Transferable skills
In today's working world, less emphasis is being placed on job-related skills and more on the underlying skills we acquire in our other life roles.
The thinking behind this is that people can be easily trained to achieve job-related skills, but if an employee is unable to communicate effectively, manage their time or work with others, they will not be a desirable or effective employee however much training they receive.
All of this is also true for unpaid work and voluntary activities.
What are your skills?
Take some time to think about your own skills. Remember, they do not have to be job-related: they can be from any area of your life. Here are a few examples of non-job-related skills to give you some ideas.
- Skills involved in organising and preparing dinner for six people.
- Assembling and fitting a new wardrobe.
- Managing a household budget - balancing the books, dealing with household bills, planning for future expenditure.
- Planning, laying out and planting a garden.
- Being a supportive friend, through good times and tough times.
What we need to focus on is that:
- We each have a range of skills that equip us to do a range of jobs.
- We should not limit or define ourselves by our current or previous jobs.
- Many skills are transferable to other jobs.
- Just because we are competent in a job doesn't mean we will be motivated to do it.
- As we do a job and as we age, we grow and develop. If our job doesn't change we will outgrow it. There will be less challenge in it for us because we can do it 'in our sleep'. That may be just the point to take our skills and head in another direction!
Skills and Interests Assessment
The Skills and Interests Assessment will help you identify your skills and interests and think about the transferable skills you have.
Please note that the assessment will launch in a new window. When you have completed the assessment you can return to this page to consider how you could use your transferable skills.
When you have completed the diagnostic
How many ideas can you come up with for using your most transferable skills? Type your top five transferable skills in the boxes below. Think about how you use each skill now and how else you might use it.
Please note that your results will only be saved until the end of the session. You will have the opportunity to print them out at the end.
