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Transferable skills

What are skills?

A skill is the ability to do something. It shows that you have practised doing something or you have done it before. We are not born with skills; we learn them as we grow through our life and work experiences. A skill can be simple, such as tying a knot, or more complex, such as composing a waiata.

What are transferable skills?

Transferable skills are skills that can be used in a variety of jobs or situations – you transfer them from one job to another. The great thing about transferable skills is that they make you adaptable. Examples of transferable skills are:

problem solving
the ability to organise others
the ability to work with facts and figures
good communication skills.

Unlike job-specific skills (like being able to use a drill), transferable skills can be used in lots of ways. They are also like building blocks from which you can develop many more skills.

"The most important skill in refereeing is learning how to manage people. The difference between an average ref and a ref at the top level is the way they deal with players - it's people management skills that set a good referee apart from the rest."

Chris Pollock, Sports Official

What are employers looking for?

Most jobs require job-specific skills, but a wise employer will also look to see what transferable skills you can offer. An employer can teach someone a job-specific skill, but it’s not so easy to teach transferable skills.

Have a look at the bulleted transferable skills in the advertisement below.

The key is to know what your transferable skills are, then you can sell them to employers. It’s also a really good idea to use them when you are writing your CV.

Transferable skills from advertised job vacancies

Have a look at the skills below. They have been taken from advertised vacancies.
Think about which of these transferable skills you think you may have.