One key way any professional can prove their skills is to share their "skill narratives." This is what you share when you are in job interviews. In other words, if you have a claimed skill, you should be able to discuss how you've specifically applied the skill in the past and describe specific situations where you applied the skill to achieve positive outcomes. You'll notice that when claiming a Skill Badge on CareerPrepped, you are asked two questions - these questions are what you might encounter in a job interview. To write quality responses which help you justify your skill claim, you should...

  1. Spend time reflecting on your experience using the skill before you begin to write your responses. Imagine you are in a job interview with an employer - answer the questions to justify your skill claim as if you were in a job interview. 
  2. Consider what you feel are your best examples demonstrating the claimed abilities that define the skill as well as what portfolio evidence you may have to back up what you say in your responses.
  3. Be specific in your responses. When giving a specific example of when you've demonstrated a skill, describe the situation and/or task, describe the action(s) you took that demonstrate your skill, and describe the positive result(s) achieved. If you are unsure if your examples clearly demonstrate the skill, get feedback from mentors, coaches, teachers, co-workers, supervisors, etc. before writing your responses. Without feedback, it's highly likely your responses are not going to be as strong as they could be. 

Evaluate your written responses to the two interview questions you answered to claim your Skill Badge. Do you meet the criteria below? Meeting the criteria below doesn’t “guarantee” that you have a strong skill narrative, but it will help improve the quality. Have others give feedback using this guide so you can truly understand if others feel your narrative is strong/persuasive.