A skills model and clustering system are presented, based on the assumptions that the tasks of all work, including scholarship, require many similar skills that can be identified and clustered. Six levels of competency are addressed: possession, combination, application, quantity, quality, and mastery. These skills can be clustered into adaptive skills, functional skills, and task-specific skills. A common vocabulary of skills and competence can be useful to experiential educators in fitting students to opportunities, in conscious skill development, and in working with faculty. At the College of Charleston, students seeking an internship must write a brief statement to describe their experiences and goals. Internship descriptions are grouped by the same clustering scheme and emphasis is given to the dominant skills required. All potential interns can undertake a 2-hour skill identification workshop to analyze their past experience for dominant skills. In addition to selecting skills they wish to develop, they choose skill words to use in interviews and writing. Appendices include: a self-rating form for specific adaptive and functional skills, a worksheet for skill identification, and a checklist to aid listening for adaptive skills. (SW)