Do you want to do a skills assessment on your own? Whatever the reasons: your professional situation no longer suits you, you want to give a new professional direction to your career, you wish to retrain... It is possible to carry out a skills assessment on your own if you do not wish to finance one. How do you go about it? What are the main steps of a skills assessment? If you are an employee and, for you, doing an assessment on your own means "not going through my employer", what are the possibilities available to you? Here is some useful information on how to carry out an assessment yourself or without the financial support of your employer.
Key steps to take a skills assessment alone
Take time for yourself
The first step in preparing for an assessment is to take time to do it, at a regular pace. In general, professionals conduct assessments over a period of 2 to 4 months, with sessions or exercises to be completed at a rate of 2 to 4 hours per week.
Do it in several steps
Also very important... Do not put the cart before the horse!
This good old expression makes sense in the context of a balance sheet, because, like any project, the objectives you want to achieve require you to move forward step by step. Moreover, you may be lucky enough to discover new paths and objectives along the way.
There are generally 3 main steps in the process of conducting a balance sheet:
A preliminary phase of introspection: you take stock of your skills and aptitudes, your motivations and interests, and your professional experience to date.
Secondary phase of reflection: you explore other potentialities.
Action phase: you put things in place in your current job, you look for training to develop the skills you would like to acquire, you go and observe what is happening elsewhere, by participating in conferences, workshops, coffee meetings, by joining an association...
Ask you questions
Questions are the basis of a skills assessment! You can ask them to yourself and also ask your family and friends about the skills and qualities they give you. Here are some examples of questions.
In the introspection phase
To take stock of your professional situation
Why does your professional situation no longer suit you? What's stuck (e.g. the content of your work, the professional environment, the day-to-day life, the relationships...) What are you missing (e.g. flexibility, connection, the feeling of learning, the feeling of being useful, pleasure...)
What would you like instead?
What do you concretely expect from your new professional project? What do you aspire to professionally?
To specify your acquired skills
What has each past experience brought you? What were the actions you preferred to take? When you look back, what brought you the most satisfaction? What did you like doing less?
To think about project ideas
In which sector of activity would you like to develop your skills? Which skills can be replicated in your new projects? What skills do you want to develop?
To identify training needs
How to develop new skills? What tools, training, content, contacts, events can help me acquire knowledge for my new project?
Using tools
For each step of the assessment, tools have been developed to help you move forward in your reflection. Some of them are free and accessible online!
In the introspection phase
- To get to know yourself better 👉 the MBTI.
- To identify what makes you tick 👉 writing.
For example, you can keep a notebook and write down each day what you liked or disliked, and carry out the exercise for several weeks. You can then review your pages to see what motivates you on a daily basis and what takes up your energy and does not give you pleasure.
To build your reflection
To feel less alone in this phase of reflection, you can join a community sharing common issues.
👉The Paumé.e.s community, from makesense, brings together, for example, people who have questions about their professional orientation.
Taking action
Here are some actions you can take to make your thinking more concrete:
Get in touch with professionals whose jobs appeal to you on LinkedIn
- Explore the different events taking place in your city on Eventbrite
- Follow online training, conferences and other events with Makesense
- Undertake free training with the Moocs
- Follow a training with social and environmental impact, for a reconversion in this field with programs on jobs_that_makesense.
- Read articles, listen to podcasts. On jobs_that_makesense, you will find, for example, a guide to transitioning to impact, with articles on the skills required in the SSE sector, transition testimonials and tools to manage your transition.
Conducting a skills assessment with a service provider
Carried out by a service provider, a skills assessment can also provide you with additional keys to :
Meet people who share the same questions as you
Thanks to the assessments conducted in a group session, you follow a program with a group of people who have the same needs for meaning, reconversion, and change of professional life. You take stock of your journey through group exercises and workshops. You can then move forward in a reassuring environment, benefit from a collective emulation and maintain long-term contacts with the community of the skills assessment program!
Benefit from personalized support from a coach.
You can also opt for individual support or a double formula: in a group and in an individual course with a coach or a trainer. Having the advice of a professional allows you to have a neutral and objective look at yourself, to think beyond the simple questions you might ask yourself to highlight the skills you have and the way you can use them in a coherent professional project for yourself.
Do a flexible assessment 100% online
If you want to do an assessment at home, some providers offer 100% online support.
👉 This is the case of Hisse et Haut, Cap Positif, Chance, Switch Collective, Garance & Moi, Komunii.
Taking a specialized social economy assessment
A career change to a profession with a positive social and environmental impact requires specific skills. To more easily understand the expectations of these sectors, you can take a specialized impact assessment program giving you access to a network of impact professionals!
👉Here are the impact assessment partners of jobs_that_makesense: Hisse et Haut, Cap Positif, Komunii and the Third Place Transition pro à impact.
Request a leave of absence from your employer
If you are employed and wish to undertake a review during your working hours, you will need your employer's agreement. This request has a name: the authorization of absence.
In order for it to be valid, you must request it :
- at least 60 calendar days (days worked or not) before the beginning of the assessment, if it lasts less than 6 months.
- at least 120 calendar days before the start of the assessment, if it lasts more than 6 months.
Your employer then has 30 days from the date of receipt of your request to give you an answer. If there is no response within this period, the request will be considered accepted.
To give yourself the best chance of success, here are a few arguments to support your request:
- you need to take stock of your skills and motivations
- you want to improve your skills in your current position
- you would like to confirm your career development options
- you are considering a career change because you no longer feel fulfilled in your current position
Financing your assessment yourself
When your employer is not responsible for the financial aspects of your assessment, it is up to you to take steps to finance your assessment. Depending on your situation, there are solutions to help you pay for all or part of the assessment. Here are the different ways of financing your assessment:
The CPF
Who is it for? Any active person has a Professional Training Account CPF
The CPF allows to accumulate each year the sum of 500€ for employees who work 80% minimum of the working time and the self-employed having worked a full year. 150€ for a working time of 30%. 300€ for disabled workers in activity.
For civil servants, it is calculated in hours. It allows you to accumulate hours of training each year: 25h/year if you work full time, and in proportion to your working time over the year if you work less than 35h/week.
The Fongecif
Who is it for? Private sector employees (permanent and fixed-term contracts) and job seekers.
The Fonds de Gestion des Congés Individuels de Formation (Fongecif) is an interprofessional organization whose role is to advise and support employees in their professional development project. Under certain conditions, it allows you to finance your own skills assessment. It can be carried out during your working hours, with the agreement of your employer.
To be taken in charge, your application for financing must be made at least 45 days before the beginning of the Bilan de compétences at the Fongecif of your region.
👉 Want to know if you are eligible for the Fongecif? Find out from the organization in your region.
Job center
For whom? For jobseekers who receive compensation.
You can apply for funding from Pôle Emploi, which can also top up your CPF.
To take action
👉 Here are the training organizations offering assessments.
To go further
👉 The guide to career transition in impact
👉 Funding for your competence assessment
👉The 32 jobs that are recruiting for a career change in the impact industry