Developing Transferable Skills

Blurred figure walking through glass double doors in a building.

Transferable skills can be adapted between jobs; they are not specific to a single role. Building these skills greatly expands your career options because they have broad appeal to potential employers.

Below are the key transferable skills that you should develop to assist with your career progression.

Communication Skills

Good communication is about conveying thoughts and ideas effectively, as well as listening to others and understanding what they are attempting to communicate. Key communication skills include:

Speaking effectively and writing concisely
Listening carefully and providing feedback
Expressing ideas and feelings constructively
Negotiating and persuading others
Developing rapport with others

Leadership and Management Skills

Effective leadership and management are about directing and motivating others to achieve individual, team and company goals. Key transferable skills include:

Managing groups and delegating responsibilities
Planning and coordinating tasks
Solving problems and managing conflict
Making and implementing decisions
Motivating, coaching and training others

Planning and Research Skills

Planning and research skills enable you to articulate needs and formulate a strategy to accomplish specific objectives. Transferable skills in planning and research can include:

Identifying needs and required resources
Setting goals and identifying courses of action
Gathering relevant information and evaluating results
Forecasting, predicting and monitoring situations
Analyzing, interpreting and disseminating information

Teamwork and Interpersonal Skills

These skills are about the contribution you make to groups and the way you relate to and interact with others to achieve a common goal. Key transferable skills include:

Sharing credit and accepting responsibility
Contributing to and encouraging the ideas of others
Developing rapport and respecting other opinions
Negotiation and influencing others
Modifying communication to suit the situation

Self-Management Skills

Self-management is about how you direct your own activities toward the achievement of objectives. Transferable skills in self-management include:

Managing time and organizing priorities
Setting goals, meeting deadlines and solving problems
Working well under pressure and accepting responsibility
Ability to get along well with others
Self-evaluation and decision making

Soft skills like problem solving and communication are important in almost any job or career. Managers look for them during interviews, so if you are growing your career, find out how to demonstrate soft skills during an interview.