Personal Audit

Personal Audit

Personal audit serves as a self-assessment tool to measure an individual’s skills, qualities, knowledge, and areas for improvement. It can often prove useful whilst undertaking work experience in a business environment.

Skills and Talities

  • Hard skills: These are quantifiable and learnt through training or education like proficiency in a foreign language, IT skills, or ability to operate certain machinery.
  • Soft skills: These are interpersonal attributes such as communication skills, leadership, teamwork, and time management. They make you work well with others and enhance your employability.

Knowledge and Understanding

  • Industry knowledge: Familiarity with the industry you’re looking to gain work experience in is crucial. Understand the key players, industry trends and challenges.
  • Company understanding: Knowledge about your potential employer, its values, competitors, and customers can help you stand out from other candidates and add value during your work experience.

Personal Goals

  • Career objectives: Clear goals about where you want your career to take you can guide your work experience choices, helping you choose positions that align with your longer-term ambitions.
  • Personal development: As part of your personal audit, think about non-work-specific goals, like developing leadership skills or building confidence in presenting, that could be achieved through work experience.

Strength and Weakness Analysis

  • Strengths: These are what you do well. They can include knowledge-based skills, transferable skills or personality traits. Be ready to demonstrate and provide examples of these during your work experience.
  • Weaknesses: These can be areas of knowledge or skills you lack, or negative work habits. Identifying them helps you know what to focus on during your work experience.

Carrying out a personal audit before starting work experience enables you to present your best self while being aware of the areas that need attention. It’s a useful practice not only for the immediate work experience but your future career as well.