What to study based on my skills

What to study based on my skills: discover degrees from what you're good at

Choosing a degree usually starts with a huge question:

“What do I want to study?”

And when you don't have a clear answer, that question can feel like a wall.

But there's another way to start.

Instead of trying to immediately guess what your degree is, you can look at something that's already present in your life: the things you're good at.

• Maybe you understand numbers with ease.
• Perhaps you're the one who ends up organizing all the group projects.
• Maybe your friends come to you when they need to talk to someone.
• Maybe you quickly learn to use a new tech tool, draw with ease, explain complicated topics in a simple way, or notice small details that others don't see.

All of that contains information. It doesn't mean there is a predestined degree for you.

But it can help you narrow down thousands of possibilities and discover paths you may never have considered.

“What degree should I study?”

“What am I good at and where could I use it?”

What are your skills, really?

A skill is an ability that allows you to perform a particular task with a certain ease or effectiveness.

Some appear very early.

Others develop with practice.

And many times we have skills that we don't even recognize as such because we're used to using them.

A person who perfectly organizes an outing with twenty friends may think:

“I'm just organizing.”

But behind it there may be planning, anticipating problems, time management, communication, and coordinating people.

Someone who always fixes their computer when something goes wrong may think:

“I just try things until it works.”

But they may be using logical thinking, patience, diagnosis, and problem solving.

A person everyone turns to when they need to talk perhaps doesn't think:

“I have a skill.”

However, you probably know how to listen, interpret emotions and build trust.

Skills don’t always seem extraordinary. They often hide within completely normal activities.

Skill is not the same as interest

This difference is fundamental. You can be good at Mathematics and not particularly enjoy it.

You can also love music and still not have great musical skills.

One thing answers: What am I good at?

The other: What interests me?

To choose a degree it’s worth looking at both. Because being good at something you hate probably isn’t enough to build a satisfying professional life. And feeling a great deal of interest in something doesn’t mean you have to master it from day one either.

The most interesting area usually shows up when you start finding combinations of:

what interests you + what you’re good at + the way you’d like to work.

It’s easy to confuse skills with school grades. If you get good grades inMathematics you may have quantitative ability.

But not necessarily. Maybe you just study a lot. And if you get a mediocre grade in a subject, it doesn’t automatically mean you don’t have skill in that field.

The teacher, the way you were taught, your motivation, the personal moment you’re going through and many other things can have an influence.

In addition, there is a huge number of skills that school measures very little.

• Organize.
• Negotiate.
• Listen.
• Improvise.
• Create.
• Persuade.
• Build.
• Observe.
• Coordinate people.
• Detect problems.
• Resolve conflicts.
• Work under pressure.
• Learn new tools.

That’s why your grades can offer clues, but they shouldn’t become the only description of what you can do.

How to discover what you’re good at?

Sometimes it's much easier to spot someone else's skills than your own.

What you're good at can feel so normal to you that you don't think much of it.

A good way to discover it is to look at specific situations.

Think about these questions:

• What things do other people usually ask you for help with?
• What do you learn faster than the people around you?
• What tasks can you do for a long time without feeling completely drained?
• What problems do you enjoy solving?
• What are you good at even when you haven't practiced much?
• What part of group projects do you almost always end up doing?
• What activity makes other people tell you “you're really good at this”?
• Do you prefer working with numbers, ideas, people, objects, words, images, or systems?

Don't try to find a career yet.

First look for patterns about yourself.

Then we'll see where they show up professionally.

If you're good with numbers. Having a knack for numbers can open many doors, but they don't all lead to the same place.

• Some people enjoy calculating.
• Others enjoy interpreting data.
• Others enjoy discovering patterns.
• Others enjoy using numbers to make decisions.
• And others prefer turning a complicated problem into a model they can analyze.

If besides numbers you like organizing, improving processes, and understanding how a company works, Industrial Engineering can be an interesting possibility.

• If you are especially drawn to probability, risk, and mathematical models, Actuarial Science may be closer to your profile.
• If you want to use numbers to understand markets, economic decisions, and behaviors, you can explore Economics.
• If you enjoy finding patterns within huge amounts of information, Statistics, Data Science and related areas may come up.
• And if your numbers combine with logic and technology, computer science and engineering can also come up.

“I'm good with numbers.”

“What do I like to do with them?”

If you are good at solving problems, some people feel uncomfortable when something stops working.

Others feel curious.

They want to find out what happened.

They try alternatives.

They change one variable.

They try again.

And they don't rest until they understand it.

That way of thinking appears in a great many careers.

• It can be found in Industrial Engineering when a process needs to be improved.
• In Computer Science when a system fails.
• In Medicine when symptoms need to be interpreted and a diagnosis reached.
• In scientific research when a hypothesis doesn't work.
• In logistics when a supply chain has a problem.
• Even in management, design and business.

Solving problems is not a career. It is a transferable skill.

What kind of problems do you want to solve?

• Technical problems.
• Human problems.
• Economic problems.
• Scientific problems.
• Visual problems.
• Organizational problems.
• Social problems.

If you are good at organizing

Perhaps you know how to turn chaos into order. When other people see twenty different tasks, you start thinking:

• what goes first;
• what can wait;
• who should do each thing;
• what resources are needed;
• what could go wrong.

You may enjoy preparing schedules, coordinating people, organizing projects or finding more efficient ways to do something.

That combination can be especially valuable in fields such as Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, logistics, operations, project management and many business areas.

• Organization + numbers + processes can bring you closer to Industrial Engineering.
• Organization + people + leadership can lead you toward management and administration.
• Organization + product movement can make logistics interesting.
• Organization + creativity can show up in audiovisual production, events, design or creative projects.

Much of professional work consists precisely in getting many different pieces to work together.

• If you have a knack for explaining
• There are people who understand something.
• And others who, in addition, get others to understand it. That's different.
• Maybe your classmates seek you out before an exam because you explain a topic in a much simpler way.
• Maybe you can turn a complicated idea into an example anyone can understand.
• Or you know how to spot exactly where the other person is getting lost.

This skill can show up in teaching, communication, outreach, corporate training, consulting, sales, health and a great many careers where you have to convey information.

One person can know a great deal and explain very poorly. Another can have a huge ability to build bridges between an idea and whoever needs to understand it. If that second description sounds like you, pay attention to it.

If you're good at speaking and communicating

• Maybe you enjoy presenting.
• Improvising.
• Having conversations.
• Interviewing.
• Persuading.
• Explaining.
• Telling stories.
• Or simply speaking in front of other people without feeling like you want to disappear.

Oral communication can bring you closer to very different worlds.

• Announcing.
• Communication.
• Journalism.
• Teaching.
• Law.
• Advertising.
• Marketing.
• Sales.
• Public relations.
• Audiovisual media.

But again we need to combine.

• Communication + creativity + argumentation.
• And communication + listening ability.

The skill doesn't decide the degree.

It shows you a direction.

If you write well

Maybe you have a knack for finding the right words.

• Organizing ideas comes naturally to you.
• You enjoy writing stories.
• You can summarize a complicated topic.
• You quickly spot a sentence that “doesn't sound right”.
• Or you can completely change the tone of a text depending on who is going to read it.

Writing shows up in journalism, communication, advertising, literature, scriptwriting, editing, digital content, institutional relations and many other careers.

It is also valuable in areas we don't usually immediately associate with writing.

• Research.
• Law.
• Business.
• Science.
• Technology.

Almost any professional who needs to persuade, inform, or document uses words.

What do you like to do with them?

• Inform.
• Persuade.
• Explain.
• Create stories.
• Research.
• Analyze.

Each answer opens different paths.

If you know how to listen to people

Listening seems easy.

It isn't always.

Truly listening means paying attention, asking questions, understanding nuances and avoiding immediately turning the conversation into something about ourselves.

• Maybe people feel they can talk to you.
• They tell you about their problems.
• They ask for your opinion.
• You are curious to understand why someone thinks or feels a certain way.

That ability may be related to Psychology, guidance, education, social work, health, human resources and many people-centered careers.

But be careful: being “the friend who listens” does not automatically mean you should study Psychology.

What matters is asking yourself if you are also interested in deeply studying human behavior and working professionally with other people’s problems.

The skill gives you a clue. After that you need to investigate the reality of the career.

If you are creative

Creativity doesn’t just mean drawing well.

It can also mean:

• imagining alternatives;
• finding unexpected solutions;
• creating stories;
• visualizing something that doesn’t exist yet;
• connecting seemingly unrelated ideas;
• inventing new ways of doing something.

A creative person can end up in Graphic Design.

• Another in Industrial Design.
• Another in architecture.
• Another in advertising.
• Another writing.
• Another developing products.
• Another programming.
• Another becoming an entrepreneur.

Even science needs creativity.

Research often begins by imagining an explanation that no one has yet proven.

“Am I creative?”

“What do I like to create?”

• If you find it easy to think visually
• You may understand something better when you can see it.
• You like drawing diagrams.
• You imagine spaces.
• You easily notice proportions, shapes, or compositions.
• You can visualize how something should look before building it.

That can be especially interesting in design, architecture, animation, audiovisual communication, photography and different technical fields.

But it can also appear in engineering, science, data visualizations or digital interfaces.

Thinking visually does not necessarily mean being an artist.

If you are good with your hands

Some people need to touch, build, adjust, assemble, or transform something.

• They enjoy working with real objects.
• They have precision.
• Good coordination.
• They learn by watching and doing.
• They can repair things.
• Work with tools.
• Create products.
• Handle materials.

This skill appears in a huge diversity of technical, healthcare, creative, and productive careers.

A person with great manual skill may be drawn to design, mechanics, dentistry, certain health areas, gastronomy, manufacturing, arts, technical trades and many other fields.

What do you want to do with your hands?

• Create.
• Repair.
• Build.
• Care.
• Experiment.
• Transform.

If you learn technology quickly, maybe when a new app appears you are the one who ends up explaining it to everyone.

• You don't need too many instructions.
• You explore.
• You try buttons.
• You understand the logic.
• You find shortcuts.
• And if something fails, you try to figure out why.

That may point to technological ease and technology contains completely different worlds.

• Programming.
• Data.
• Systems.
• Cybersecurity.
• Automation.
• Artificial intelligence.
• Digital design.
• Engineering.
• Technology applied to business.

One person can be very tech-savvy and not want to program for hours.

Another may enjoy precisely that.

That's why we need to go one level deeper:

What part of technology do you enjoy?

• Building it.
• Using it.
• Analyzing it.
• Repairing it.
• Designing it.
• Applying it to other problems.
• If you are very observant

There are people who notice small things that others overlook.

• An expression.
• An error.
• A change.
• A pattern.

A difference between two seemingly identical objects.

A particular species among hundreds of plants.

An anomaly within a data table.

Observation is especially important in research, science, health, design, analysis, photography and many other disciplines.

It can be combined with very different interests.

• Observation + nature can lead toward Biology, Ecology or Entomology.
• Observation + Archaeology or Paleontology.
• Observation + people can lead you to Psychology and social sciences.
• Observation + data can bring you closer to analysis.

A skill starts to gain meaning when we know where you are looking.

If you like researching and looking for explanations

Maybe you are not easily satisfied with:

• “Just because.”
• You want to know why.
• You look for information.
• You compare sources.
• You ask questions.
• You like discovering connections.
• And many times one answer immediately generates another question.

Research appears in natural sciences, Medicine, Psychology, Archaeology, Paleontology, Economics, technology, social sciences and practically any academic field.

But each researcher observes a different world.

If you find it easy to lead

Maybe when a group gets stuck you are the one who starts to get things moving.

• You propose a plan.
• You organize.
• You persuade.
• You make decisions.
• You distribute responsibilities.
• You get other people to participate.

That can point to leadership ability. But leadership does not necessarily mean being “the boss”. It can also appear when coordinating projects, scientific teams, productions, businesses, social organizations, educational groups or sports initiatives.

And it works best when combined with other abilities.

• Leadership + business.
• Leadership + communication.
• Leadership + organization.
• Leadership + technical knowledge.

“Can I lead?”

“What kind of project would I like to help lead?”

• If you know how to work as part of a team
• Not every talent has to be individual.
• Maybe you are good at bringing opinions together.
• You prevent a discussion from destroying the project.
• You know when to speak and when to give space.
• You help other people perform better.
• You share information.
• You do your part.
• And you can adapt to different personalities.

That has enormous professional value.

Engineering, health, business, science, design, technology, construction, communication and practically any complex organization depend on teams.

Sometimes, the ability to collaborate is as important as technical knowledge.

If you find it easy to learn languages

Learning languages can show several abilities at the same time.

• Memory.
• Listening.
• Pattern recognition.
• Communication.
• Cultural curiosity.
• Adaptability.

It can be related to translation, interpreting, tourism, international relations, communication, international trade, teaching and other fields.

But speaking languages can also simply become a powerful tool within any career.

• An engineer can work internationally.
• A scientist can collaborate with foreign teams.
• A business professional can negotiate in different countries.
• A skill does not always have to become the center of your career.
• Sometimes it can become an advantage within another career.

Don't look for an isolated skill: look for your combination

Here appears the same idea that is so important when we talk about interests.

A single skill says relatively little.

Three skills together start to tell a story.

Imagine:

• Numbers + organization + problem solving Could make Industrial Engineering interesting.
• Numbers + analysis + technology could bring you closer to Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics and other quantitative fields.
• Listening + communication + interest in people may lead you to explore Psychology, education or other human careers.
• Creativity + visual thinking + technology may lead you toward Graphic Design, digital design or other creative areas.
• Observation + research + nature may bring you closer to Biology, Paleontology, Entomology, Ecology and other sciences.
• Leadership + organization + business could make Business Administration, management and entrepreneurship interesting.
• Manual skill + precision + science may open up a completely different set.

Do this exercise: find evidence, not adjectives

There is a very common mistake when we try to identify our skills.

Writing:

• “I'm creative.”
• “I'm organized.”
• “I'm good at speaking.”

That helps little. Instead of writing: “I'm organized”

write:

“In group projects I usually divide up the tasks, plan out the timing and make sure we meet the delivery date.”

Instead of: “I'm good at explaining”

you can write: “Before exams my friends usually ask me to explain the topics they don't understand.”

Instead of: “I'm good with technology”

write: “When I use a new program I usually understand quickly how it works without watching too many tutorials.”

Do it with five situations from your life.

That's probably where you start discovering your skills.

Ask other people, this can help you do a little experiment.

Ask three people who know you well: “What do you think I'm especially good at?”

If three different people mention that you're good at explaining, that may be a sign.

If several highlight your ability to solve problems, that is one too.

Sometimes others see skills that we have taken for granted.

What if I'm good at something I don't like?

Then you've already discovered something very important.

Being good at something doesn't force you to turn it into your degree.

Maybe you have a knack for Mathematics but you don't want to spend your life working with quantitative problems.

• You can keep that skill as a tool.
• It might end up being useful in a completely different career.
• The opposite can also happen.
• You may love something even if you're not especially good at it yet.
• That doesn't mean you should rule it out either.
• Many skills can be developed.

“Am I already excellent?”

“Am I interested enough to want to improve?”

What if I feel like I'm not good at anything?

This feeling is much more common than it seems. And it usually shows up for three reasons.

1. The first is that you're comparing your normal skills with other people's extraordinary level.
2. The second is that you only consider a “skill” something that can be measured easily.
3. And the third is that you may not have tried enough things yet.

You don't need to be extraordinary. Look for small signs.

• Do you learn quickly?
• Do you listen well?
• Do you have patience?
• Are you curious?
• Do you notice details?
• Can you concentrate for a long time?
• Are you good at improvising?
• Can you calm other people down?
• Can you build things?
• Are you consistent?
• Do you find solutions?

You may not have found the context where your abilities become evident yet.

• Your skills can also change
• We are not born with a fixed list.
• Some abilities may appear naturally.
• Others are built.
• You can improve enormously at writing.
• Learn programming from scratch.
• Develop leadership.
• Practice public speaking.
• Learn to organize projects.
• Strengthen your math skills.
• Train your creativity.

That's why choosing a degree only based on:

“What I already do well today” would also be too limiting.

A good degree doesn't just make use of your current skills. It should also allow you to develop abilities you'd like to have tomorrow.

From your skills to possible degrees

Once you have identified several skills, don't look for a degree for each one.

Group them. For example:

My skills

• Analysis
• Numbers
• Organization
• Problem solving

In which careers do they appear together?

Perhaps these will come up:

• Industrial Engineering.
• Actuary.
• Economics.
• Data Science.
• Business Administration.
• Logistics.

It doesn't mean they are all suitable. It means you have just narrowed thousands of options down to a small group worth researching.

Now you need to look at each degree in depth.

• What you study.
• What subjects it includes.
• What problems the professional solves.
• Where they work.
• What a normal day can look like.
• Which part of the job appeals to you.
• Which part doesn't.

That step is as important as discovering your skills.

A degree shouldn't appeal to you just because you could be good at it

Imagine you have a huge ability to persuade.

You could do very well in certain business areas.

But maybe you don't enjoy selling.

Or you're excellent with numbers.

But economic problems don't spark any curiosity in you.

Or you draw very well.

But turning that activity into obligations, clients and deadlines would destroy what you enjoy.

That's why we need to bring two worlds together.

Ability: “I can do it”.

Interest: “I want to do it”.

When they appear together, it's worth paying attention.

Use a Career Test to find connections you might have missed

You may recognize some skills but still not know how to combine them.

That's where a Career Test can provide new clues.

Use the NoSeQueEstudiar Career Test as a tool to explore those connections and discover degrees you didn't know about yet.

• Then research them.
• The test can open a door.
• You decide if you want to walk through it.

So, what should I study based on my skills?

There's no formula that says: “If you're good at X, you must study Y.”

Your skills aren't instructions.

They're clues.

• Notice what things you do well.
• Look for real examples.
• Ask other people.
• Distinguish what you know how to do from what you really enjoy.
• Combine several skills.
• Then look at where they appear together professionally.
• And when you find possible degrees, don't choose yet.
• Research them.
• Compare.
• Find out what studying them is like.
• Find out what working in them is like.

And pay special attention to those options where you can say two things at the same time:

“I could be good at this.”

and

“This interests me enough to want to keep learning.”

That's where something much more useful than a perfect answer can start to appear:

a direction that really makes sense for you.