The short answer
A strength is something you’ve shown you can do, not something you think you are. Start with things you’ve actually done (school projects, sport, caring for someone, volunteering, a Saturday job, a hobby you’ve kept up) and ask what each one shows. Then write it as what you did, so an employer can picture it.
Strengths are things you’ve done
Most people stall at “what are my strengths?” because it sounds like a personality test. It’s easier the other way round. Don’t start with a list of skills and wonder which ones you have. Start with your actual week, your actual last few years, and work out what they show.
Someone who has walked a neighbour’s dog every weekday for a year has shown reliability. They’ve never had to say the word. Someone who rang round parents when a coach was cancelled has shown they can solve a problem under pressure. These are the things employers hiring for first jobs are trying to find out, and you can prove them without ever having had a job.
What employers usually mean
Job adverts use the same handful of words. Here’s what they tend to mean in plain terms, and where you might already have shown them. Employers differ, so always read the advert itself too.
| They say | They usually mean | You might have shown it through |
|---|---|---|
| Reliable | You turn up when you said you would, and do what you said you’d do | A sport you train for weekly, a caring routine, a Saturday job, getting a sibling to school |
| Good communicator | You can explain things, listen, and ask when you’re unsure | Presentations, helping at an open evening, translating for a relative, a club role |
| Shows initiative | You notice what needs doing and do it without being asked | Teaching yourself a skill, sorting out a mix-up, starting a page or a small shop |
| Team player | You do your share and help the group finish | Group projects, team sports, a band, volunteering shifts |
| Willing to learn | You can take feedback and get better | Resitting an exam, learning an instrument, improving at a sport |
Transferable skills, in one sentence
A transferable skill is one you built in one place and can use somewhere else. Calming down an upset younger brother and calming down an upset customer use some of the same muscles. Planning a revision timetable and planning a shift rota do too. The National Careers Service suggests looking at education, past work and everyday life, and asking people who know you, which is exactly what the activity below does.
Where to look
Go through these and see what comes back to you. You’re looking for things you did regularly, things you were trusted with, and moments where something went wrong and you helped fix it.
- School or college: group projects, presentations, a role like form rep or mentor, coursework you finished against a deadline.
- Sport and clubs: how long you’ve kept it up, anything you helped with beyond playing.
- Caring and family: looking after someone, doing the shop, helping in a family business. You don’t have to share private details; describing the responsibility is enough.
- Volunteering: even a handful of sessions counts. Say what you actually did.
- Hobbies and projects: anything you made, ran, learned or finished on your own.
Turn it into a line someone can believe
A skill on its own is a claim. A skill with something you did is evidence.
Before
Good communication skills and a team player.
After
Volunteered at a community food bank on Saturday mornings: sorted donations, packed parcels and greeted people when they arrived.
Why it works The first line could be written by anyone. The second shows communication and teamwork without naming them, and gives an interviewer something real to ask about.
Here are a few more, from made-up people in ordinary situations:
Help care for a family member at home most evenings, alongside full-time college, including keeping track of appointments.
Taught myself video editing from free online tutorials and now edit short clips for my cousin’s small cake business.
Notice what’s missing: no adjectives about how brilliant anyone is, and no invented numbers. “Every Saturday” and “for two years” are numbers too, and they’re true.
Only keep what’s genuinely you
The Strengths Finder below suggests possible skills based on your answers. They’re suggestions, not a verdict about who you are. Read each one and keep it only if you can think of a real moment that backs it up. If an interviewer asked “tell me about that”, could you? If not, leave it out.
Nothing you choose leaves this browser. There’s no account and nothing is sent anywhere.
Tool
The Strengths Finder
A few questions about things you’ve actually done. When you say yes, we’ll show skills that experience might show, and you decide which really fit. Nothing is saved anywhere but this browser.
See all the questions as a list
- Have you ever helped organise an event, school activity or group project? Might show: Organisation, Communication, Teamwork.
- Have you worked on a group project where people had to share out the work? Might show: Teamwork, Communication, Reliability.
- Do you play, or have you played, a sport in a team or club? Might show: Teamwork, Reliability, Taking feedback.
- Have you learned an instrument, performed, or made something creative over a long stretch of time? Might show: Commitment, Practice and self-improvement, Working under pressure.
- Do you help look after someone: a younger brother or sister, a grandparent, a relative who is ill or disabled? Might show: Reliability, Responsibility, Time management, Patience.
- Have you volunteered anywhere, even once or twice? Might show: Helping people, Communication, Reliability.
- Have you done any paid work, even informal or occasional? Might show: Reliability, Customer service, Following instructions.
- Have you ever dealt with members of the public: serving, answering questions, taking money, showing people around? Might show: Customer service, Communication, Staying calm.
- Have you taught yourself something without being made to? Might show: Learning quickly, Initiative, Problem-solving.
- Have you made or run something online: a channel, a page, a small shop, a game, a website, a server? Might show: Initiative, Digital skills, Consistency.
- Do you regularly help out at home or for family in a way someone relies on? Might show: Reliability, Organisation, Responsibility.
- Have you been given a role or responsibility: prefect, form rep, club captain, mentor, school council? Might show: Responsibility, Leadership, Communication.
- Can you remember a time something went wrong and you sorted it out, or helped to? Might show: Problem-solving, Staying calm, Initiative.
- Have you stuck with something difficult when it would have been easier to stop? Might show: Resilience, Commitment, Willingness to learn.
- Do you have something you turn up to at a set time, week after week? Might show: Reliability, Punctuality, Time management.
Try
Write three lines you’d be happy to say out loud
Pick the three experiences from the Strengths Finder (or your own list) that you could talk about for a minute each. For each one, write what you did, how often or for how long, and what came of it.
Read them back. If one sounds like a claim rather than something you did, add one concrete detail.
Your answers are saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent to us.
If you’re still stuck
Ask someone who knows you well, like a friend, a parent, a coach or a teacher: “When have you seen me be good at something?” Other people often notice things you take for granted.
If you’d like a broader look at what kind of work might suit you, the National Careers Service has a free skills assessment that takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and job profiles that describe the daily tasks, qualifications and pay for hundreds of roles.
In short
- Strengths are things you’ve shown, not things you claim.
- Look at school, sport, caring, volunteering, part-time work and hobbies.
- Write each one as what you did, plus how often or what happened.
- Keep a suggested skill only if you can back it up with a real moment.
- Use true numbers only: how long, how often, how many.
Sources and further reading
- Understand and develop your skills National Careers Service
- Develop your soft skills National Careers Service
- Discover your skills and careers National Careers Service
- Explore careers National Careers Service
Checked against these sources on 14 November 2026. Rules and rates change: if something here looks out of date, tell us at hello@cvbuffed.com. How we check our guidance.