Whether you have stayed in the same industry throughout your career or transitioned once, or even many times, you’ve likely developed a broad array of skills – both specific to your current position and transferrable to any industry.
While the skills, strategies, and general responsibilities that fall beneath the scope of “job-specific” are clearly useful in particular professional settings, it’s the transferrable, interpersonal skills that can make you a frontrunner for a new position, no matter how unmatched another candidate’s specific skillset may be.
Transferrable skills are an integral piece of your professional toolbelt, and they often aren’t learned specifically in your education or at a previous position; rather, they are molded and honed by both your professional and personal experience.
Though every employee has transferrable skills, there are certain leading attributes that can make you the ideal candidate for new positions. Below are five top transferrable skills that can help you transition to any industry and position.
Building Team Relationships
While building relationships with your customers and external networks is important, the internal relationship between teammates in the workplace and the subsequent collaborative dynamic is arguably more important to the success of an organization and your skill development.
“First and foremost, I want to be friends with the people that I work with to build a better work environment. I want to be a positive influence on the people around me and create a positive environment,” said Corey Ely, a former Social Studies & Leadership Teacher transitioning into analytics. “As a Leadership Teacher, I wanted to exemplify both personal and professional goals. It is important that you are building into the lives of others and helping them reach their goals as well.”
While Ely’s experience is rooted in education, he speaks on transitioning this passion into new workplace settings, exemplifying personal and professional achievement while building a collaborative team relationship in the process.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EI) is an individual’s ability to successfully identify and manage not just their own emotions, but the emotions of others. While this trait is highly valued in client-facing roles, the ability to manage and process the emotions of teammates is equally valuable.
Professional teams are often made up of diverse populations and personalities. Possessing EI can help you collaborate and lead teammates in high-stress, high-stakes situations while simultaneously resolving any workplace conflict – creating a healthy, collaborative professional environment.
Developing Community Connections
Building internal relationships isn’t only important for maintaining team productivity and meeting organizational objectives; it’s also critical in developing community and external connections that ensure the success and improvement of performance relating to large-scale projects.
Ely recalls utilizing his external community connections to propel a complete overhaul of a previous requisition process.
“Before we did anything, I talked to those I knew in other districts to learn how they managed purchasing,” said Ely. “From there, we decided to propose a payroll card. I came prepared with a long list of pros and cons, but we didn’t even have to get that far; building those relationships and being willing to get other people’s opinions made that project such a success. You don’t always have the answers internally.”
While internal teams are adequate in managing extensive projects and process improvements, the knowledge and experiences of external sources can facilitate successful execution beyond initial expectations – making a collaborative attitude and willingness to externally communicate a highly valued skill.
Improving Internal Processes
Possessing the critical thinking skills to assess internal procedures and subsequently provide calculated solutions is a highly sought-after skill in any industry. With an ever-changing world, the processes and procedures in the workplace should simultaneously evolve to ensure that organizations meet objectives.
Assessing and improving processes can bolster the interpersonal skills an employee possesses. By applying these skills to the workplace, one can augment operations and facilitate growth. For those seeking leadership positions, showcasing this skill during the job search helps align you with the qualities necessary to lead teams and organizations.
Project Leadership
Project and team leadership is a skill seen in nearly every industry and position. Whether in managerial roles, project management positions, or even in supporting team member positions, the ability to lead and support your team to meet organizational objectives is a highly transferrable skill and a paramount ability to demonstrate when transitioning industries. Whether in managerial or supportive roles, upholding project deadlines, milestones, and quality as an example for teammates is a transferrable skill that can successfully distinguish you from candidates with similar industry skillsets.
No matter where your career takes you or where you take your career, the transferrable skills you develop, transform, and master will propel your professional career. If you are changing industries or functional roles, especially if you are considering a drastic shift, utilizing and demonstrating transferrable skills will set you apart from applicants and help enable those extreme pivots to other industries.