What do you do if you want to enhance your career prospects by showcasing your transferable skills?

To start, perform a detailed self-assessment to identify the transferable skills you have acquired. Consider your work history, volunteer experiences, and hobbies to recognize skills that have been instrumental to your success. Common transferable skills include teamwork, adaptability, time management, and technical proficiency. Reflect on how these skills have allowed you to overcome challenges and contribute to achievements in your past roles. This self-awareness is crucial because it lays the groundwork for effectively communicating your capabilities to potential employers or colleagues, allowing you to showcase your value in diverse contexts.

It is certainly possible to future-proof our careers if we have a solid foundation of transferrable skills. These skills normally refer to the ones we have acquired both at work and in our extracurricular activities/personal life and can be applied across a wide range of careers/industries. Increasingly, we are gaining competencies outside the realm of traditional employment. Workforce development training, certification, the military, volunteering, or caring for someone are all ways to acquire skills. How can we highlight our transferable skills in our CVs? We can emphasize our skills instead of drafting our work experience first, since hiring managers may not know what competencies are associated with different industries/activities.

I needed to transition from a technical role to a managerial position. I took the time to carefully analyze my daily tasks and projects to identify skills like team leadership, problem-solving, and project management that were transferable. Documenting these skills helped me recognize my potential beyond my current role. This exercise is crucial because it can reveal how versatile your skill set is, making you a more attractive candidate in various fields.

In my experience, keeping a resume updated with relevant, transferable skills is essential. For instance, after completing a project management course, I revised my resume to highlight this new qualification under a special section titled 'Professional Development'. I also included examples of projects where I applied what I learned. This proactive approach keeps your resume fresh and aligned with your career aspirations, ensuring that you're always ready for new opportunities.

Here are some ideas how to enhance your prospects through personal branding: -> Find 'Top Voices' and creators on LinkedIn who talk about the topics/industries you're interested in. Add valuable comments to their posts, and share them. This increases your visibility with people in your desired field and allows you to share your unique value and perspective. -> Be active on LinkedIn. Only 1% of LinkedIn users actively post. So you can (more) easily stand out vs other social media platforms. Even if it's just once a week or biweekly, every post you make can position yourself as an expert in these transferrable skills. Identify opportunities at work to leverage those transferrable skills (employee resource groups, committees, events etc).

I truly recommend that you study the T shaped skills concept from McKinsey that refers to a specialized breadth and depth of skills that individuals possess. Imagine the shape of the letter "T": the vertical stem represents deep expertise in a particular field or domain, while the horizontal bar signifies a broad understanding across multiple disciplines or areas. In practical terms, having T-shaped skills means having a strong proficiency (the vertical stem) in one specific area, coupled with a working knowledge (the horizontal bar) across related disciplines. This combination allows individuals to excel in their core competency while also being able to collaborate effectively with professionals from different backgrounds.

One thing I've consistently done is seek out opportunities for skill development that complement my career goals. For example, I once volunteered to lead a cross-departmental project which enhanced my leadership and communication skills. Pursuing such opportunities not only broadens your skill set but also demonstrates your initiative to potential employers. It's important to continuously seek ways to grow professionally, whether through formal education, new projects, or extracurricular activities.