Skills audits: Tools to identify talent

Different EU documents, including the 2012 Council Recommendation on validation of non-formal and informal learning and the 2016 Council Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways, promote skills audits as one means to support individuals in their transition periods. In these documents skills audits are suggested as a practice to identify and document knowledge, skills and competence of individuals with a view to further inform decisions about career orientation, education or training. However, there is limited evidence about the extent to which skills audits are used and what they entail in practice. The purpose of this study was to improve the knowledge base about skills audits, to identify main types of skills audits, the methods and approaches used for skills audits as well as to assess the extent to which standards are used as part of the process. Considerations about effectiveness of skills audits were also analysed.