PREMIUM – Discover your own competences, really

PREMIUM provides you with great opportunities to work on your own skills. However, before you start working on them, you should know what they are. This is why the workshop ‘Discover your own competences’ provided a perfect starting point for my PREMIUM experience.

I think everyone has a general idea of what their own weaknesses are, but have you really thought about your own strengths, about the things that set you apart, make you different? I can admit that before the workshop, I had always concentrated on the negative aspects. Already while doing the preparation for the workshop, I realised I needed to get into a completely different mindset. I had to think about my competences, how they make me different, what I want to achieve with them. Getting into this mindset made me realise that I had approached my career prospects in a completely wrong way. I needed to think of what I have to offer, instead of focusing on what I need in order to get hired. It may sound simple, but I can honestly say that I had never thought of it from that perspective.

Not only did this workshop provide me with a better understanding of my own strengths and how I can apply these in my future career prospects, it gave me a better view of how others perceive me. I think most of us during the workshop were surprised of the qualities others saw in us, myself included. The workshop provided an opportunity to reflect on my own strengths, and further realise that not only sometimes you yourself forget about your strengths, others may see some in you you did not even know you had.

The workshop was a great experience to start thinking about my career from a positive point of view. What can I offer in a professional setting? What are my strengths? How do others perceive them? Even if you do not get the chance to attend this workshop, these are questions that are worth thinking about. Maybe even ask your friends or family what they see as your strengths, their answers may surprise you!

Written by Kia Likitalo (FASoS)

PREMIUM Student 2017-2018