What You Should Know About Skills

The pandemic has changed the work world in many ways. Some temporary and some likely permanent. Whether you are on the hunt for a new position because you have to or because you have decided it is time for a career change, transferable skills can help you land a new job, no matter how unmatched your skill set might appear to be. Some of these skills are job-specific or technical, like understanding how to use certain platforms or tools, but others are transferable skills, such as strong leadership or critical thinking skills.

Identifying what your transferable skills are and highlighting them on your resume will make you a more attractive and marketable candidate, but you don’t have to be on the hunt to start building your foundation. Understanding and developing your transferable skills is also important to advance and find opportunities within your current organization.

All transferable skills are important and valuable. However, some skills will always be relevant and in-demand. These transferable skills includes:

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Strong communication is the ability to impart information to others by speaking, writing or in another medium. Communication skills help you know when and how to ask questions, how to read body language and how to talk to people in many contexts. In the workplace, employers value strong communicators for their ability to work with others and move projects forward.

These communication skills includes: active listening, written communication, verbal and nonverbal communication, confidence and public speaking.

DEPENDABILITY SKILLS

Dependability encompasses qualities that make you a trusted employee, and every employer seeks candidates who can be trusted to accomplish tasks well and in a timely manner. They often trust these same people to successfully manage relationships, assignments and goals.

These dependability skills include: punctuality, integrity, work ethic, meeting deadlines and honesty.

ADAPTABILITY SKILLS

Adaptability skills are used to continue working towards goals, even as teams, projects, management or products change. Employers hire flexible candidates who can quickly learn new skills and processes to ensure work is done quickly, efficiently and with a positive attitude. Adaptability skills include: creativity, positive attitude, flexibility and patience.

Leadership skills include traits like strong communication, relationship building and dependability. You can transfer leadership skills to different industries, because most employers value people who can organize teams to reach shared goals.

Leadership skills include: delegation, interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, project management, risk-taking and goal setting.

The importance of transferable skills can come in two ways:

TO EMPLOYERS

Employers know that workers with transferable skills have an extensive skill set they can tap into when needed. For example, someone with analytical skills can likely examine a problem from all sides and help break down the options that exist for solving it.

Employers also seek transferable skills in their staff because, in general, employees with transferable skills have the tools that help them go beyond their job description. A customer service representative usually has good problem-solving skills. However, a customer service rep may do more with that transferable skill than solve problems for customers. They may also notice inefficiencies in how the team is assigned incoming calls and recommend a more efficient solution, saving the employer time and money.

TO AN INDIVIDUAL

Transferable skills are equally important to you and play a pivotal role in helping you grow your career.Taking your existing transferable skills and applying them to new challenges demonstrates to employers that you’re adaptable and versatile, which are also transferable skills. The ability to transition from one role to another using these skills shows that you are flexible in an ever-changing world.