Transferable Skills How Part-Time Experience Lands The Career

Transferable Skills How Part-Time Experience Lands The Career Image by genie_solution via Flickr. Transferable skills may, in fact, be even more important than specialized skills in some fields. A case study conducted by Petia Petrova and Dorota Ujma, University of Luton, took a survey amongst undergraduate students studying tourism, asking them which skills they perceived as essential to landing a career in the tourism industry.  The result? The majority of respondents (68%) stated that their specialized knowledge of the tourism industry would prove advantageous to them in securing employment in the industry yet such knowledge is regarded by tourism and hospitality employers as being much less important in comparison to other skills (Baum 1995; Li and Kivela 1998; Petrova and Mason 2005b). The study goes on to state that the majority of skills at the top of their most-wanted list included those that fall into the general intellect categorynamely effective communication and problem-solving skills. This shows that employers look for a wide range of transferable skills as a base for potential employees, before they even consider the technical details. So how can you showcase these skills? Identify Your Skill Set The first step to using transferable skills is to identify them. Nothing may come to mind at first, but Dawn Clare, a career and life coach, said in an article, to evaluate your whole life, not just professional experiences. This requires you to look not only at previous employments, but also at any activities where you contributed or held some type of responsibility. This can even include certain projects you participated in at your university, or even sports you played. Going back to the server example, we can see that previously-deemed simple tasks can be used as valuable skills. The task of explaining the menu to the customer becomes an interpersonal communication skill and the additional suggested menu options become sales experience.  In the same sense, organizing your churchs potluck dinner gives you leadership, inventory and management skills. Show Transferable Skills On Your Resume Jamie Yasko-Mangum, a self-image and training consultant and owner of Successful Style Image Inc., stated on Career Builder, to organize your resume by skill area or accomplishments rather than chronologically or functionally. Categorize all applicable skills, highlights and experiences and group them in categories such as professional highlights, skills summary and professional experience and place them at the top of your resume, he said. This type of organization puts your experiences first and shows how they apply to the current position, instead of merely listing your previous education or background, which may not immediately provide you with the skills for the job the employer is looking for. Highlight Achievements When the time for the interview dawns, be sure to highlight achievements you have made in any project, job or assignment through the use of these skills. For example, show what you can bring to the company by highlighting an instance where you brought an original idea or concept to a group, or how you solved a problem. Dont be afraid to reference projects you performed in school if you feel youre running short on relevant experience, either. For specialized guidance on how you can implement these transferable skills, visit Cambridge Universitys Key Transferable Skills webpage. Transferable skills can be found virtually anywhere you look regarding your past experiences; its simply a matter of looking behind the action youre performing and asking yourself what skill is necessary for you to perform it. Before long, youll have a list of skills to rival any robot. Run your own business, get control of your future, make an impact on your life. To learn more about College Pro, click here or call 1-888-277-7962.