ReSET: Recognise Strengths Engagement Tool
Working alongside organisations, employers and individual members of our community, to recognise strengths developed through Lived Experience.
The
Need
Need
How it
Works
Works
What do we mean by Lived Experience?
Lived experiences shape who we are. They come from navigating systems, processes, and challenges beyond our control. Through these experiences, people develop unique strengths that others may never need to. These strengths which include resilience, adaptability and problem-solving are valuable and can be used in all areas of people’s lives.
Our ambition at the City & Guilds Foundation is to support individuals to recognise these strengths, to highlight rather than hide them, and to use these skills to seize opportunities.
Why do we need to recognise the value of lived experience?
6 Essential Employment Skills for 2035:
Communication, Collaboration, Problem-solving, Organisation, Creative Thinking, Information Literacy (NFER, 2025)
Recognising strengths helps people to engage with opportunities positively, acknowledging what they already have, as well as what they can develop.
Recognise Strengths Engagement Tool (ReSET)
The ReSET tool provides a matrix of different skills and attributes that people with a lived experience may have, but don’t know how they translate it into the world of work.
ReSET Skills & Strengths Worksheet
Our ReSeT skills & strengths worksheet provides a matrix of different skills and attributes that we all possess but often don’t know how to translate for work.
To date, this includes nine attributes: determination, perseverance, growing in self-belief, kindness & empathy, advocacy, communication, adaptability, resilience and creativity.
Our partners The Launchpad Collective & St Giles have contributed to this section.
Complete ReSET Skills &
Strengths Worksheet
Strengths Worksheet
Browse curated
Partner resources
Partner resources
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Digital credential
Digital credential
ReSET for people with refugee status
In line with the Foundation’s aims of supporting everyone to succeed, we can help more people with refugee status to recognise their strengths, progress in the world of work and achieve their potential.
The ReSET tool provides a matrix of different skills and attributes that people with refugee status might have but don’t know how to translate for work.
To date, this includes nine attributes: determination, perserverance, growing in self-belief, kindness & empathy, advocacy, communication, adaptability, resilience and creativity.
Our partners The Launchpad Collective have contributed to this section. They are experts at helping to empower refugees to unlock their potential so they are able to contribute in a meaningful way. Find out more about The Launchpad Collective here.
So often what holds us back in life is fear: of failure, of the unknown. If you’re a refugee you’ve already done something incredibly brave and frightening. Your journey to get where you are today required ingenuity, courage, resilience and determination. We know that businesses and employers need successful, multi-talented people to work for them – refugees are multi-talented people, who know what it’s like to achieve what they want, even when they were scared. A valuable talent pool ready to help your business succeed.
Determination
Overcoming barriers to build a new life
Mahmoud
"As a person who went through many difficult times and many changes to my life, from being displaced inside my country, then fleeing to another country and then arriving here. I've always been able to start again, always had the power to find a new job, new friends and a new way of life. I found that determination is always what helps me tackle any barriers that could stop me achieving my goals."
Perseverance
Navigating difficult systems and processes
Salwa
“Life amazed me with its surprises between sadness and joy... pain and hope... life and death. I have faced many challenges and barriers but they did not discourage me. Instead this was a reason for one success after another. I get up again and always look for the best to build bridges in my life.”
Growing in self-belief
Believing in a better future
Osamah
“My life has been a constant struggle, full of challenges and obstacles. Despite the hardships, I have learned to believe in myself. Believing in yourself is the key to unlocking your true potential. When you have faith in your abilities, you can push yourself to new heights and achieve things you never thought possible. Without self-belief, you will always hold yourself back. Believe in yourself and watch the magic unfold.”
Kindess & Empathy
Immersing in a new culture
Hamid
“The world is full of various laws, principles, orders and regulations. I learnt to be flexible and adaptable, I learnt to create my own ways based on new requirements and rules. It opened me a new gate toward a new world which I didn't belong to, but I adapted myself to it. Now I am strong enough to adjust my life and myself to any new circumstances.”
Advocacy
Sharing your story about starting again
Sofi
“From the first day of the war I told myself that I would help Ukraine and my people as much as I could. I have already participated in 6 charity concerts and raised funds for our army and refugees. I will keep doing it! I will sing, speak and tell the world what is happening in my country. I want to be useful!”
Communication
Using a second language
Wafa
“Speaking other languages allows us to transcend borders. This is a strength we had to learn on our own journey to survive the war. Additionally, I have discovered the importance of languages in bridging gaps between human feelings and needs. By building on our language skills we can make ourselves more useful and can connect and integrate our communities.”
Adaptability
Immersing in a new culture
Hamid
“The world is full of various laws, principles, orders and regulations. I learnt to be flexible and adaptable, I learnt to create my own ways based on new requirements and rules. It opened me a new gate toward a new world which I didn't belong to, but I adapted myself to it. Now I am strong enough to adjust my life and myself to any new circumstances.”
Resilience
Carrying on, even when it felt impossible
Medya
“I would like my future employer to know that I am a very flexible & resilient person. My life has not been easy. I had to face many challenges. It was not easy to start a new life in a place with different systems from what I was used to in my home country, but I could overcome that. That makes me confident that no matter what obstacles come in the future I will be fine.”
Creativity
Finding new ways to live
Bella
“We live in a world where there is no such thing as impossible. If we believe in ourselves we can move forward. As long as we are alive, we have the ability to change everything, even the world. Always there is a way. I can now live with freedom to finally be myself, celebrating who I am and having the opportunity to express myself in a new community.”
ReSET for life after Prison
In line with the Foundation’s aims of supporting everyone to succeed, we can help more people with refugee status to recognise their strengths, progress in the world of work and achieve their potential.
The ReSET tool provides a matrix of different skills and attributes to support life after prison, that people might have but don’t know how to translate for work.
To date, this includes nine attributes: determination, perserverance, growing in self-belief, kindness & empathy, advocacy, communication, adaptability, resilience and creativity.
Our partners St Giles Trust have contributed to this section. They are experts at helping to empower refugees to unlock their potential so they are able to contribute in a meaningful way. Find out more about St Giles here.
Determination
Changing your life for the better
Determination
In the criminal justice system determination is not a choice you’ve got to carry on, you’ve got to keep going because you have no other option. It could be around child custody or pending cases, without being determined you would give up. Then when you leave prison it doesn’t matter what had happened, or what other people said, you have to be determined not to end up in prison again. To prove everyone wrong and carry on and live your life. To be determined that a conviction does not define you.
Perseverance
Finding new opportunities and ways to live
Perseverance
You have to persevere with what you might have given up on. This perseverance comes from you but somebody else can also give you a little nudge in the right direction. It’s like running a marathon, you've got the people that are watching you run, and they're cheering you on and they're encouraging you, but you yourself are the one that's running. You fight for your rights, for something that is that is real, that you believe is your right to have.
Growing in self-belief
Understanding your value
Growing in self-belief
We've had a lot of people telling us we are useless and will never amount to anything. That we can't do things because of past experiences, things that we've done. When you've been told that for a lot of years that becomes instilled in the brain that I'm worthless, I can't do anything. So that self belief isn't there. When you come out of custody, there is a massive amount of self doubt, but through joining the right services self belief can grow and be acquired again.
Kindness & Empathy
Knowing you deserve a chance
Empathy
Empathy is seeking to understand that although people can be from any kind of background, it doesn't matter because you're all thrown into one place together. When you are in custody you are forced to mix with people that perhaps on the outside world, you would not have anything to do with. When it comes to the workplace that's why it's important to have people with lived experience. Because you can't say we're inclusive yet exclude them, when it's about them. Empathy helps you realise that.
Advocacy
Telling people who you are and what you can do
Advocacy
We have to be an advocate for ourselves, as well as being an advocate for others. It doesn’t mean you can’t speak for yourself, sometimes it’s just that you might not have the right vocabulary, or articulation of speech in that way. We are a sum total of our experiences. So if you have lived experience of the criminal justice system when you are speaking to other people that have been in that position, or want to work with those in that position, you're able to help give them some insight.
Communication
Finding new ways to connect
Communication
You have to learn to communicate with different people. To understand the power of your own voice, to put forward your opinions and not listen when others tell you, you are wasting your time. Just because you don’t articulate yourself in the same way it doesn’t mean your opinion is not valid. In prison there can be a whole different language, a different way of communicating you need to understand. You learn how to communicate in the most challenging of circumstances.
Adaptability
Living in a difficult environment
Adaptability
Everything you had before is taken away from you because of your conviction. You have to adapt on many different levels, to be away from your family, your home and job. It's a different environment altogether. You have to get used to the sounds, the person you share a cell with, the people on the wings, the officers - there are so many different things. your body is contained but you don’t have to be shut off in your mind.
Resilience
Dealing with setbacks and carrying on
Resilience
You have to be resilient to survive the ordeal you are experiencing, it isn’t a choice, it’s the only option available because of the situation you are in. You have to keep going, even when you are pushed back, again and again. You have to not let it bruise you emotionally. Sometimes people don’t have the resilience and strength to cope with being in custody. So when you do, it is a strength, one which you have had to learn.
Creativity
Thinking differently about what you can do
Creativity
In custody you have very limited resources and you have to be creative and resourceful. For example cutting hair with nail clippers. You learn that necessity is the mother of inventions. Creativity comes out because of the situation you are in. You have to find different ways to get to the result that you want because there are barriers to the usual way you might do something, so you become more creative.