Core competencies are the defining characteristics that make a Cancer Registrar stand out from their competition. They are the behaviors and characteristics that an employer often relies on to determine if a candidate is a potential fit for the organization. Core competencies are what you bring to the table and can offer an employer that demonstrate your strengths and often are predictors of how you will behave or respond to situations in the workplace.
It is important to understand the difference between core competencies and skill sets or proficiencies. Skills are specific to a task, such as case abstracting, while competencies incorporate a set of skills with abilities and knowledge. For example, core competencies are combined with knowledge and proficiency when you see a trend in the data being collected and proactively develop a performance dashboard to show your facility’s concordance with evidence-based guidelines for a specific primary site, stage and treatment pathway. Skills are just one of three components that make up a competency, the other two components are knowledge and proficiency. Learning a new skill is typically quicker than learning a competency.
For cancer registrars, skills and proficiency is demonstrated in the credentialing process, i.e., earning the CTR. Now, having a resume packed full of core competency by itself is not going to land you a dream job. Neither is a resume that only demonstrates skill sets. Today’s employers want to hire employees that demonstrate both core competency and proficiencies. This is best demonstrated in the graphic below published by the Peak Performance Center.
Core Competencies for Cancer Registries includes the following areas or domains:
Click on any of the three domains above to view a detailed list of the core competencies in each area.