10 Tips to Showcase Your Transferable Skills
Self, EmploymentWhen it comes to interviews, promotions, or just work-life in general, we want to be able to show that our skills are valuable in a variety of contexts. Life Strategies provides 10 tips to help make those transferable skills stand out and speak for themselves.
1. Use relevant frameworks. Employers have provided clear feedback through countless surveys about the types of skills they value. Essential Skills, Employability Skills 2000+, and the BC Business Council’s Biennial Skills and Attributes Survey are three good examples.
2. Benchmark your skills. For each skill area, identify people who are exemplars – the skills seem to come naturally to them. Compare your skill level to theirs, noticing your own strengths and areas to develop.
3. Identify gaps. In the jobs you hope to get, what skills will you need to thrive in the workplace? These may be technical, job-specific skills or may be a professional level of the transferable skills you already have. Claim the skills you have in place; clearly identify specific skills to further develop.
4. Make a plan. Some skill gaps are remarkably easy to fill (e.g., an employer may be using a different version of software you’re already familiar with). Be creative about where to get relevant experience – work independently, volunteer, or take on extra projects at your current workplace until you can comfortably (and ethically) add a new skill to your resume.
5. Prove it. Employers will want evidence that you can do what you say you can do. Gather work samples, testimonials, and reference letters.
6. Build a portfolio. Thematically organize tangible evidence of transferable skills. Consider the type of work you’re interested in and highlight your most relevant skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, critical thinking).
7. Reconstruct your resume. Avoid generic job descriptions and shopping lists of tasks and duties. Instead use your valuable resume real estate to set yourself apart. Highlight your unique contributions and accomplishments. Quantify your results. Target each resume to the specific employer’s needs and priorities. Make a clear link between your past experiences and the job you’re applying for, using the “who cares?” filter to remove any unnecessary clutter.
8. Tell good stories. STAR stories (i.e., Situation, Task, Action, Result) can help you bring a job interview to life. Reflect on the skills the employer is seeking and, before the interview, identify 3-5 rich examples of when you successfully used those very skills. Briefly describe the situation and what needed to be done (the task). Focus the story on the actions you took and the measurable results achieved.
9. Actions speak louder than words. Don’t just say you can do something . . . do it! Look for opportunities to demonstrate both your talents and your willingness to go beyond your job description. Take on extra projects, job shadow during your lunch breaks, and pitch in to help the organization achieve its goals.
10. Continue to learn. To stay fully engaged at work and in life, you’ll need to take on greater challenges and build your capacity to achieve them. Part of capacity building is skill development. Learning is lifelong.
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash