The Importance of Your Transferable Skills

It’s important for you to identify where you add value. What can you offer an employer in return for your salary and benefits? In this competitive market, it’s important for you to stand out from your competition whether you are looking for an internal move with your existing employer or a new role externally.

Your transferable skills are what make you marketable and they will provide you with an advantage over your competition. Your transferable skills are essential to your career success and will ease your transition into a new role.

Transferable skills are the skills that employers look for when they are interviewing you so it’s essential for you to reflect on these and to be able to develop them, add to them and speak about them confidently at job interviews.

What is a Transferable Skill?

A transferable skill is a skill that you possess which can be easily applied and made use of in a number of different situations, hence, allowing you to apply it to a new job opportunity.

Why are Transferable Skills important?

Transferable skills are the job seekers greatest assets and contribute to career success.

Greater transferable skills = greater choice.

How can you develop your Transferable Skills?

Everyone has transferable skills which are developed throughout a person’s life from starting school through to college and university, personal and professional experiences and life in general. Once you have identified your essential skills you can then take them with you and apply in any situation, you can also build on these skills by further experience.

"The more options you can offer in terms of skills, knowledge and experience, the higher the probability of being in demand"

How do you identify Transferable Skills?

We can sometimes take our skills for granted without recognising that they are in fact what make us unique. Being aware of our Transferable Skills can help us to identify where we add value to our friends, family and within the work place.

Whilst there are a number of self-assessment tests on the market that allow you to analyse your own personal strengths and weaknesses, I would recommend that you explore your skills with the people who know you best.

Approach your boss or peers at work. Speak to your close friends and family, you might be surprise by their response as to how and why you add value to their lives!

Once you've identified your key skills then provide examples to support your experience.

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global www.chillipepperglobal.com advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step whether you are looking to move internally or externally.