Managing your competencies

Managing your competencies has been revised on the basis of the authors' experiences and reactions of users of earlier editions.

What is a competency? A competency is a combination of knowledge, skills and attitude that you need to function well in specific professional situations. For example, a nurse must be able to inoculate a crying child. A nurse who cannot perform this task is regarded as incompetent - unfit to be a nurse. Likewise, a police officer must be able to pacify drunken pub visitors who have got into a quarrel. The profession one has or wishes to have will require certain competencies, and they may be specific to that particular job.