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identifying skills acquired through

Mobility

It can be difficult for someone who has studied or worked abroad to pinpoint the
acquired skills and demonstrate their value to a potential employer. To help with this,
a mobility skills grid was developed by the COMPASS project . This useful tool arranges
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skills on a grid along the lines of the European Language Portfolio, with six levels
of proficiency from A1 to C2. The grid has now been adapted by the Euroguidance
Centre in Latvia and is being used all over the country with success.

the grid , which you will find on the following about skill-building activities. it is easiest to do
pages, covers both “hard” and “soft”, or profession- this in the electronic version of the grid. the
al and social, competences. professional com- completed grid can be used as a tool for the
petences include language, mathematics, ict sending organization to negotiate the content
and technical skills. social competences include of the placement or exchange and to inform the
integration in group settings, teamwork, problem host about the skills level and ambitions of the
solving, awareness of social context, showing ini- participants. During the mobility experience,
tiative, achieving goals, recognizing and comply- participants can refer to the grid to check and to
ing with social norms as well as defending one’s remind themselves of their learning objectives.
personal rights and the rights of others.
wHat Have tHe participants
before going abroad, participants carry out a acHieved?
self-assessment to determine their initial level of the grid can be used at the end of the mobility
skills; this is done with the assistance of a mentor period to assess the participants’ achievements
to ensure objectivity. it is important to remind and to discuss their unmet goals, should there be
the participants that the grid refers to activities any. the skills descriptors provide useful vocabu-
performed in a foreign environment, not at lary when completing the europass mobil-
home. such mental preparation is very useful ity passport and can also be used when prepar-
since individuals can get frustrated when they ing a cV or getting ready for a job interview.
cannot perform in the same manner as usual
when faced with language and cultural barriers. the best feature of this tool is that it is motiva-
Knowing what to expect can reduce the stress. tional for the mobility participants. they have a
visual aid, a sort of a map that can lead them to
setting realistic goals achieving their learning objectives. it lets them
When the initial skills level is determined, learn- see how far they have come and what they have
ing objectives for the exchange or placement gained from their experience; it also helps them
can be set, depending on the length of the to explain their new skills to potential employers.
mobility period and the planned programme. at
this point, it is useful to discuss concrete activities
that the participants can take part in or arrange Ilze Jansone
for themselves in order to exercise and develop euroguidance latvia
specific skills. the initial and intended skills levels
should be marked on the grid and notes added 3) project no. De/08/llp-ldV/tOi/147166.

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