd.in/gf85Mmv
UTM Alumni: UTM Alumni may get access to FREE LinkedIn Learning, See UTM Alumni page for information about career development and lifelong learning.
Recent Graduates: Many public libraries provide access to LinkedIn Learning. If you no longer a student and are interested in LinkedIn Learning, we recommend that you contact your local library to see if they provide free access.
- City of Mississauga Libraries - https://web.mississauga.ca/library/research-and-learn/
- City of Toronto Libraries - https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/elearning/
- If you have any questions about how to communicate your skills or develop new ones, you can set up an appointment with an Employment Strategist.
Resources to identify skills
Use this worksheet to identify the skills you have gained through all your experiences.
» Skills Articulation Worksheet
Learn how to identify and analyze the many skills what you’ve gained in your course work, which can then be highlighted on your resume.