Guide to Workforce Skills Assessment Instruments

Guide to Workforce Skills Assessment Instruments

1. What do we mean by “skills”?

   • In the broadest sense, skills are the capabilities, competencies, qualities, talents, and in some cases, knowledge, that characterize individuals. In the context of the workforce, special emphasis is placed on the skill set or dimensions of skill that enable individuals perform successfully in the labor market.

2. Cognitive, socioemotional, and technical skills

   • skills are divided into three categories: cognitive, socioemotional, and technical.
     • Cognitive, socioemotional, and technical skills
       • socioemotional
         • Their definition is related to the characterization of jobs or occupations, the competency profile required for a certain type of job, and the description of the tasks performed in the different occupations.
           • Thinking skills
             • Thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, seeing things in the mind’s eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning.
       • technical
         • skills associated with an individual’s personal qualities, attitudes, beliefs, personality traits, and behavior.
           • Personal qualities
             • Individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, selfmanagement, integrity, and honesty.
       • cognitive
         • associated with cognition and biological intelligence potential, or IQ (fluid intelligence), and acquired knowledge (crystallized intelligence).
           • Basic skills
             • Reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking, and listening.

3. Definition of work skills

   • skill set considered “essential,” “basic,” or “fundamental” for the workforce