What are transferable skills, and why do they matter?
Feb 10, 2022

No matter what job you do, there are certain skills every professional needs to succeed in the workplace. First, you need occupation-specific skills, such as Adobe Photoshop if you’re a designer or the ability to put together financial reports if you’re an accountant. And second, you need what’s often referred to as transferable skills — essential skills that are required in most jobs. According to Martin Yate in his Forbes article titled “The 7 Transferable Skills to Help You Change Careers,” these essential skills include:

  • Communication: Verbal, listening, writing, and technological communication skills are all needed to communicate effectively with your colleagues, supervisor, and customers. 
  • Teamwork: This is the ability to work productively and respectfully with a diverse group of people and put the success of the team above your own. 
  • Technical: Practically every field uses technology nowadays, so you need to continuously stay abreast of relevant developments to do your job well.
  • Critical thinking: Analytical and problem solving skills enable you to carefully assess a problem and determine the best possible solution. 
  • Multitasking: Prioritizing objectives and tasks, as well as efficiently organizing and managing your time are critical skills in today’s fast-paced workplace. 
  • Leadership: This involves the ability to draw upon all of the previous skills in order to inspire people to enhance their performance and more productive. 
  • Creativity: Creativity also builds on all the previous skills to provide you with a frame of reference within which you can effectively develop ideas.
     

So why exactly do transferable skills matter?


Imagine the following situation: You want a promotion, a new job, or even a new career. The new position involves different job responsibilities than the tasks you currently perform on a daily basis. And that’s where transferable skills come in — they form a solid foundation that enables you to function while you learn the technical, occupation-specific skills required for your new role. In other words, you can take them with you from job to job.


At the same time, with well-developed transferable skills, you’ll be a well-rounded professional with the ability to achieve more in the workplace. In short, they make you more employable and help you advance your career — and as Cheryl Lock points out in her FlexJobs article titled “5 Examples of Transferable Skills and Why They’re Important,” it’s always important to include them on your résumé. 


Now you know what transferable skills are and why they matter, it’s advisable to spend some time identifying which ones you possess and how well-honed they are. That way, you’ll know which ones to further develop in order to up your game. By doing this, you’ll not only be better prepared for a promotion, job, or career change — you’ll also be more in-demand on the job market. 

Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/02/09/the-7-transferable-skills-to-help-you-change-careers/
https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/examples-of-transferable-skills-why-important/
14 Aug, 2023
Rephrasing the famous song, “Love is in the air”, let’s talk about change is in the air – and everywhere. We grow. We change. Look at your childhood photos. Watch your kid, your nephew, your niece. The change is there, and it’s incredible. Nature is constantly changing. We wait for summer as the time to enjoy outdoor activities and gardening, for a quick visit to the beach, or simply take time to relax and spend time with family, friends and loved ones. We wait for winter (even if we never see snow falling) to decorate the house for the holidays, pack presents for the people we love and unpack our own. The colour of the leaves changes, the weather shifts, and flowers blossom in their time – the landscape is constantly transforming. The world around us is changing. We travel to other countries and learn new things, cultures and languages. We take on new hobbies. We get new skills. After a couple of minor kitchen accidents (sometimes), we can cook delicious dishes and get compliments from family and friends. We transform our bodies at the gym or simply by creating the habit of walking every day. We meet new people, we sometimes fall in love, we build families, we have kids. And if you step back for a second, you realise you might have met your other half by pure accident. But you took a leap of faith into the unknown. We embrace many types of unknown change, except for the one that can change how we live five days a week – to change jobs. “I am too old/too young to change”, “I’m used to this environment; It’s my comfort zone”, “Well, I don’t get any promotion, and what I do doesn’t change the world, but it’s stable”, “I am afraid to ask for more interesting projects. What if my manager fires me?”. We often don’t want to change because that step requires a vision, courage, external support, and a leap of faith into the unknown. Scary? Yes. But also promising. A step into the unknown? Yes. But it can open a new door. Do your inner values marry what you do? Yes, it is essential. There is nothing terrible about staying in your comfort zone. At some stage of your career, staying put can be an excellent decision. But if you feel that you need a change – talk to Kelly. We don’t mind going the extra mile and support your wish to embrace the change. The one which will give meaning to what you do, feel proud, motivated and fulfilled. Ready for changing? We’ll make sure your talent can truly shine.
10 Aug, 2023
You’ve seen these guys before when a circus came to your city or maybe on TV. They walk on a wire at an impressive height, sometimes without insurance, sometimes with a long stick that probes the void right and left. They walk slowly, trying the wire with their toes first, making small steps, their eyes fixed on the small platform where they plan to land soon. They never watch down. They don’t listen to an audience that applauses or gasps in awe. They are concentrated on keeping their balance. To keep balance. Let’s come down from the wire above the arena or stage. Let’s look closer at balance, where it has its roots and the secrets of keeping it. Is it an art? Or is it a skill? Can you learn to keep balance? Or is it an innate skill that only gymnasts, figure skaters, circus artists and ballet dancers are born with? Want to know the secrets of a ballerina that must perform 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at a high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe? First, keeping balance is a skill people must learn for years. In ballet, sport, circus, real life, and… work life. A ballerina is taught to pick one point and to fix her eyes on it when she makes her 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe. She focuses on one thing that keeps her upright. She doesn’t look anywhere else. Gymnasts in some disciplines are constantly trained to feel the bar under their feet. They are prepared to land precisely on the bar after they jump, and the incredible contortions we admire in competitions. But let’s come back to the circus artists we have begun with. Often, they have a long stick in their hands to keep their balance. Is their secret hidden in the stick? And what is the secret? You don’t need to be a ballet dancer, a gymnast, or a circus artist to get the idea of balance. Here are your first two steps in your balance training: 1. Keep your main priorities in mind. And have a clear idea about what is very important for you and where you are ready to compromise. But don’t listen to external opinions that don’t align with your ideals. Forget about the audience’s applause – focus on you. 2. Use some help to stay upright and get to your goals. Imagine your life split on two ends of the helping stick, your job is on one end, and your private life is on another. How comfortable do you feel at your height now with the load on both ends? You need support. We at Kelly pay a lot of attention to balance. The balance between people’s private lives and their jobs. The balance between feeling appreciated and professional goals or between achieving extraordinary results and being inspired. Talk to Kelly today. We are not ballet coaches or sports trainers, but we know much about how important work/life balance is in our lives.
03 Aug, 2023
We often associate certain qualities with individuals who seem to possess a natural talent for creativity. We convince ourselves that painting, singing, or dancing are pursuits reserved for these "real" artists while we remain mere spectators. Creativity? Inspiration? No, it's not about me.
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