The Profitable Skills That Matter Most to Employers, with Alicia Perkins

Experience is not the only thing potential employers are looking for when filling a role; they need to know you have the skills to complete the tasks the position requires. But beyond that, Find Your Dream Job guest Alicia Perkins says your skills can translate to new opportunities for you when leveraged correctly. Alicia suggests focusing more on the outcomes of your skills than the specific skills themselves. Share with hiring managers how you used your skills to achieve measurable outcomes in your previous roles, and how you can use them to meet the needs they are currently hiring for. 

About Our Guest:

Alicia Perkins is the founder of The Best You Academy.

Resources in This Episode:

• End burnout, eliminate self-doubt, and reach the next level in your career with this FREE masterclass from Alicia. 
• Connect with Alicia on LinkedIn.
• Grab the exclusive NordVPN deal: https://nordvpn.com/dreamjob and get extra subscription time. Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Thanks to NordVPN for sponsoring our show.

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 475:

The Profitable Skills That Matter Most to Employers, with Alicia Perkins

Airdate: November 6, 2024

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Everybody has multiple skills.

Which ones should you emphasize when applying for your next job?

Alicia Perkins is here to talk about the profitable skills that matter most to employers.

She’s the founder of The Best You Academy.

Her company helps women advance strategically and elevate their influence, impact, and income without burnout or compromising values.

Alicia joins us from Beaumont, Texas.

Well, let’s get going, Alicia. Let’s start by talking about skills. How do you define skills?

Alicia Perkins:

I would say that skills is a learned trait that you use in order to either bring forth a certain result or use for a certain task.

Mac Prichard:

How do your skills, Alicia, differ from your credentials and your qualifications?

Alicia Perkins:

Well, when it comes to skills, it definitely means that these are the certain, like I said, traits that you use to bring forth a certain result, or as we think about your past experience, you can have your skills used in different spaces, so that can also change, but when we think about actual credentials that means that it’s just some kind of certification.

Mac Prichard:

Talk, Alicia, about why employers care about your skills. I mean, shouldn’t your qualifications or credentials, particularly a diploma, be enough to get you an interview or even a job offer?

Alicia Perkins:

You would think it would be that easy, but when you think about skills, it’s just something that you have experience in. I always say, when you think about a job, a job is just saying that they need something solved, so when you think about skills, it’s just saying that these skills can solve that certain thing.

Mac Prichard:

You’re a career coach. In your experience in working with your clients over the years, do you think most applicants have done a good job of both identifying and talking about the skills they have when they’re reaching out to employers?

Alicia Perkins:

I would say no. I’ve seen, especially with a lot of the clients that I’ve worked with, that there is a gap between them understanding that a task and a skill is not the same thing, and so a lot of times when you hear somebody trying to explain their experience, what they do is they talk about the everyday tasks, but they are not speaking about the skills that they used for those certain tasks. If you’re only speaking about the tasks, and you’re not really highlighting the skills, your expertise is easy to almost get lost.

There is a huge gap, and it’s so important to think more about the skills that you have because you can have one skill that can solve three or four different things, but if you’re only focused on the tasks that you do, you almost feel like you don’t have a lot of options out there for you.

Mac  Prichard:

In your experience, Alicia, why do candidates struggle with this? Why do they default to talking about tasks rather than talking about the skills that they have that might apply to several different fields or even different occupations?

Alicia Perkins:

I think this is something that we all struggle with because, throughout the day, all you are

focused on is what it is that you have to do. I’m pretty sure we experience this in all areas of life, but when it comes to our work, we’re just thinking about the things that have to be done and those things which I’ll call tasks. What you’re not thinking about, what are the thoughts and the skills that you use to actually get those tasks done, so I think it comes from being so consumed in the work and not being able to really step back and see how are those results done?

Mac Prichard:

Should you be talking about both your skills and results only in your application materials or is this something that you do throughout the hiring process, from the moment you hit send until you’re negotiating a job offer?

Alicia Perkins:

Yeah, this is definitely something that you should do all throughout the whole time, and I say that because when it comes to you having to talk about your skills, this is something that you have to get used to. Especially if you’re one that…this isn’t something that you’ve thought about a lot.

The more that you talk about your skills, the easier it is, and it’s also easy to tie your skills with what they need because you know, that is how you land that job. They have to be able to see that your skills can solve something for them. It’s like the more that you speak about that, the easier it is that that’s done.

I hear all the time, they say, “I know that I can do the job. I just don’t know how to say it,” and that’s because they’re not used to speaking about their skills.

Mac Prichard:

Talk more about that, Alicia, the point that you just made a moment ago. Why does it matter so much when an employer is reviewing applications or interviewing candidates, why do your skills matter so much versus your experience? Why is that so important to employers?

Alicia Perkins:

Yeah, well, it’s because when it comes to skills, it can be used in a wide range of things, but when you think about your experience, you’re just saying, “These are how these skills were used.”

When they are trying to source for someone to fill in a role for them, they need to be able to understand how you use your skills in a way that is going to serve them. You hear people say all the time, “I know I have the experience, but I just can’t seem to find a job.” That lets me know that the gap between you understanding your skills and understanding what they need for that specific role.

Mac Prichard:

Let’s talk about that gap and how to close it. You’ve got a number of recommendations that you encourage your clients to consider when talking about both identifying and talking about the profitable skills that matter the most to employers.

One of your first suggestions is to recognize the difference between knowledge-based roles and task-based roles. What do you have in mind here, Alicia?

Alicia Perkins:

Yeah, so what that means is being able to understand that when you think about a job, all jobs are not the same. In thinking about knowledge-based roles, that means there is some kind of specialized skill that they need, meaning it could be problem-solving, it could be strategy; those are specialized skills. When you think about a task-based role, those are more about you having to fulfill or having to do a certain task, such as database or filing, things of that sort.

It’s all about you knowing how to frame the experience that you have. Knowledge-based roles are jobs like project management. Those would also be any type of leadership roles. Those kinds of roles means that there’s a certain kind of skill that you need, and so it’s all about you understanding what skills are you needing to lean into for that type of job. Those skills are more like, decision-making, skills like that.

Where those task-based roles, those are more of your hard skills. Those are more like customer service skills, and they’re also more like database skills as well, too.

Mac Prichard:

Once you understand that difference between the two different sets of skills, how do you apply that understanding to your job search?

Alicia Perkins:

Well, this is going to help you know how to frame your experience. The great thing about skills is that they are able to be aligned to opportunities that you may not have had experience in.

For example, if you have the skill of customer service, one job could mean that you have to be front-facing, meaning that you may have to take certain customer calls, but that same skill could also be applied to the VP of customer service. It’s the same skill, but that skill is not being used in the same way.

When you’re thinking about your past experience, don’t just think about what you’ve done in the past, but also think about how are you able to align the same skill to solve more complex problems.

Mac Prichard:

Whether it’s a knowledge-based role or a task-based role, the skills that you use in either situation are still transferable, aren’t they?

Alicia Perkins:

Yes, they are. It’s all about you knowing how to align it with what they need because, like I said before, that’s what actually lands you that job. They have to be able to understand that you understand what they need, and so you can take the same skill or even the same experience or results that you brought forth with that skill, and you can kind of have it reframed in another way. This is not saying to stretch, meaning, I’m not saying to lie. What I am saying is to look at the past results and successes that you brought forth and see if there is any other part of that skill that you can lean on more.

For example, let’s say, in a past role, you maybe had to cut costs by 30%, but now you’re looking for more leadership roles. Well, look back at that same result and see, in you having to cut costs, was there any collaboration there? Seeing, is there anybody else that you maybe had to work with or lead in order to achieve that result?

It’s the same skill, the same result, but now you can align it to a more knowledge-based role.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. We’re going to take a break.

Stay with us. When we come back, Alicia Perkins will continue to share her advice about how to talk about the profitable skills that matter the most to employers.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Alicia Perkins.

She’s the founder of The Best You Academy.

Her company helps women advance strategically and elevate their influence, impact, and income without burnout or compromising values.

Alicia joins us from Beaumont, Texas.

Alicia, before the break, we were talking about the profitable skills that matter most to employers, and you’ve got a set of recommendations you take your clients through to do this well.

Your second tip for emphasizing profitable skills that employers care about is to understand the difference between leadership skills and expertise-based roles. Tell us more about what you have in mind here, Alicia.

Alicia Perkins:

When you think about leadership roles, those types of roles, for the most part, are about you being able to guide, you being able to coach,or even inspire the people who you work with. Whereas more of an expertise-based role, they will rely on more specialized knowledge or technical skills.

Mac Prichard:

How do you get clear if you’re looking for a job, about the leadership skills and the expertise-based skills that you have? What do you recommend to your clients?

Alicia Perkins:

I would definitely think that you’d need to start to evaluate where you are because sometimes you can get to a point in your career where you have learned a lot about a certain field, but now you kind of feel called to where you want to have a more people-based role, meaning that you’re looking to maybe coach, or maybe even share what you’ve learned with a more people-based role. Whereas, if you’re wanting to go to more of a skill-based role, meaning that you really enjoy to learn about what it is that you do in your field, meaning that you’re not so much tied to the team itself, but you are really tied to certain results or even outcomes that you want to see in your field.

One of the things that I say is, if you’re wanting to move into more lead roles, you almost start to see and understand that it’s really no longer about you. What I mean when I say that is, it’s not just about you being successful, but you really care about the folks on your team, and you also want that for them as well, too.

Mac Prichard:

We’ve talked about four different kinds of roles here: knowledge-based roles, task-based roles, leadership roles, and expertise-based roles. Each requires a different set of skills. I’m curious, Alicia, in your experience, are one set of skills more valuable than the others, or are they all equally valuable to employers?

Alicia Perkins:

I would definitely say, when you’re thinking more in terms of your growth overall, I would definitely say that those leadership roles can just open up more opportunities for you. We know that as things change in our world, as we start to see really high advancements in tech, you know, a lot of times with this new tech, it can also replace certain jobs, but we know that when it comes to those lead roles, where you have to be more hands-on with teams, and you need more of a mind that’s on vision and things of that sort, we know that tech can’t ever fill that hole.

I would say it’s just more on the lines of your growth, and when you’re thinking about how it is that I can make my career more sure, I would definitely go with leadership roles, but again, that’s just how I feel.

Mac Prichard:

There is value, too, Alicia, in the other experiences, and I think what I’m hearing as well is while you may not want to be the leader of a company, if you talk about your skills, whatever your background might be, in a way that matters to employers, that’s going to help you in your search. Am I reading that right?

Alicia Perkins:

Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely, because at the end of the day, they need someone to help them solve the problems that they have, and that is the focus at all times, and so it’s not necessarily saying that having this kind of job is the best choice, it’s more about when you think about the long-term goals that you have.

You can do well on both sides, but I also think it depends on your strengths, on your goals, and I also think that it comes with your understanding, especially if there’s a certain field that you really love, starting to look down the road and seeing, “Okay, what kind of role is it that will allow me to have some kind of long term growth as well?”

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s talk about how to talk about the skills that are going to be most profitable to employers. One of your recommendations is to learn how to position your existing skills to current market needs before you learn new skills. Tell us, how does doing this help you in your job search, Alicia?

Alicia Perkins:

It allows you to stay focused on what you need to really lean into. I know that anytime anyone is in a job search, you can find yourself overwhelmed with a lot of your experience and a lot of these great skills that you have, and most people, what they try to do is try to use it all, but I’m a big component in you being able to understand, what is the need, and then also being able to understand, when you look at your skills, what is the problem that those skills can actually solve?

I say that because it doesn’t really mean anything if you have all of these great skills but you don’t know how to package them up. It’s one thing to have experience, it’s another thing to have value. When you think about the word value, it is only considered a value when the other person in the room sees it as that.

I think this is important to understand because when you can look at your results and your successes, and they could very well be great, but are they in alignment with what they need? This is a huge gap I see a lot of times because when you think about your past work, sometimes you can only tie what you’ve done to who you worked for and not understand that your skills and your results, they are yours and you should have the mindset that they can lead as well, too.

It’s just about you knowing how to use everything that you have, and I always tell people, “Milk everything.” Understand that as you move on to find a new job, that it’s not about you having to start over. It’s about you building.

Mac Prichard:

Know what you offer and know what an employer needs. What’s your best advice, Alicia, for figuring out what an employer needs, what’s keeping a hiring manager up at night, so that you can align your skills and offer that value? How have you seen people do that successfully?

Alicia Perkins:

Well, for one, I definitely think that you need to think about what are the fields that you really want to move into. I’m not saying to have yourself in a tight box, but I am saying think about spaces and fields. Think about your top 2 or 3.

One, because that’s going to help you to know how to frame your experience; two, it’s going to help you to start having the conversations with people that are already in that space to see what is the need. One of the things that I tell my clients all the time is that if there is a certain job title that you have in mind, go hop online, start to talk to people who have that same job title.

You can just ask for very simple things such as, ”Can you please tell me the three tasks that you do in your role per day?” That can give you a really great idea of what are those top skills that you need, and it can also shine some light if you are thinking about a new class online or a course, is this something that you really need? I’ve worked with clients in the past, and they have these jobs in their minds, but they’ve already assumed that this job is too much or that I don’t have enough experience.

Once they start to really talk with people that are in the space, they start finding out, “Wait a minute. I have a lot more experience than I thought I did.” I think, one, you being able to understand the actual trends that are happening in that field, and two, you being able to talk to people who are already in that field, so you can know exactly the skills that you either need or you don’t need.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a terrific conversation, Alicia.

Now, tell us, what’s next for you?

Alicia Perkins:

Well, right now, I’ve been operating my business now for almost five years. I love what I do and, so I can definitely see myself still here, also serving my clients, and also doing speaking gigs as well, too.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. I know that you also have a special offer for our listeners. Would you like to talk about that?

Alicia Perkins:

Yes! I want to offer everybody a free class that I have. It’s Four Ways to End Self Doubt. I know that when you are operating in a job search or when you’re thinking bout what’s next for you, you can start to be overwhelmed with all of these thoughts and feelings of doubt and all that sort. I want to share with you guys a free class. It’s going to show you four ways that you are able to end all self-doubt. You can find more information about that at aliciaperkins.me/masterclass.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific, and I know that listeners can learn more about you and your services by visiting your website, iamaliciaperkins.com, and you also invite listeners to connect with you on LinkedIn, and when people do reach out to you, I hope that they’ll mention that they heard you on Find Your Dream Job.

Now, Alicia, given all the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want a listener to remember about the profitable skills that matter most to employers?

Alicia Perkins:

I would want them to know that it’s not about what you’ve done in the past, but it’s also about what you can do now.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be Katie Silver.

She’s the co-founder of the Southern Pass Company.

It’s a consulting and search firm for both employers and candidates.

Many job seekers have one approach to looking for work:

Send out lots of applications.

Every day.

Stop putting all your eggs in one basket, says Katie.

You can get much better results if you follow multiple strategies.

Join us next Wednesday when Katie Silver and I talk about seven ways to reimagine your job search.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer and editor is Matt Fiorillo. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.