What can I do?
What competencies do I have?

What can I do?
What competencies do I have?


What are competencies?
A competency is your use of your learning. You get them from your experiences - both in and outside school. But they don't appear out of nowhere.
Your competencies are a combination of your knowledge, skills (e.g. analytical skills), professional insight and the tools you have learned to use within a specific area.
It is therefore a term for a skill that you can use in a specific context.
The word you choose to describe your skill is situational. The same competency can be called something different, depending on who needs to know that you can offer exactly that competency in that context.
3 types of competencies
There is a lot of different types of competencies. We divide them into 3:
Depending on where you can apply them, they can, e.g., change from being personal to being professional competencies. E.g., "creativity" can be a personal competency, but it becomes a professional competency when you put it in a professional context.
The most important thing is that you yourself always are clear about what you mean by the competencies you highlight and how you can use them. You must therefore attach your competencies to examples, e.g. where you have used them or would like to use them.
Find your own skills - 3 concrete ideas
There are many ways to discover your own competencies. Here are 3 ideas to get you started:
Here's one more thing you can do!
Problem based learning is a competency
"Project-oriented problem-based learning", "the Aalborg-model", "PBL" – it goes by many names, and it's key to studying at AAU. It makes group work possible. It implies project work. It requires a problem formulation.
But what are the actual advantages of working with it? And what does it mean in a career context?
If you're new at AAU and think that PBL is hard, it's normal! A lot of students find it challenging - both international and Danish. But it will be easier in time. And it's a great thing to know when you enter the job market!
Problem-based learning – what does it mean career-wise?
Exemplarity
You need to identify the similarities and be aware of the differences.

Get a guidance session with AAU Career
Throughout your time as a student at AAU, you can get free career guidance on everything to do with your career. You may be in doubt about what you can do with your education, how you can put your competencies into words, or perhaps you need professional eyes on your CV.
Contact the career counsellors and have a chat about exactly what you need.