The Key To Your Future? Transferable Skills

If you’ve ever job hunt, you’ll know this: A lot of times, you’ll read multiple postings that have the same requirements when it comes to skills. Things like critical thinking, adaptability, attention to detail, and even hard skills like data analytics.

We call these transferable skills, which essentially are a core set of skills and competencies that can be applied to a wide range of jobs and industries. They may be soft skills like collaboration and teamwork… and they can also be technical skills in record keeping, accounting, and video editing. Basically, any skills that you can use in new industries or new roles!

Why are they so important and why would your future employer look out to see if you have any? Here are the reasons:

#1 They make you more adaptable
Ultimately, with transferable skills means you are a flexible hire who can immediately start work without a lot of hand holding. With the right skill set, you can quickly adapt to challenges or changes, and be more effective. Win for the company, and win for you when you show your potential for adaptability!

#2 They are versatile
You could be asked to do something that’s completely out of your role one day. Maybe it is to step in for someone due to an emergency or maybe it’s to fill in a role temporarily. With transferable skills, you can use them in almost any position. For instance, if you have great project management skills, you can use them in a lot of project leading roles. At the same time, your transferable skills prove to your employer that you are indispensable as you’re no one-trick pony.

#3 You can only get better!
Transferable skills are permanent, in that you don’t lose the knowledge or skills even if you’ve not been using them for a while. This is because with these skills that can adapt pretty much everywhere, you’ll have ample opportunities to use them, improve, and then share your skills with others! For example, if you excel at record keeping and you’ve used this across four different positions, you’re likely to have a pretty firm understanding on how to best use this skill. Armed with this, you’ll be a great addition to any company as that experience is invaluable.

#4 They are reliable
Some skills can become obsolete, or some skills can become pretty much normal. But because transferable skills are moldable and can help add on to expand your knowledge and experience, they are valuable to any company. Plus, they are always in demand so you know you can rely on your transferable skills to make you a more attractive hire.

#5 They set you apart
Say a company has the option between two software engineers with the same technical skills. But one has proven to be more collaborative and has assumed some leadership experience in previous roles (read: transferable skills). The company is more likely to hire the one with more transferable skills as they make you a well-rounded, more valuable and reliable hire.

So what are some examples of transferable skills that can help you land your next job? Here are some common ones that you’ll want to highlight in your resume!

Collaboration
This basically means teamwork and your ability to work well with others. Collaborating skills make you an easy person to work with and an effective hire to a company. It means you know how to share ideas, have meaningful discussions, and is a valuable addition to all teams. Hired!

Creative thinking
This doesn’t just apply to creative jobs. Any job requires some form of creative thinking whether it is pitching for a job by presenting your engineering ideas in a more creative manner or thinking out of the box when any problem arises at work. Creative thinkers are great at brainstorming multiple ideas and derive new theories that may just take the company they are working at to new heights. One thing great about creative thinkers – regardless of the industry or role – is their ability to be original and different!

Attention to detail
Whether you are a doctor or in marketing, having this useful transferable skill means you have great focus and can produce clean, coherent and organised work. Employers value work that is accurate and free of mistakes – all the time!

Communication skills
Perhaps the most useful transferable skill to have in your career tool belt! It doesn’t just mean being proficient in a language but rather being able to share your thoughts cohesively and also being able to present ideas that are clear, organised, and most importantly logical. In a lot of roles, you’ll spend a considerable amount of time trying to convince people of your ideas and your capabilities. This all begins with great communication skills that can help others understand why yours is the way. Whether you are writing an email or crafting a speech, communication skills can help you progress in your career in all roles and industries!

Photo by Vardan Papikyan on Unsplash.