Transferable skills

Are you organised, punctual and good at using your own initiative? If the answer is 'yes' then you already have three of the essential transferable skills that will help you in your career path.

"Having a strong foundation of transferable skills will broaden your options and help your career stay flexible."

What are transferable skills?

They're something you acquire during any activity in your life – studying, jobs, projects, parenting, hobbies and sports – that can be used in your next move, be it applying for a course or job. Some of the most important transferable skills are:

Working in a team
Communication skills
Problem solving
Initiative
Organisation
Adaptability
Numeracy
Spelling and grammar
Computer literacy
Time management

How do I know if I have transferable skills?

Think about what you've done in the past, e.g. hobbies, studying, volunteering or unpaid work experience. From these experiences you've almost certainly picked up some transferable skills, even if you haven't had a job yet.

For example, if you like painting, you can demonstrate that you are creative, or if you volunteer to write a charity's newsletter, it shows that you have good language skills.

If you've had a job, think about what skills you used. Did you work with others? Were you on time everyday? Did you work on a computer? All of these are essential skills that will benefit you in everyday life.

Of course, you won't necessarily have all the skills required for your next move, but there are ways of developing these. You could, for instance:

Take a course
Ask for extra responsibility at work or in a club you belong to
Do some work experience or voluntary work

Why are transferable skills important?

Transferable skills are increasingly important to employers as they show that as well as having essential knowledge you also have the practical skills that are needed for work.

Take teaching, for example. Whether you're applying for a course or a have recently qualified and are looking for a job, being able to show you have more than the required qualifications can make your application stand out. You may have volunteered to help run a youth group, or worked part-time in a care home, where communication and patience are essential. These are perfect qualities for teaching.

Even if your career takes a different turn these skills will never be a waste. Having a strong foundation of transferable skills will broaden your options and help your career stay flexible. This, according to The Work Inspiration, is essential as today's learners are likely to have more then 10 jobs by age 38.

You'll also find that transferable skills will help you outside work, too, for example in a voluntary role or in being part of a sports team.

Demonstrating your transferable skills

Once you've worked out the skills you've got and started developing the ones you need, you'll want to start thinking about how best to show them off. Initially, you can include them on:

On an application form you could write, "I am computer literate – I used Photoshop and InDesign to compile a project on global warming."

You may be asked to give more details in an interview, so bring in all your practical examples – the global warming project, for instance. Put all your qualifications and references in a folder and be prepared to show case your skills through a demonstration or test.

Other ways are drawing upon personal experiences. In an interview you could say, "I am an excellent problem solver. The drama club I go to needed new members, so I designed a poster and put it up around town. We got quite a few new people." This is an ideal example if you're applying for a creative role in marketing or graphic design.

Think of everything you've done and use a situation that's relevant to the role or course you're applying for. The examples you give, no matter how big or small, could make all the difference to your application.

By Sarah Wray

Updated:16/04/2010

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List the transferable skills that you think you already have and come up with a couple of examples of when you've used each of them.
Take a look at job ads or course prospectuses and make a list of what you think are the most important transferable skills to develop in your area of interest.
Practise applying transferable skills – use them in speculative letters and application forms. You could also ask someone to give you a mock interview and some feedback on your examples.
Look into ways of boosting your skills, e.g. volunteering, work experience, courses, joining a sports club.
Take a fresh look at your CV; are you making the best of your skills?

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