TRANSFERABLE SKILLS,
WHAT ARE THEY? AND WHY DO WE NEED THEM?

Today, when we think of a job, besides your education, there are some skills that are noticed by the recruiter. These skills are transferable skills.

Transferable skills are building blocks of your career. No matter what the field or job profile is, these skills remain constant. These skills can help you to socialize better with people. These skills help you to grow both professionally and personally.

These skills are the most important skills that can help you in diverse job profiles.When you know the right time for searching for a job or for the change in job or career path, your abilities and transferable skills will be a plus point for you.

WHAT ARE TRANSFERABLE SKILLS?

Transferable skills are the abilities and skills that are helpful across different areas of life. Transferable skills are also known as portable skills. Transferable skills are the core set of abilities and skills, which can be helpful and can be applied in a wide range of industries and jobs.

Transferable skills are the most important part of your career. These skills differ person to person. In other words, these skills are unique to everyone.

These are the skills that come within a person and nobody teaches him or her. These skills are learned overtime, many of us have from our career experience, which includes internships, volunteering, freelance jobs and many more.

As there are unlimited transferable skills, some of them are soft skills, while others are considered to be hard skills.

Let’s Discuss Some of The Transferable Skills: –

1. Communication Skills – Communication skills are the most important skills. You should have the ability to communicate effectively both written and verbally.

You must have the quality to exchange your thoughts, ideas, information, facts, perspectives.

Imagine the situation in which you are unable to find the words to express your ideas. You will be helpless.

Strong communication skills are high in demand, regardless of the job or occupation. You should have confidence to communicate with the right person at the right time.

2. Problem Solving and Critical Thinking – Critical thinking allows you to examine the information and to think and find the best way possible to get that situation in your hands. Critical thinking is a key component of problem solving.

Problem solving skills are also important. Employers look for the people who can pinpoint the problem and take action to solve it.

They need someone who has the ability to give an effective solution to the problem. So, if a problem occurs, you should have the ability to solve that problem by critical thinking.

3. Reliability – Reliability here means how much we depend on a person. How much we can trust a person. This includes punctuality, organizational skills and responsibility. There are people of whom we can take guarantee that they will complete tasks efficiently and can also manage tasks and relationships. These reliable employees are trusted by the employers.

4. Adaptability – Adaptability refers to accepting changes in the workplace environment or to make change within oneself according to the workplace environment.

People with adaptability skills are open to new changes. They are ready to accept the change, positive or negative.

Employers look for a candidate who has adaptive nature and is flexible because it is also related to career progression as the person becomes more equipped and versatile.

5. Leadership – Not everyone has leadership qualities. Many of us are good leaders. Being a good leader is one who has the ability to make decisions, when there is pressure of work. Person with good leadership qualities, has the ability to manage situations and people.

6. Teamwork – Every employer wants an employee who can work in a team. Employers want a person who can work with a team towards common goals of the organization. Employers want people who are cooperative and work well with others.

No company will hire a candidate who is difficult to work with no matter what the qualification is. So, you must be flexible to work in a team effectively and efficiently.

7. Listening – Active listening skills are a must, if you are in management. Active listening skills are important to solve problems of staff or team conflicts because if you are unable to understand what another person is saying, the problem can’t be solved.

8. Creativity – Creativity is something which is very rare. Creativity has different meanings according to different professions. Creativity can be giving an innovative solution to the problem. In fact, creativity is considered by some experts to be the most important soft skill of the future.

9. Relationship Building – Relationship building is very important in a company. Building good relationships between clients, colleagues and departments. This automatically helps the company’s growth.

10. Resourcefulness – A resourceful employee who can find the way to an organization’s success. They can manage with the staff, technology, budget and most importantly time. They can manage in limited resources and may make the company successful.

11. Emotional Intelligence – Emotionally balanced people combine the ability to identify and manage emotions. To demonstrate emotional intelligence, related skills such as empathy, self-awareness, and influence, are essential for those in roles managing people.

IMPORTANCE OF THESE SKILLS

Transferable skills are very important for employees as well as employers. Transferable skills are important as they help your career to grow. This set of skills can tap into whenever required.

1. They Improve Your Chances of Employability – When you are an adaptable, versatile, flexible, and multi-skilled employee, you have a great chance of improving your employability.

Nowadays, employers are looking for candidates who are skilled more than who are experienced. If you lack experience and you can learn quickly, then there is a chance to improve your employability with your transferable skills.

2. Versatile Employee – As you are a versatile employee, you have all the transferable skills which help you to do multitasking. You can work at different roles at the workplace which makes you a versatile employee and being versatile is a useful skill of the job market.

3. You Already Have Them & You Won’t Lose Them – You already have these skills in your nature like creativity, relationship building, leadership, emotional intelligence and many more.

Also, many of the skills such as- reliability, teamwork and communication skills grow with time. Once you have learned these transferable skills, it’s for your lifetime.