Blog

How to market your transferrable skills

It’s no secret that switching careers is tough. How can you convince someone you have exceptional skills as a manager when you have only worked as a salesperson? But today more than ever, transferable skills are extremely valuable to employers.

However, career transition can be done and achieved successfully. All you have to do is understand what transferable skills are and how to incorporate them into your cover letter, professional resume and LinkedIn summary.

Your transferable skills are the attributes and abilities you have gained from your career, volunteer or social activities. The way you present your skills to potential employers and professional networks will set you apart from other job seekers.

A key transferable skill to an employer today is leadership. Many people already possess this skill in one form or another yet they may not recognise it in their current job. If you can you assess the importance of tasks, identify if a task is really necessary, or step back and analyse problems, then you possess the transferable skill of leadership. 

Here’s how you can identify and market your transferable skills to stand out from the crowd:

• Write a list of your soft and hard skills gained from your current job and volunteer activities.
• Assess those skills against your new career goal/s.
• Research job advertisements and job descriptions related to your new career goals and note the words used to describe your transferable skills. 
• Update your resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) and incorporate the keywords used to describe your transferable skills.
• Clearly articulate examples of your transferable skills in your resume or CV and how these will enable you to seamlessly transition into the new job.
• Use the heading “Related Skills” on your resume or CV to highlight transferable skills relevant to the job.
• Engage a resume writing service provider for a professional looking resume or CV.

You want your professional resume or CV to demonstrate you possess the skills and abilities required by a future employer. So, it is important to ensure that you include relevant examples to market your transferable skills.
  • Author Nicole C
  • Category skills
  • Comments 0