During your time at Sheffield University Management School you will have the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills and attributes through your course, your work experience and extracurricular activities. You can reflect on and record these using mySkills.
What is ‘mySkills’? How do I access it?
mySkills is freely available to all University of Sheffield students via Career Connect in MUSE.
It’s a simple online tool that you can use to find out where your strengths lie, set development goals and create a unique skills portfolio that will be invaluable when writing your CV, answering tricky application form questions or preparing for interviews in the future.
Why use mySkills?
Here’s what some of our students say about mySkills:
- “It is a great way to have an overview of how much you have actually learned and be proud of yourself”.
- “It helps to reflect on your own skills in a way you normally would not, enabling you to easily identify areas for improvement”.
- “It’s a good tool to have as all of your development experiences are in one place and if you add them throughout the year/your degree, you don’t have to think of things you did years ago when writing a CV/applying for jobs”.
Evidence of skills development, self-awareness and reflection on your experiences is highly valued by recruiters. You will need to describe your skills and achievements, showcase them and summarise what you have learned from them in applications for placements, internships and jobs as well as further study. All of this will be much easier if you’ve already used the mySkills tool – and you won’t forget any of the fantastic skills you have to offer.
mySkills will also help you to prepare for conversations with your tutor or other advisers, and to complete any assignments that include reflective practice.
Getting started with mySkills
Complete the skills assessment, based on the Sheffield Graduate Attributes, by choosing which of the 5 statements best describes your current understanding or skill level.
- Allow about 20 minutes to complete.
- Be honest – your answers should reflect the real you.
- You are not expected to be brilliant at everything!
For a quick summary, watch: How to get started with mySkills (2 min 26 sec)
Goal setting and skills development
When you’ve finished the skills assessment you’ll see a mySkills profile based on your answers.
- Get to know your strengths.
- Review your skills – what do you want to improve?
- Be realistic about your goals.
- Use resource Pathways to help develop skills
For a quick summary, watch: Goal setting and skills development (2 min 4 sec)
Reflecting and recording personal development
Once you’ve created your profile and set goals, start to build a record of your experiences.
- Reflect on skills developed during your course, extra-curricular activities, work experiences or life in general.
- Use the simple log in My development experiences to record how you used your skills.
- Note how you felt or what you might do differently next time.
- Use this portfolio to help you write your CV, answer tricky application form questions, prepare for interviews or write reflective assignments on your course.
For a quick summary, watch:
Reflecting and recording personal development (2 min 36 sec)
Using mySkills to help write a CV or fill out an application form (5 min 42 sec)
Using mySkills to help you prepare for an interview (6 mins 23 sec)
Reviewing your progress
Regularly review your personal development, perhaps annually.
- Retake the skills assessment in Review your progress.
- Compare progress charts in My history.
- Check your progress towards skills development goals and give your confidence a boost.
- Identify skills to focus on for future development.
For a quick summary, watch: Reviewing your progress (2 min 11 sec)
Continue using mySkills after you graduate
You can continue to use mySkills after you graduate, just register as a graduate on Career Connect for uninterrupted access.
Get started now
Get started now – go to Career Connect and click on the mySkills link.