Transferable skills are capabilities that can be carried from one job to the next because they are valuable across a variety of professions and industries.
Important Transferable Skills
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Leadership
- Time Management
- Adaptability
- Teamwork
Transferable skills are critical for professionals who want to remain relevant in a career landscape that’s always evolving. Technologies and processes may become outdated, but transferable skills like problem solving or project management will always be needed to tackle whatever obstacles lie ahead.
What Are Transferable Skills?
Transferable skills commonly refer to soft skills that are applicable in almost any business setting. Even if a candidate lacks skills or experience in a certain role or industry, they can use transferable skills like communication, problem solving and leadership to understand the team’s challenges, discuss solutions and work collaboratively to address those challenges.
Transferable skills can also refer to hard, or technical, skills — like data analysis, for example, which is useful across a wide range of professions and industries. If every applicant for a role has the same technical skills, though, the candidate that can demonstrate transferable soft skills may stand out from the pack.
“I think technical skills are important regardless of the career you’re in, but the transferable skills are what can make the difference if you land a job — and also if you’re successful at that job,” Lupe Colangelo, director of employer partnerships and alumni engagement at General Assembly, told Built In.
Through General Assembly’s tech skills bootcamps, Colangelo has seen many job seekers leverage their transferable skills to transition to the tech world. Former teachers have relied on their communication skills as data scientists, for example, and former bartenders have leaned on their interpersonal skills to be successful in user experience design.
“They took the course and developed the technical skills, but they got hired because they had that really great transferable quality,” Colangelo said.
11 Examples of Transferable Skills
Below are some of the transferable skills many employers look for.
1. Communication
Communication skills are about more than speaking and writing well. Effective communicators carefully listen to what others are saying to prevent misunderstandings, and they know how to deliver constructive feedback. They share pertinent updates about the status of projects and share any hiccups that may impact a project deadline. They also find effective ways to communicate with a diverse group of people across in-person, hybrid and remote work environments.
2. Problem Solving
Problem solving is the ability to identify the root cause of an issue and find a solution. It requires analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills, which can take time to develop. Hiring managers are drawn to applicants who can show how they used their problem-solving skills to resolve unexpected issues, meet complex project requirements or develop more efficient workflows.
3. Adaptability
Adaptability is a sought-after transferable skill, especially in startup environments. While hiring managers value experience, they don’t want someone who is set in their ways. They want someone who can be coached on new processes and shift their approach in fluid situations.
4. Teamwork
Employers want to hire team players who can work with others to accomplish a project. These people engage in collaborative discussions with group members and put the needs of the project ahead of their personal interests. They are also skilled at developing relationships and giving and accepting feedback.
5. Leadership
Every organization needs people who can manage and lead a team. A strong leader is skilled at giving direction, offering advice, motivating employees and recognizing what the team needs to be successful. This requires excellent communication skills, along with other leadership skills.
6. Attention to Detail
An employee who has strong attention to detail makes sure nothing gets overlooked on a project. This person might catch a typo on a document, or they may go the extra mile to refine or improve a product. It’s a widely transferable skill that can be valuable for event planners, software engineers, bookkeepers and other professions.
7. Project Management
Someone with strong project management skills knows how to get a job done. They keep a project on track within time and budget constraints, and they know how to adjust for unanticipated delays or expenses. It’s a valued skill set that requires organization, communication and problem solving skills.
8. Initiative
There’s a reason so many job listings say they’re looking for a self-starter. Employees who possess initiative are able to come up with ideas and see projects through with minimal supervision. Applicants can demonstrate their initiative by highlighting previous work experiences or by pursuing freelance projects to attain new skills and experiences.
9. Time Management
Time management skills are key to being efficient and productive at work. Someone who is good at managing their time knows what they want to accomplish, and they create a plan to reach those goals. They also know how to prioritize important items and delegate when necessary.
10. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and regulate your emotions, which can help you remain calm in stressful situations. An emotionally intelligent person takes ownership when they have fallen short of expectations, and they are adept at navigating sensitive situations, like managing conflicts and offering constructive feedback.
11. Computer Skills
Workers are often expected to be proficient in Windows or Mac operating systems, as well as email, internal chat tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack and software staples like Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Other software skills will vary by occupation and industry. Marketing, sales and customer service professionals may want to advertise their proficiency with customer relationship management (CRM) software, for example. If you have a baseline proficiency in technology, though, a hiring manager might reasonably conclude that you can learn new software products relatively quickly.
Why Are Transferable Skills Important?
Transferable skills can be applied to nearly every challenge affecting an organization, so they are highly coveted in the job market.
They Help When You’re Changing Careers
Transferable skills are particularly important for career-changers who may not be versed in the specific technologies or processes of a different role or industry. By identifying and articulating the value of transferable skills, they can demonstrate to hiring managers how their nontraditional experience could bring value to this new role.
“Good hiring managers will see the full candidate,” Colangelo said. “Can this person do the technical skills of the job? Sure. But a bigger question that I’ve asked as a hiring manager is how does this person do in a crisis? How do they work with other humans? That is so important for the longevity of them being on the job, and as an employer, you can’t really afford to overlook that.”
They Often Signal Leadership Abilities
Because of their ability to build relationships or handle sensitive issues, this individual likely has the capacity to grow within the organization — possibly into a leadership role.
“I look at it as an opportunity to create stickiness in a job. It creates a better, more viable, long-term employee,” Jason Leverant, president and COO at staffing firm AtWork Group, told Built In. “As a manager, I want to focus on that candidate that has great skills — you can’t just manufacture those skills — and give them opportunities to expand and widen their experience within the organization.”
How to Highlight Transferable Skills
Here are a few tips that can help you showcase your transferable skills in your resume, cover letter and job interview.
Identify Your Skills
The first step to highlighting your transferable skills is identifying them. Reflect on your career achievements and think about the skills you used to accomplish those projects.
Self-assessment can only get you so far, though. For a more comprehensive view of your transferable skills, ask former managers or colleagues to share their view of your strengths and weaknesses.
“A lot of times people don’t have a full, clear perspective of themselves,” Angela Yeh, founder and chief career strategist of career coaching firm Thrive By Design, told Built In. “How do you know your own label if you’re in your own jar?”
Tailor Your Skills to the Role
Transferable skills are most valuable when you can demonstrate how those skills will be beneficial in a new opportunity. Especially if you’re changing careers, connecting the dots from your past experience to hypothetical on-the-job scenarios will help the hiring manager see the value you could bring to the position.
While recruiters and hiring managers are typically looking for candidates that match the job description as closely as possible, Yeh said some companies will be open-minded to candidates from a “tangent world,” or background that is not a direct match. But those employers still need candidates to explain how their transferable skills can benefit their company.
“[We are looking for] the transferable skills that will help us qualify someone from a different market, from a different space or even slightly a different type of expertise,” Yeh said.
Show (Don’t Tell) Your Capabilities
Saying that you have a transferable skill like communication or problem solving is not enough to convince most employers. Job seekers can prove their capabilities by drawing from past examples when those skills were helpful.
“If companies are looking for the best, they’re looking for who’s going to understand our problem deeper than anybody else, and how they illustrate the way they’ve solved it in the past,” Yeh said.
Job seekers can also use a portfolio website to show examples of projects they worked on and how their transferable skills contributed to that project.
“I think portfolios solve the problem of showing and not telling,” Colangelo said. “You can prove that you’ve done it before you’re even in the interview.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What are transferable skills with examples?
Transferable skills, like leadership or problem solving, are competencies that are applicable in a wide range of professions and industries.
What are transferable skills vs soft skills?
Transferable skills typically refer to soft skills like communication and teamwork, but not all soft skills are transferable to other industries. The ability to close a deal is a soft skill that is useful in sales, for example, but not in journalism. On the other hand, there are some transferable skills that are not soft skills. The ability to use Microsoft Excel, for example, is a transferable skill that is “hard,” or technical, in nature.
