In the past, organizations were willing to bring new employees on board if they displayed personality traits that contributed to their success which included a positive attitude, confidence and someone who demonstrated enthusiasm.  They were willing to take the time to train them to obtain specific skills.

With the pace of change evolving so rapidly and shrinking budgets, employers are continually finding themselves in situations where they need to bring talented people into their organizations with the attributes that contribute to success and who are fully trained and ready to contribute right away.

Complicating this, in Canada, we are entering an interesting time where it is predicted that in the near future we will have a trend in our economy that we have never seen before.  It is one of high unemployment for unskilled people and low unemployment for highly skilled professionals.

Skilled professionals will be specialists in their area of expertise but will also be able to demonstrate broad transferable skills.  Transferable skills are skills that you can take with you anywhere you go, regardless of the type of employment.  These are all relevant skills employers want and need. We all have them and can use them successfully to land our next job even if we don’t have the direct skills we believe are needed.  Transferable skills are used in your personal and professional life.  They are all around us.  They include:

• Communication – speaking, writing, editing, listening, facilitating, negotiating, understanding body language, persuading , sales, reporting information and interviewing

• Research and Planning – Forecasting, creating ideas, analyzing, problem solving, gathering information, setting goals, defining needs, developing strategies 

• Human Relations – Empathizing, developing rapport, attentive listening, supporting, counseling, cooperating, perceiving emotions and situations, asserting

• Leadership and Organization – Coaching, counseling, promoting change, collaboration, managing conflict, teaching, managing groups, coordinating functions, handling details, seeing the bigger picture, initiating new ideas, delegating

• Skills we all need to have to some degree –understanding finances, organizing, ability to make and implement decisions, ability to get work done in a timely manner, meeting deadlines, punctuality, co-operating, delivering on goals, understanding and respecting office policies and protocol, practicing awareness and most importantly personal accountability.

You already have most or many of these skills, whether they are from your professional life, volunteer opportunities or personal life.  Understanding what employers want and carving out the right transferable skills could be just what you need to stand above the crowd in your next interview.

If you would like more information regarding career strategy, please check out my Free Resources Tab on my website at www.hrcareertransition.com, like me on Conscious Career Planning with Lotte on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @lottestruwing or connect with me on LinkedIn at Lotte Struwing.