What transferable skills do you have?

Steps to identify your transferable skills

Transferable skills 

Aptitude and knowledge acquired through personal experience such as schooling, jobs, classes, hobbies, sports etc. Basically, any talent developed and able to be used in future employment.

How do I identify these skills?

If we are focusing on the professional world you might have a job description for your current position that you can use otherwise you can always craft one yourself.

Think about your daily tasks, responsibilities, skills you have acquired and qualifications. Then you will need to focus on your desired job, gather information about the role you are interested in. Can you find a job description or detailed information? Compare this list and find which skills you have that you can transfer.

In some cases it´s also important to highlight skills that you have developed outside work and that can be transferred to a professional role. Make a list of this skills too and see how they match the new position.

How can I show them on a CV or during an interview process?

Ensure that you are providing specific examples of these skills, be concrete and show how you used these skills in the past. It´s important to back up what you say, as generic and abstract data won´t be grabbing the employer´s attention.

Try to group the skills with specific areas, for example: leadership, team work, problem solving ability or communication. During the interview process tell a story where you displayed that skill, for example if you were responsible of organising a fundraising event, explain what you did and how your organisation skills helped to achieve the goals of the organisation.

It´s advisable to keep a career log – where you record situations where you were able to show different skills and achievements- and it´s also key to practice your storytelling!

Part of the information extracted from:

• Career Change: identifying transferable skills 

• 10 steps for identfying your transferable job skills