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13-1041.07 · Learning planner

Regulatory Affairs Specialists: a task-based learning plan

Coordinate and document internal regulatory processes, such as internal audits, inspections, license renewals, or registrations. May compile and prepare materials for submission to regulatory agencies.

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Understand the profile before choosing priorities

The table shows the ten highest importance ratings among 29 skills with usable ratings. Skills tied on importance can share a rank. Importance (1–5) and level (0–7) describe different dimensions. A level of 4 is not 4/7 of a course, and neither scale is your personal score. Source dates refer to the underlying rating, not the database release date.

SkillImportance / 5Level / 7Rating date
Reading Comprehension4.004.8808/2026 · Analyst
Critical Thinking4.004.6208/2026 · Analyst
Writing4.004.5008/2026 · Analyst
Speaking4.004.5008/2026 · Analyst
Active Listening4.004.2508/2026 · Analyst
Judgment and Decision Making4.004.2508/2026 · Analyst
Systems Analysis3.884.1208/2026 · Analyst
Complex Problem Solving3.884.0008/2026 · Analyst
Active Learning3.754.1208/2026 · Analyst
Systems Evaluation3.754.0008/2026 · Analyst

Anchor the plan in an actual task

Choose one reported task you want to understand better. Then choose one to three skills and describe an appropriate learning activity, evidence you will review and a date. For practical work requiring authorization, choose relevant coursework, observation or supervised training.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Understand an email from management describing new personnel policies

Level 6: Read a scientific journal article describing surgical procedures

Which instruction, constraint or exception in a document would you need to explain accurately?

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Evaluate customer complaints and determine appropriate responses

Level 6: Write legal brief challenging a federal law

What assumption could change your conclusion, and what evidence would you check first?

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Write an email to staff outlining new directives

Level 6: Write a novel for publication

What document would another person need, and how would you check that they could act on it?

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Interview applicants to obtain personal and work history

Level 6: Argue a legal case before the Supreme Court

How would you explain the task, audience needs and next step in a short conversation?

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Answer inquiries regarding credit references

Level 6: Serve as a judge in a complex legal disagreement

What would you ask the other person to clarify, and how would you confirm you understood?

Judgment and Decision Making

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Evaluate a loan application for degree of risk

Level 6: Decide whether a manufacturing company should invest in new robotics technology

Which options, constraints and consequences would you compare, and what could change the choice?

Systems Analysis

Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Determine how a new piece of equipment will affect production rates

Level 6: Identify how changes in tax laws affect locations of manufacturing operations

What inputs, outputs and dependencies would you map before proposing a change?

Complex Problem Solving

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Redesign a floor layout to take advantage of new manufacturing techniques

Level 2: Lay out tools to complete a job

How would you separate the problem into parts and compare possible explanations?

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Determine the impact of new menu changes on a restaurant's purchasing requirements

Level 6: Identify the implications of a new scientific theory for product design

What new information would change your approach, and how would you record the change?

Systems Evaluation

Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.

Read the scale examples

These generic examples illustrate the level scale. They are not required activities for regulatory affairs specialists.

Level 4: Identify the reasons why a client might be unhappy with a product

Level 2: Determine why estimates for the time to complete a task are overly optimistic

What would indicate the system is meeting its purpose, and what comparison would be fair?

Review the result

Your plan should explain why the selected skills matter for your chosen task, what you will do next and what evidence you will examine. Revisit the plan after that activity. Completing a worksheet or matching an occupation’s ratings does not establish professional competence.

Keep your worksheet

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Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.