descriptors - examples - comptence form

descriptors

The descriptors offered by the europass+-tool are suitable for helping mentors as well as participants to better understand the personal skills and competences which are to be described and evaluated in section 5a of the europass Mobility:

Computer skills and competences refer to word processing and other applications, database searching, acquaintance with Internet, advanced skills (programming etc.).

Computer application competence is the ability to use a computer to develop and present information, whether it is text, image or numbers, or all of these in an integrated task. Computer skills and competences do not only comprise knowledge and skills in application of certain programmes such as word processing or image editing. Computer skills and competences also span more advanced application methods such as information search and -strategies, using various communication channels online, developing own programmes or designing an own homepage. And computer skills and competences also refer to technical skills and competences concerning "tuning up" a computer or installing and upgrading additional components of hard- and software.

People give proof of their computer skills and competences in a broad variety of activities in different contexts and by dealing with a broad variety of programs, techniques and methods. They may for example have skills and competences in using the internet to research information by using search machines or wikis. They may have some experience in chatting with others via internet or even have designed their own website and/or blog. They may be even able to develop small programs for their own purposes to solve certain problems.

Organisational skills and competences enable people to plan and make use of resources - time, material, personal resources - in an effective way. Thus organisational skills and competences comprise especially skills and competences in the fields of project management, team management and time management.

• Project Management

Skills and competences in the field of project management help people to carry out their projects in an effective way. They are able to make realistic plans, to organise all resources needed and to control the efficiency of every single step to meet their objective within a deadline. They are able to communicate with the project members, to plan risks and costs and to evaluate their project.

People give proof of their competences in the field of project management in a broad variety of activities in different contexts. Perhaps they have been responsible for organising their football teams´ matches in advance for the next year. Or they act or have acted as the speaker of their class or even their school and have managed to organise school events, class trips and similar tasks in an effective way.

• Time Management

Skills and competences in the field of time management help people to meet an objective within a deadline. They are able to make plans and timetables, to work within the framework of their timetable and to keep appointments in due time. They are using their time as effectively as possible and manage a couple of tasks in a given period of time.

People give proof of their competences in the field of time management in a broad variety of activities in different contexts. They may, for example, have improved their organisational skills and competences by being forced to organize their family’s household for a couple of weeks or even months, because their mother was in hospital - and have met this challenge successfully.

Social skills and competences refer to living and working with other people, in positions where communication is important and situations where teamwork is essential, for example working in a department in a company, playing in a band or a team sport, in multicultural environments, etc. Social skills and competences comprise especially collaborative skills and competences (capacity for teamwork), communicative skills and competences and intercultural skills and competences.

• Collaborative skills and competences: Capacity for teamwork

Collaborative skills and competences concern one’s ability to work cooperatively with others, being motivated by working in a group and pursuing a shared goal. The focus is on achievement of results, rather than on pushing oneself ahead. Agreements made within the group are adhered to; the group is not exploited in terms of shifting one’s own workload to other group members.

People give proof of their collaborative skills and competences in a broad variety of activities in different contexts. Young people may for example have organised group project days at school or have successfully co-operated with other students in a team to develop some project together and then present the teams´ results to others. They may have participated in a pupil or student enterprise. Or they are engaged in one or even more sports teams etc.

• Communicative skills and competences

Communicative skills and competences concern people’s ability to make others understand what they mean and what they want - and to pursue them of their message and/or intention. And, vice versa, their communicative skills and competences help people to understand what others mean and what they want them to do or not to do. People do not always verbalize their thoughts and intents. There a lots of non-verbal ways of communicating and pursuing others, some of them even more important and effective as mere verbal or written information. People use e.g. gestures and mimics, they modulate their voice, and they visualize, for example, a lecture.

People give proof of their communicative skills and competences in a broad variety of activities in different contexts. Young people may, for example, be acting or have acted as the classroom representative. They may have worked as a tutor or have participated in social/cultural projects. They may work or have worked in a job in which they have to deal with customers a lot. They may also have attended a seminar on presentation techniques or rhetoric and /or have gained experience in this field by practical application of the respective skills and competences.

• Intercultural skills and competences

Intercultural skills and competences help people to interact and co-operate successfully with people from other countries and with different cultural backgrounds. Command of language is very important in this field. But, moreover, people have to know and understand other cultures in order to avoid misunderstanding and to communicate and work together successfully. They have to learn not to consider their own social conventions, views and values as being universally valid, but to be aware that these are culturally determined.

People give proof of their intercultural skills and competences in a broad variety of activities in different contexts. They may have improved their intercultural skills and competences by living in a district and/or attending a school where they have or had a lot of contacts to people with a broad variety of cultural backgrounds. They may have worked in a multi-cultural team in their local surroundings. They will have had the chance to develop their intercultural skills and competences and to learn about other cultures especially by participating in student exchange programmes or other European Mobility Programs including the experience of working in a foreign country.

Here you should only list those competences that were not mentioned in the previous sections. Leisure activities should be specially mentioned only if closely linked to the job the candidate is applying for. For example, while out-of-the-ordinary sports, such as ice climbing or canyoning will play a major role if somebody wishes to work in the tourism business, practising new techniques for attaining both physical and psychological fitness (e.g., yoga, gymnastics) will be an asset for working in the health sector.

Artistic Skills and Competences should be mentioned with respect to jobs in which creativity and the development of new ideas and concepts is important.

People give proof of their artistic skills and competences e.g. by playing an instrument, singing in a choir, by painting, attending painting classes, writing stories, engaging in a theatre group, casually working as a DJ, photographing or film making. Many jobs offer a broad variety of opportunities to show one’s creativity.

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