What are Transferable Skills and How Can They Impact Your Job Prospects?

Are you looking to change careers?

It might seem like a risk to move industries, especially if you’ve never worked in it or hold any degrees in this field. However, you should never count yourself out.

You might be surprised to learn that employers often look beyond the technical requirements they advertise for a role. Even though education and work experience might be a factor, it’s the transferrable skills that can actually increase your odds of standing out and might be what gets you across the line.

But how do you define transferrable skills and demonstrate their value to your potential employer? One way is to use this guide to make them stand out and impress any recruiter looking to employ you.

What Are Transferrable Skills?

You might know this term as soft skills. Transferrable skills can often prove to be quite helpful when changing career paths or attaining new ventures. While you may need to learn the technical aspects of a different industry, these abilities can help make your transition a lot smoother.

They’re also valuable to your employer. It can help in bringing a fresh approach to the role, and in turn, guarantee you long-term career success.

How Can Transferrable Skills Be Acquired?

You start developing transferrable skills from the moment you’re born. They evolve from everyday interactions with friends, family, educational environments, social interactions, sporting activities, workplace interactions, and during the course of your life.

But what is most important to potential employers are specific transferable skills that are ideal for their workplace. Some of the essential areas include:

• People skills, which may include how you communicate, interpersonal and influencing ability, delegation, diplomacy, coaching and mentoring, leadership presentation, empathy, cooperation, client support, negotiation, and listening ability.
• Analytical skills, such as problem-solving ability, researching, information analytics, risk management, financial assessment, and budgeting.
• Organizational skills, including time management, prioritisation, resource management, project coordination, efficiency, and productivity.
• Working from home capabilities are also a soft skill. You can be trusted to work in isolation with minimal supervision, are technically advanced in video conferencing and other communication means, as well as flexible with your work arrangements.
• Creativity and business acumen meaning your capacity to solve issues using creative but workable solutions. You need to be able to think outside the box and adapt to changing environments. It also means adapting to market scenarios and business strategies as required.

What Transferable Skills Do You Have?

You can identify your transferable skills by starting with taking note of your personal strengths and development areas. Use a formal self-assessment tool or have a colleague or friend help. Even your yearly performance review can assist in understanding more about the soft skills you possess.

The quicker you identify this skill set, the faster you can add them to your resume and use it to improve your chances of attaining your dream job.

If you want to ensure these abilities are highlighted in your job application documents, then why not have Resumes To You do this for you. We’re experts when it comes to providing tailored and targeted resumes to meet any industry you’re looking to enter. Contact us today and allow us to spotlight all of the necessary skills on your resume.