What is Skills: Definition and 213 Discussions

A skill is the learned ability to perform an action with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be used only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used.
A skill may be called an art when it represents a body of knowledge or branch of learning, as in the art of medicine or the art of war. Although the arts are also skills, there are many skills that form an art but have no connection to the fine arts. A practice is when the learned skill is put into practice. An art or skill may be the basis for a profession, trade, or craft.
People need a broad range of skills to contribute to the modern economy. A joint ASTD and U.S. Department of Labor study showed that through technology, the workplace is changing, and identified 16 basic skills that employees must have to be able to change with it. Three broad categories of skills are suggested and these are technical, human, and conceptual. The first two can be substituted with hard and soft skills, respectively.

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  1. caters

    Teaching survival skills to endangered wildcats

    Wildcats are getting more and more endangered every day. The ones suffering the most are the cheetahs with only 10% of cheetah cubs on average surviving to adulthood and then who knows what % of adult cheetahs die from non-human predation. The least endangered are the smaller wildcats like...
  2. 2

    What CompE/statistics skills should EE undergrads have?

    Hello, I apologize for the ambiguous thread title. I am in the process of choosing electives and was wondering what sort of CSE/statistics skills (outside of what is required in a typical EE program) would prove useful to me after I graduate. Aside from core requirements, I have completed...
  3. B

    Other Books for Problem-Solving Skills (i.e. Putnam)

    Dear Physics Forum advisers, My name is Phoenix Kim, a rising junior with major in mathematics and an aspiring applied mathematician & algebraist. I wrote this email to seek your recommendation on great books for problem-solving skills (techniques, strategies, etc.) in the mathematical...
  4. tanmay

    What are skills needed to get good job in aeronautical engineering?

    Sir I have completed my 12th I have joined Btech course in Aeronautical engineering. My Course is starting on next month. So Sir I want to which skills are required to get highest paying job in reputed companies as aeronautical engineer, So I can develop this skills in my course.
  5. J

    Engineering Software Developer/Engineering Essential Skills

    Hi All, I am currently a Masters Student in a Biomedical Engineering program and have a B.S. in applied physics. In the majority of the research I have and am doing has been computational and I have been taking engineering classes more on the computational side besides the bio based courses I...
  6. T

    Problem solving skills for Physics Olympiad

    I am trying to do well in this year's National Physics Olympiad here to qualify for the APhO and IPhO team. So I need to increase my skill of solving physics problems. What books are the best for physics problems and also teaches the problem solving skills? I am already studying University...
  7. S

    Practical or sell-able skills of astronomy graduates

    Just being very curious, what do graduates of Cosmology, Astrophysics, or Astronomy do for careers? Do some or many employers wonder if these graduates have practical or sell-able skills? These people must have had other courses and have dealt with technical, equipment, engineering skills...
  8. M

    Rotating an Array: Seeking Help with Maths Skills

    Rotate an array hi everyone I'm hoping someone maybe able to help me/ point me in the right direction with the rotation of data from an array. I'll try to keep it short but my maths skills are seriously not good due to my old age and inexperience. I maybe approaching it from the wrong angle and...
  9. Zaent

    Physics What adds value to a Physicist?

    Particularly, I mean trained skills rather than traits. For example, for a blank student/graduate who knows only physics theory, learning LaTeX would put them a little bit ahead. Then maybe some programming, learning simulation software etc. I'm finishing up my 2nd year in undergraduate right...
  10. B

    Best way to acquire Proof/Logic skills

    Dear P.F. friends, What is the best way to learn and sharpen the proof methodologies and logic in mathematics, reading the proof books or attempting the proof problems in analysis texts without the proof basics?
  11. BilboBombadillo

    Self teaching physics with poor math skills?

    Ahoy there. I am twenty years old, and have (as a result of my interest in cosmology and astronomy, and the natural sciences) developed a keen appreciation for mathematics (in physics, primarily). I have always had an interest in the sciences, but lackluster teachers and personal disinterest...
  12. A

    Programs Image processing skills in biosensors and fiber optics

    I am currently pursuing a Master's degree in physics with optics as my major and my interests are fiber optics and biosensors. I have also worked on a couple of projects in the past that dealt with a lot of image processing. I will soon begin working on my Master's thesis and want to decide a...
  13. gfd43tg

    Should You Use Acronyms or Full Terms for Skills on Your Resume?

    Hello, I am working on my resume, and I was wondering when listing my skills, should I use abbreviated versions for the skills. For example, in my field of study HPLC is an acronym forhigh performance liquid chromatography, but when I list it on my resume "skills" section, should I say HPLC or...
  14. S

    How to acquire the math skills I need

    Hello, I am currently an undergrad physics major at a US university, and I am planning on going to grad school to get my phd in astronomy or astrophysics. However, I am very interested in theoretical astrophysics and GR and the like, but I feel as though my university doesn't give us as much...
  15. A

    If I can spare one or two hours daily (how to improve my higher math skills)

    Question: If I can spare one or two hours daily for my own, what would you suggest to improve my math maturity? I am referring to higher math, not computational math. Here is my little background: I am a HS calculus teacher by profession. Since I picked up graduate math study one year ago, I...
  16. S

    How are integration skills tested on GRE Mathematics Subject Test?

    Although it gets better with experience, integrating an expression by hand is a really a trial and error procedure. A wrong substitution will get you nowhere in the available time. So I am wondering as to how they test your integration skills on GRE Mathematics Subject Test. Any help would be...
  17. B

    What are the skills required to become a Quant as physics PhD?

    First of all I read a lot info from post by twofish-quant but I am not sure if its outdated already. So I am currently in the second year of my grad school (PhD program) in physics, specialized in observation cosmology (galaxy survey aiming at Dark Energy/inflation/BAO/...). As much as I like...
  18. R

    Are there transferable skills obtained with a medical physics M.Sc.?

    Hello, I was hoping for some input from anyone with any advice. I'm happily studying for my masters degree in medical physics at a campep accredited university, but I have a reasonable stress when it comes to the future. Can anyone comment on other avenues one could pursue with a masters...
  19. A

    Practicing creative / improvising math skills

    Hello, I am currently 18 years of age and I will be attending my last year of high school (well, "gymnasium" since I am from Sweden) and I have some questions. I am completely in love with math and physics. I just find the idea that these two subjects can describe reality fascinating, to say...
  20. N

    At 30, I am a recent college graduate with no skills

    What would you do in my situation? I'm almost 30 with no career or professional experience. I finished my BS degree in Mathematics a year ago, but I don't know what to do with it. I had planned on pursuing a MS right after, but changed my mind and decided to look for entry level positions. I...
  21. S

    What should i do to improve my english communication skills?

    Well many people in this forum suggested me to improve my English in many of my threads. So I am looking forward to do that. Should i read the whole dictionary? Which books should i start reading? I am also weak in grammar. One more thing I am also bad in my English handwriting. Well I have 2...
  22. D

    MHB Discrete Probability Distribution Tables Skills

    A problem i made up for some of my friends who need help with discrete distributions tables. Can you do it? Dice Generator Part I: 1. Construct a discrete probability distribution table for a fair six-sided dice. (Round according to example) 2. Calculate the mean, variance, and standard...
  23. M

    Aspiring Engineer but no technical skills

    Hi. I am here once again for another question. As I read more and more about engineering I get a bit daunted for the following reasons. Most people who are schooling for the field have built a thing or two using adruino or some other tools. Heck some even took part in actual projects that...
  24. L

    LaTeX Latex skills and asking about antiderivatives

    As a way of practicing my Latex skills and asking about antiderivatives. Suppose we have \int\frac{1}{x^2 + a}dx a is just a constant Now I recognize this to be \int\frac{dx}{x} whose antiderivative is \frac{\ln{|x|}}{dx} + C The question is: In the first function, I could make a...
  25. S

    Questions for actuaries (or aspiring ones): relevant 'software skills'

    So I'm trying to career change over to the actuarial field and I'm trying to prepare myself as best as I can to get that entry level job. I know about the exams and am already working on that. If all goes well, I hope to pass my first exam in January. As I know the actuarial profession is...
  26. D

    Practical Engineering Skills

    Hi, I'm currently a second year mechanical engineering student. As part of my course, there is an opportunity to go on a year long placement to an engineering company next year. I have to start applying to companies now, so began to brush up my CV. The problem is, I have next to no practical...
  27. H

    How to improve thinking skills?

    Hi guys:Just wondering, are there ways that you can improve your thinking skills hence enhancing your problem solving and learning speed and ability? I would love to become more intelligent, I don't know how much natural talent I have but I would like to (and I am doing) my best to become a more...
  28. A

    Engineering What are some good, marketable engineering skills?

    I am looking to strengthen my resume recruitment power and I am looking for some skills/trades which may contribute to this goal. Please, do not tell me useless things like "creativity" or "ambitiousness" because the fact of the matter is that those skills will not get your resume noticed in...
  29. H

    Programs Skills to learn before pursuing degree in mechanical engineering

    I am going to be entering college as a freshman this fall and planning on majoring in mechanical engineering, but I have plenty of free time until then (~two months) and want to acquire some skills that are essential (or just useful) to the field. I'm interesting in things that would be to my...
  30. V

    Engineering Computational Skills of a Nuclear Engineer

    This Fall I will be joining my university for MS Nuclear Engineering. My undergraduate major is Mechanical Engineering. I have a few questions. 1. How important is computational physics in Nuclear Engineering? 2. How to go about learning and practicing it in the context of nuclear engineering...
  31. O

    How do I improve my programming/computational skills?

    Hello PF, I've been doing some programming problems on Project Euler and Hacker Rank and I find that I struggle with them (not necessarily with the coding/implementation, but rather formulating a solution). I've been able to solve ~50 PE problems (mostly all the easier problems) and only 1-2...
  32. C

    Preparing for Sophomore Year Math: Tips to Improve Math Skills

    I'm going to be a sophomore next year. I'm taking Honors Geometry with many other honors classes. I need help to expand my math skills. I've never been great in math. I'm okay in math, so it takes lots of studying for me to get the grade I got. Is there anything I could do to get better in math...
  33. M

    Improving problem solving skills

    I've often been plagued by the thought of being unintelligent and slow compared to others. I seem to take much longer to understand concepts and work out problems. With that said, I do really well at school (but also put in much more time than others). I'm also quite obsessive when it comes to...
  34. H

    Necessary knowledge and skills for quality PLC programming

    Hello everyone! This is my first post on PF, but I've been reading the forums for some time now. My question is rather a simple one, but since I'm an Electronics Engineer, I think it would be polite to say a few words about my education and work experiences. I've finished 4 years of...
  35. T

    Best Time to Learn Critical Thinking Skills

    Now, I'm aware that the best time to learn a new language it during your toddler years. This got me thinking. What if the best time to learn logical thinking is also during this time? I know for a fact that kids are not taught critical thinking skills. I tutored many kids and only see them do...
  36. C

    My interests and skills do not coincide

    I've always loved learning about Astronomy and many of the amazing discoveries brought on by it as well as Physics. My dream job would probably be working in the field of Theoretical Physics. But there's one horrible problem: I'm terrible at math. I've only completed high school and I had...
  37. B

    Guidance for improving practical skills

    hello all, i am a second year computer systems engineering student, after my first year i have done well in the theory. but i find i learn so much more when a unit has practical backing. i have decided to build an electronics lab so that i may practice various topics in engineering that i learn...
  38. M

    Engineering IT Skills for Science/Engineering Environments

    Hello, I have been in the IT industry for a few years, and I have been gaining decent skills in networking, general IT, server administration, etc. I eventually plan on going back to physics and/or engineering, so I was wondering if someone has any ideas on what skills are valuable in a...
  39. F

    Medical Neuroscientist says PSAT score related to simple arithmetic skills

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIjMIo8Lsrw Do I have this right? It sounds like the people who didn't do so well on the PSAT, who used their right brain, "overthought" the simple arithmetic problems, by using the (subjective?) quantity-related part of their brain. the students who did...
  40. N

    Essential Skills for [Physics, Math, Eng.] Majors: Research Papers/Journals

    My Question is 1.What are the things one [Physics, Mathematics or Engineering Major] must have to know except their Academics. Some commonly are English & Russian. Typing. C or C++. 2.When one are completely able to Research Papers/Journals.and understand them. or, What are the things to...
  41. C

    Boost Your Practical Skills in EE: Tips and Tricks from Experienced Engineers

    Hi everyone, I'm going to be finishing the end of my third year in electrical / electronic engineering (my school doesn't have specialization until fourth year), and I am starting to realize that I am lacking in a lot of practical skills! (ie. soldering, hardware design, programming, general...
  42. K

    Transitive Relation over Set - Feedbacks on proofwriting skills

    Homework Statement Assume a relation P that is negatively transitive on a set X that is not empty. Define the binary relation R on X by xRy iff y P x is false. Prove that R is transitive.Homework Equations Negative Transitivity: xPz \rightarrow xPy \vee yPz Like in the previous thread...
  43. Feodalherren

    Improve Math Study Skills: Conquer Time Limit Stress & Get High Grades

    Up until recently I've always gotten high A:s in my math exams. The first test this semester I scored a perfect 100 % and then the second test plummeted to a 51 and just recently I got a 72. I'm studying the same way I always do. I feel confident about the material I even teach it to other...
  44. qspeechc

    Boost Your CV with Self-Taught Skills: Microsoft Excel and Programming Languages

    Hi everyone, I recently taught myself Microsoft Excel, and I have no problem putting that on my cv because Excel is simple, and anyone can teach themselves Excel up to an intermediate level at least. But, I also want to learn some programming languages, like Java, C, etc. I suppose I can get...
  45. V

    Engineering Major? Test Your Programming Skills in this Odd/Even Game!

    Homework Statement This is an introductory programming class for Engineering majors. So I am making a simple game. It requires that you enter say, 3 numbers, then test to see if the sum of the numbers is even or odd. If it is even you win, odd, you lose. The game repeats several times, and...
  46. W

    Mastering the Art of Note-Taking: Tips and Strategies for Effective Learning

    I know that taking notes, whether they be lecture or from a textbook, is an elementary skill to some. However, I have found that I am having a terrible time taking notes. For example, I will start taking notes using the Cornell method, using an outline format for the note taking column, and...
  47. S

    Programs Decided on math major but I don't have good study skills

    Hi I've recently decided to become a math major, as it's the subject that I've enjoyed the most and had the most exposure to during high school. During high school, the AP Calc classes and a Calc III course I took at a local CC came to me quite naturally. I just followed along to the...
  48. S

    Schools How to improve problem solving skills at pre college level

    I am preparing for olympiads ( though not actually giving) . I am first doing a theory book and then after completing theory and being satisfied that I have understood any particular topic I go on to solve a problem book of the same topic. I have just planned to do progress in this way but I...
  49. B

    What practical skills can I acquire in a physics MS program?

    I just enrolled in a physics MS program at a smaller state school. I am fascinated with physics and all other areas of science, but I want to get some really practical skills while I'm in this program. What are the most employable skills that one can acquire while studying physics?
  50. D

    Are there ways to improve lab skills?

    I've never been good with labs and often have bad luck with them as well because what usually happens is equipments do funny things that only happens to me. My old TA tells me he purposely checked my equipments before the lab and sometimes, funny thing still happens and it frustrates him. But...
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