Top Transferable Skills First-Time Job Seekers Can Use on Their Resume

In this article:

• What are Transferable Skills?
• Why Do Employers Value Transferable Skills?
• What Transferable Skills Do Employers Value?
• Find Your Own Transferable Skills
• How to Showcase Key Transferable Skills in Your Resume

First-time job seekers often worry about their resumes because their job experience section can appear rather “thin” and lacking in substance. If you are in this group, and wonder how to muscle up your resume or CV, read on. This article shows how you too can write a solid resume that deserves the attention of recruiters. You can do this by emphasising various transferable skills you mastered during school, college, sports and in various extracurricular activities.

What are Transferable Skills?

Transferable skills can be defined as a combination of competencies, knowledge and skills a person gains from school, during internships and along the way on their career path. 

Even if you haven’t held formal jobs, you too have accumulated many transferable skills that potential employers value. 

Transferable skills can be general skills that can be relevant to different employment roles. Many of them can be useful in any industry, or sector, in most organisations, businesses, in the public sector or nonprofits. And they may be useful at any level of seniority, from entry level jobs to all the way up  to CEOs. Transferable skills include both hard skills—technical knowledge like ability to put together a report, conduct a market survey, or use a specific software—and soft skills such as leading a  team, active listening, communication skills or people skills. 

The value of transferable skills is demonstrated by the fact that good sportsmen and women in any field in any country find it easy to get a job, even without strong academic credentials or previous work experience. That is because cricket players and those in other team sports develop valuable skills such as leadership, teamwork, collaboration, coaching and other skills that prove to be also valuable in the workplace. Those who have excelled in individual sports such as tennis,swimming or athletics also develop strong skills such as resilience, grit, dedication and focus that serve them well in the workplace. 

Why Do Employers Value Transferable Skills?

Sometimes, especially in fast growing fields, employers cannot find people who have the exact competencies they need within their own industrial sector or field. However, most employers know that workers with transferable skills possess abilities they can tap into to get the job done, even if they lack specific industry experience. For example, a person possessing good analytical skills has the ability to look at all aspects of a problem to break down options for solving it in a satisfactory manner. This ability can be of use in any industrial sector or field. 

Employers also value employees with transferable skills because they can grow beyond the immediate needs and capabilities their job description calls for. Employers value such individuals for their growth potential.  

A good problem solver who has been involved in the Customer Success field, for example, may be able to also use their skill to help streamline the customer success playbook, weed out inefficiencies in the sales and marketing processes, technical service sections or even warehousing. Such transferable skills are valued by employers because they help improve business operations and save both time and money.

And of course, people with a good set of transferable skills make great leadership material. So it’s all the more reason to make an effort to list down and highlight your transferable skills in your resume.

What Transferable Skills Do Employers Value? 

The top transferable skills valued by employers include:

• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Dependability
• Organisation
• Active listening skills
• Critical thinking
• Relationship building
• Team management
• Adaptability
• Analytical skills

While the above are shown as top transferable skills, there are many others that employers value. Your job is to identify your own transferable skills and decide which ones to highlight in each job application.  

Find Your Own Transferable Skills

You can get an idea of your many transferable skills using a transferable skills checklist. Here are a sample of them found online. . 

Transferable Skills Checklist – University of Minnesota

Transferable Skills Checklist – Rogue Community College

Transferable Skills Checklist – FSU Career Center

Transferable Skills Checklist – Tufts University

Since most of these checklists have the same content, just pick any one and use it to assess your own skill levels for mentioning in your resume.

How to Showcase Key Transferable Skills in Your Resume

Showcasing the many transferable skills and capabilities you have picked up from your early teens up to date can make a positive impression on potential employers. This is particularly useful for entry level job seekers such as new graduates and those seeking internships. 

Let us take some examples and demonstrate how best various transferable skills you possess can be documented in your resume.

Examples of using transferrable skills to boost up your resume

• Communication Skills – These skills help you clearly articulate your ideas both verbally and in writing. They also showcase your ability to listen actively and express thoughts in a concise manner. List a few instances in which your communication skills were put into good use, such as in debates, speeches, newspaper articles or research reports. If you are the editor or contributor of a school magazine or a member of a Toastmasters club, these are worth mentioning.   
• Teamwork and Collaboration Skills – Highlight experiences where you worked effectively as part of a team and also include any achievements, such as trophies won or projects successfully completed. You may also emphasise your ability to collaborate with diverse groups of people to achieve a goal.
• Problem Solving Skills –  Describe briefly instances where you identified challenges and implemented effective solutions. Explain the critical thinking and analytical skills that went into crafting those solutions. 
• Flexibility and Adaptability – Illustrate instances in which you successfully adapted to new situations or changes. This quality is important to show that you are open to learning and can thrive in dynamic environments.
• Time Management – Highlight your ability to prioritise tasks and manage time efficiently in order to reach goals. Mention any experiences where you met deadlines and handled multiple responsibilities because of your great time management skills.
• Leadership – The fact that you have not held formal leadership roles will not matter if you can showcase instances where you took initiative or demonstrated leadership qualities. You can mention any involvement in social service or clubs, organisations, or projects where you assumed a leadership role.
• Organisational Skills – Give emphasis to your ability to organise information, tasks, people or events. You can mention instances where you successfully managed and executed projects.
• Attention to Detail – List any situations in which your attention to detail led to successful outcomes. This could include academic achievements, project management, or any work that required precision and accuracy. 
• Customer Service skills – Highlight any experiences where you interacted with customers or clients. Show how you possessed the ability to provide positive and helpful assistance.
• Technical Skills – Include any technical skills you possess, such as proficiency in software, programming languages, coding, computer hardware, networking or other tools relevant to the job. This is especially important for roles that require specific technical competencies.
• Initiative – List instances in which you took the initiative to start or contribute to projects or solve a problem. You can mention here any self-directed learning or additional training you have pursued. 
• Negotiation and Persuasion – Highlight experiences where you successfully negotiated or persuaded others to your point of view. This could be related to group projects, resolving conflicts, or advocating for a particular idea.
• Interpersonal Skills – Emphasise your ability to build positive relationships with your peers, supervisors, and others. Mention any experiences where you demonstrated empathy and understanding.
• Networking – If applicable, highlight any networking events, conferences, or professional organisations you’ve been involved with. These can demonstrate your ability to connect with others in your field.
• Research Skills – Highlight instances in which you conducted research to gather information or solve problems. You may list any academic research projects, coursework or articles and reports you wrote that required in-depth investigation.

You do not need to possess all of the above to present an impressive resume. Most people manage to accumulate a number of transferable skills from their school days through to adulthood. All you need to do is to make a list of your best transferable skills and present them in your resume to compensate for the lack of job experience. 

Tailoring your resume to emphasise these transferable skills will help demonstrate your readiness for the workforce, even if you don’t have extensive job experience. Use concrete examples and achievements to provide evidence of your skills in action.

We wish you all the best in your job search!

The RevampCV Team

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