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What are the super six most transferable employment skills?

27 Sep 2020

Our expert advisors at Ingeus are helping out-of-work clients to fully appreciate the skills and abilities they use in daily life, and how they can be showcased to best effect when looking for new employment.
 
These six transferable skills are valued in many different business sectors. 

THE SUPER SIX

• Communication
• Listening
• Ability to organise
• Work ethic
• Problem-solving
• Time-management

Communication and Listening

 These are skills we all have, and practise every day, but how do you illustrate good communication and listening abilities on your CV?
 
At home: in your personal life think about the chats that you have with family and friends, teachers at your child’s school or a local club. These conversations reveal how you listen and gather information. Sharing news and views on social media is also proof that you can communicate widely.
 
At work: answering phone calls into an office or call centre demonstrates your listening and communication skills, particularly if your role then involved processing or passing that information to others.
  
Employment in the retail or hospitality sector involves continuous face to face engagement with members of the public. That is respected work experience of explaining, answering questions and listening.
 
When describing your transferable skills on your CV, give an example of how you have worked and utilised these skills to get a job or home task done.

Ability to organise

 At home: this super skill is practised every day, particularly if you have school age children or are providing caring support for others. The know-how to organise involves identifying priorities and making judgements about what is most important. Schoolchildren have to arrive and be collected on time, play activities arranged for friends have to be safe and thought out, and making appointments involves organisational skills. During the pandemic have you arranged shopping collections for anyone self-isolating?
 
At work: organising work responsibilities, prioritising tasks, or completing your role before the next person can complete theirs all demonstrate the ability to organise. Did you have responsibility for stock or supplies to be ready when needed? These are all excellent examples to show that doing your job well involved being able to organise.

Work Ethic

Employers want to know you’re enthusiastic, reliable and will work hard in their role. So how do you demonstrate this?
 
At home: are you a busy bee? Always looking for things to do and ensuring all those little jobs around the house and garden get done. Do you have a range of hobbies? Or do any volunteering? Describing these activities will show a would-be employer that you like to be active.
 
At work: think of examples where you have achieved targets set by your boss and where you have sought additional responsibilities above and beyond what was expected. If you were never late for a shift or took any unexpected days off, that is definitely worth noting.

Problem solving  

At home: whenever there’s an issue - the washing machine is starting to leak or the car is making a funny noise - it is important to show that you use a logical process to identify the problem, are organised in your approach and put a suitable plan into action.
 
At work: explaining how you adhered to company guidance to solve an issue will illustrate that you understood what was expected in order to fix the problem. Have there also been occasions when you had to think outside the box to resolve an issue?

Time management  

At home: are you that person who always arrives early and ensures that every job on a to-do list is completed? Are you an expert in navigating local bus and train timetables? Then you are an expert in time management because you think ahead and are good at being realistic on how long a journey or task is going to take. The secret is to allow enough time for the unforeseen circumstances and to always have a Plan B as back-up.
 
At work: time management in an office, shop or factory is usually target driven. Now think back through your employment history, pick an example when you met your targets or your performance surpassed your boss’ expectations. Good evidence to include on a CV would be a bonus in your salary or a good appraisal that you can refer back to.

Opportunity knocks

Are you currently out-of-work?
 
Then get talking with an Ingeus employment advisor. Please contact your local employment support team who can help you unearth your transferable skills, update your CV, polish your interview technique and suggest vacancies in your area.