ExplainerSkills

What Are Transferable Skills?

Transferable skills are capabilities that can be useful in more than one role, job, industry or situation. They are sometimes called portable skills because they can travel with you when your circumstances change.

Examples include:

communication; problem-solving; organization; leadership; research; teamwork; planning; teaching; negotiation; analysis; adaptability.

A Simple Example

Imagine someone who organized a university conference. They may have developed: planning; communication; budgeting; coordination; problem-solving; stakeholder management. Those capabilities do not belong exclusively to "conference organization." They may be relevant to project coordination, administration, events, operations, communications and other roles.

Transferable Does Not Mean Automatically Transferable

A skill may need to be adapted to the requirements of the new environment. The key question is: "Where else could this capability create value?" That question turns previous experience into a source of career possibilities.

Turn your experience into new career opportunities.

Identify and apply your transferable skills to discover careers that fit your capabilities and natural gifts.

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