RESUMES: Transferable Skills
You aren't locked into what you've always done.
This is good news for those having a mid-career (or even a quarter-career) crisis. With a few resume tweaks, you could very well convince employers that you should be considered for another line of work.
It comes down to transferable skills. Transferable skills are those skills used in one job that can also be used in other jobs. Transferable skills run the gamut from soft skills (e.g. work well with others) to concrete skills (e.g. Microsoft Word). By playing up your transferable skills and gearing them toward the career you want to transition to, you just might find yourself going to more job interviews. Here are a few examples of resume statements, the transferable skills you can harvest and why they are transferable skills:
Previous resume statement: Sold credit cards.
Transferable skills involved: Sales, knowledge of credit products, listening, customer service
Rationale for transferable skill: Obviously, if your job description is "sales," then sales would be a transferable skill - and a valuable one, at that. Irrefutable Law of Unemployment #3 states: "All job seekers are in sales," after all. And, since everyone is in sales and every job has some aspect of sales in it, sales is one of the best transferable skills to have. Knowing credit products can be transferred to banking functions such as underwriting loans and mortgages. Listening and customer service are offshoot transferable of sales positions. They're also to of the highest-ranking transferable skills employers look for in their prospective employees.
Previous resume statement: Worked assembly line.
Transferable skills involved: Following directions, accuracy, mentoring new hires
Rationale for transferable skill: Many long-time light industrial workers think they don't have any transferable skills. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In order for factory workers to remain safe and efficient, they need to follow directions - and that's something every employer looks for. Assembly line accuracy - which is necessary to reduce the number of defects shipped - can be sold to employers as "detail oriented." And, because there's usually a high turnover on assembly lines, most factory workers need to get new hires up to speed quickly. By mentoring new hires, they are, in fact, performing training functions. All three of these transferable skills are highly desired by employers.
Previous resume statement: Filed.
Transferable skills involved: Organization, resource management, initiative
Rationale for transferable skill: Office professionals often just write "filed" on their resumes and assume prospective employers will know what they did. But filing, by itself, isn't all that transferable. The individual skills that go into filing, however are transferable. To competently file, of course, one needs to have a fair bit of organizational skills - which is a top-ranked transferable skill. But there's more to it than that. Filing also involves managing paperwork, but in this case, we can accurately rename that transferable skill "resource management" (the paperwork being the resources). Most who file also have their own individual system and implement their system in place of the old or existing system. This shows a great deal of initiative - and that is a highly desired transferable skill.
IN THE CARAVAN: Most have transferable skills that allow you to move into the job you have to the career you want. By bringing them forth on your resume, you could see a jump in the number of job interviews you get.
LATER TODAY: Describing Nickel Jobs With 25 Cent Words
Check out last Monday's posts:
RESUMES: Resume Blogs
RESUMES: Resume Blog Contact Info (Supplemental)
RESUMES PODCAST: Committing Fraud on Your Resume
Indeed Job Search
This is good news for those having a mid-career (or even a quarter-career) crisis. With a few resume tweaks, you could very well convince employers that you should be considered for another line of work.
It comes down to transferable skills. Transferable skills are those skills used in one job that can also be used in other jobs. Transferable skills run the gamut from soft skills (e.g. work well with others) to concrete skills (e.g. Microsoft Word). By playing up your transferable skills and gearing them toward the career you want to transition to, you just might find yourself going to more job interviews. Here are a few examples of resume statements, the transferable skills you can harvest and why they are transferable skills:
Previous resume statement: Sold credit cards. Transferable skills involved: Sales, knowledge of credit products, listening, customer service
Rationale for transferable skill: Obviously, if your job description is "sales," then sales would be a transferable skill - and a valuable one, at that. Irrefutable Law of Unemployment #3 states: "All job seekers are in sales," after all. And, since everyone is in sales and every job has some aspect of sales in it, sales is one of the best transferable skills to have. Knowing credit products can be transferred to banking functions such as underwriting loans and mortgages. Listening and customer service are offshoot transferable of sales positions. They're also to of the highest-ranking transferable skills employers look for in their prospective employees.
Previous resume statement: Worked assembly line. Transferable skills involved: Following directions, accuracy, mentoring new hires
Rationale for transferable skill: Many long-time light industrial workers think they don't have any transferable skills. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In order for factory workers to remain safe and efficient, they need to follow directions - and that's something every employer looks for. Assembly line accuracy - which is necessary to reduce the number of defects shipped - can be sold to employers as "detail oriented." And, because there's usually a high turnover on assembly lines, most factory workers need to get new hires up to speed quickly. By mentoring new hires, they are, in fact, performing training functions. All three of these transferable skills are highly desired by employers.
Previous resume statement: Filed.Transferable skills involved: Organization, resource management, initiative
Rationale for transferable skill: Office professionals often just write "filed" on their resumes and assume prospective employers will know what they did. But filing, by itself, isn't all that transferable. The individual skills that go into filing, however are transferable. To competently file, of course, one needs to have a fair bit of organizational skills - which is a top-ranked transferable skill. But there's more to it than that. Filing also involves managing paperwork, but in this case, we can accurately rename that transferable skill "resource management" (the paperwork being the resources). Most who file also have their own individual system and implement their system in place of the old or existing system. This shows a great deal of initiative - and that is a highly desired transferable skill.
IN THE CARAVAN: Most have transferable skills that allow you to move into the job you have to the career you want. By bringing them forth on your resume, you could see a jump in the number of job interviews you get.
LATER TODAY: Describing Nickel Jobs With 25 Cent Words
NEXT MONDAY: Over Selling
Check out last Monday's posts:
RESUMES: Resume Blogs
RESUMES: Resume Blog Contact Info (Supplemental)
RESUMES PODCAST: Committing Fraud on Your Resume
Indeed Job Search
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