How to Use Transferable Skills to Write a Job-winning Resume

Why are transferable skills important?

Now that you know what transferable skills are, you might be wondering why they’re so important. There are a few reasons.

Firstly, transferable skills are usually difficult to teach. Unlike the ability to use a specific software, the ability to work collaboratively is something that you mostly either have or you don’t by the time you’re a working professional. It makes sense that employers would prefer not to worry about trying to teach these broad life skills.

Secondly, every career has to start somewhere. As we mentioned above, a seasoned professional will probably have a ton of technical skills and critical experience to fill their resume. For an entry-level beginner, this is not the case. You may have some skills from your education that are specific to the role, but generally, an entry-level resume must lean heavily on transferable skills to demonstrate the candidate’s value.

As an entry-level software engineer, for example, you may have learned several programming languages in college, but you likely won’t have the robust project experience that an experienced candidate has. Instead, you would want to showcase transferable skills that demonstrate your willingness and ability to learn and grow, like problem-solving, collaboration and resourcefulness.

How to use transferable skills on a resume

If you’re wondering “where do I put transferable skills on my resume?” then I have good news for you! The answer is very simple: Your resume already should have a skills section where you list your key abilities.

This section should be a mix of the hard technical skills you’ve earned and the soft skills that will transfer to any role.

A successful skills section using both specific technical skills and transferable skills might look something like this:

But this isn’t the only place where transferable skills should appear on your resume. Your resume profile and your work experience sections should both demonstrate your skills as they lay out the story of your career so far. Pepper relevant transferable skills throughout these sections.

Top 10 transferable skills for a resume

Now that you understand what transferable skills are and why they’re such an important tool to make your resume great, let’s look at some transferable skills that you can use right now to show your competence on your resume.

Communication

We’ve already mentioned this skill a few times because it is so very critical. Whether you’re working in a cutting edge tech role or an entry-level customer service role, there’s no getting away from communication. It is the backbone of teamwork and is crucial to both your performance on the job and maintaining positive relationships with co-workers and customers, even in fast-paced or stressful situations.

Organization

Nobody wants to lose precious time helping their employee track down missing paperwork or waiting around for a co-worker to show up to a meeting they’ve forgotten about. Organization helps you stay on top of things and present yourself as a true professional. This is a vital skill for any role, but we recommend giving extra attention to organization in roles with administrative responsibilities.

Flexibility

Work can be a demanding place where each day throws new challenges your way. Flexibility allows you to bend and adapt when challenges arise, instead of snapping. Employers appreciate employees who know how to achieve even under difficult circumstances.

Time management

Looming deadlines can be stressful as they add a lot of pressure to your work day. But a candidate with excellent time management skills is a candidate that employers can trust to use their time wisely, prioritize the important things and complete critical tasks within the expected time frame. Putting time management on your resume shows that you are independent and won’t need constant management to get your work done.

Resourcefulness

While it’s true that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, it can be difficult to get anything done at all when a co-worker asks for help or clarification on every single detail of their assigned task. A resourceful employee is one who is curious about their role and uses their own initiative to find answers for themselves and find novel solutions to problems.

Problem-solving

Speaking of problems, problem-solving is an extremely valued skill in and of itself. In both independent and collaborative environments, an employee who is excited to tackle challenges and really puts their mind to work thinking their way around problems is an indispensable asset.

Teamwork

Teamwork makes the dream work! Collaborative work environments are full of opportunities to grow ideas into something great and pool mental resources to accomplish things that we could never accomplish alone. Working with others can be challenging, though, and teamwork is very hard to teach. That’s why it’s such a valued transferable skill.

Computer skills

Unlike the others on this list, computer skills are fairly teachable. Even if you aren’t good with computers now, you can learn to use common workplace software and improve your proficiency with computers. Modern workplaces often rely on a host of software to get things done, from spreadsheets to video conferencing software. You don’t need to be a programmer to master the use of a few basic computer tools and this knowledge will transfer to almost any workplace.

Creativity

Creativity goes hand in hand with problem-solving as a transferable skill that allows you to use your brain and think your way around challenges. You may think of creativity as a resume skill limited to artistic roles, but creative thinking helps you approach tasks from new and enlightening perspectives.

Leadership

Leadership is an intangible quality that is very hard to teach. Your ability to listen to others, work on a team, be resourceful and use initiative come together to give you the skills needed to lead your co-workers to new heights. Leadership skills are extremely transferable and even apply well to roles that don’t involve actual management or team leadership responsibilities.