Transferable skills or, as we like to call them, transferable strengths, are strengths or abilities you can take from one occupation to another. Your transferable strengths and abilities can also be helpful in other aspects of life beyond employment, such as in an academic or social setting.
Transferable strengths don’t below to a specific job or industry, they are general skills that can be applied in a variety or situations and circumstances.
Examples of Transferable Strengths:
- Leadership and team management
- Critical thinking
- Project management
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Communication strengths including written and verbal
- Time management
- Interpersonal/people skills
- Comprehension and listening
Identifying Transferable Skills
You likely already possess many transferable skills. The key is identifying your strengths and the value they bring to prospective employers. Knowing your strengths and being open to developing new transferable skills will give you an edge when looking for work across industries and role types.
Transferable strengths need to be generalised and flexible enough to apply to a variety of roles. You may have developed these in the workplace or in other areas of your life experience. Transferable strengths and abilities will often fall into a couple of categories:
- Communication strengths
- Planning and problem solving
- Human/interpersonal strengths
- Leadership and decision making
- Financial strengths
Over the years you may have developed many transferable strengths that you may not be aware of. For example, if you studied you may have research topics, written report or presented papers to your class. In doing this, you’ve developed skills that are not limited to just one discipline but are transferable to many different occupations and environments.
When looking for employment, a promotion or more responsibility in the workplace, remember to highlight how your transferable strengths relate and benefit the role you are applying for and suit your work goals. An employer will expect you to be able to apply the strengths you have learned and identified to areas of your work.
