In this era of high employment
turnover and mobility, your transferable skills are the arsenal that ensures
your marketability, increases your professional competitive advantage and eases
your transition into any new role. No matter how specific, specialized and
limited you may think your past or present role to be, you are likely to have a
set of highly valuable skills that are transferable across workplaces and hence
essential to your career success. Transferable skills are the skills that
employers look for when they are interviewing you so it is essential that you
take stock of these and are able to cultivate them, add to them and recite them
freely and confidently at job interviews.
Definition of Transferable Skills:-
Very simply explained, transferable skills are those versatile skills that you
can apply and make use of in a number of different roles.
Why are Transferable Skills Important:-
Transferable skills are the inventory of assets that help you transition into
and excel in a new role. They ensure your professional resilience and the
robustness and longevity of your career. Moreover they allow you to more easily
and readily explore lateral dimensions in your career and acquire added skills
and expertise. While highly specialized skills may be essential to building your
own personal competitive advantage and ensuring success in a particular role or
organization, it is the transferable skills that ensure you do not become
professionally redundant or obsolete over the long term.
How Do You Acquire Transferable Skills:-
Everyone has transferable skills and they are acquired all through a person’s
life from infant and grade school through to college and university via formal
courses, informal education, personal reading, social activities, professional
activities and life in general. Once you have identified the set of essential
skills that you can take with you and apply anywhere you go, you can embark on a
dedicated mission to cultivate these skills further and add to their inventory.
How Do You Identify Transferable Skills:-
Self-awareness gained through rigorous, systematic and ongoing self-assessment
is essential to ensuring your marketability. There are plenty of sophisticated
self-assessment tests that allow you to analyze your own personal strengths and
weaknesses. You can also go through a skills checklist and tick all the ones
that you are confident apply to you. Enlist the help of your boss or peers or
professors or family if you would like a sounding board or external feedback and
advice.
While the laundry list of transferable skills is huge, they can essentially be
broadly consolidated under five main categories:-
• Soft Skills
Also known as interpersonal or people skills, these entail the set of skills
that allow you to positively relate to, communicate with, influence and inspire
others. Some examples:-
o Delegating skills
o Coaching skills
o Listening skills
o Presenting skills
o Co-operation skills
• Analytical skills
These are the intellectual skills that enable you to identify and analyse
problems and find creative, innovative and feasible solutions. Some examples:-
o Research skills
o Data gathering skills
o Data anaylsis skills
o Creativity
o Risk analaysis
• Technical Skills
These are the practical hands-on skills like computer proficiency, ability to
work with specific machinery, softwares, hardwares, ability to build or repair
etc. Some examples:-
o Programming
o Networking
o Coding
o SQL knowledge
o Flash, Photoshop, etc.
• Organisational Skills
These are the skills that allow you to sort data, plan, arrange projects or
resources, maintain accurate, effective and user-friendly records and coordinate
multiple resources or tasks.
o Prioritising
o Time management
o Task management
o Resource management
o Coordination
• Personal Skills
These are the set of skills to do with workplace character. Some examples:-
o Integrity
o Reliability
o Punctuality
o Diligence
o Decision-making ability