Transferable Skills


After having substantial work experience in a particular industry,you opt for a full time MBA program.When the placement season starts, you think of a "Career Switch" but the companies don't offer a position that is in line with your expectations. You are offered a Management trainee position or your work experience is defined as irrelevant.What do you do?

Vasu Merugu comments on Bharani's blog about the "transferable" skills that one can portray.Here is his comment. Very helpful and logical !



'When a person is trying to change careers, companies often tend to take advantage of the candidates situation and downplay the relevance of the candidates previous experience. However the candidates can steer the negotiation in their favor if they talk not in terms of the areas of expertise / years of experience but more on the lines of Transferable Skills and by demonstrating the relevance of their background experience. The folllowing is an extract of a book I have recently read.
You might find it useful.

The concept of transferable skills is particularly important for nontraditional job seekers who must demonstrate that their education and work experience have given them skills that - though used in a totally different context before - can be used or adapted in the new environment to enable the candidate to succeed in the workplace. To demonstrate how a candidate with a nontraditional background often picks up business-relevant experiences, consider these dimensions of work experience, which provide transferable skills you might employ whether you are working in the health care industry or in a computer consulting company:

Performing analysis
Performing math computations
Problem solving
Delivering presentations
Prioritizing tasks
Participating in high-performing teams
Leading teams
Setting goals
Communicating goals
Delegating tasks
Managing work flow
Setting clear deadlines
Coaching team members
Communicating effectively with superiors
Communicating effectively with peers
Communicating effectively with clients
Developing business plans
Securing buy-in for a project
Marketing a project
Implementing change
Bottom line is Phrasing Matters.

This list suggests types of activities and skills that an interviewing candidate might have developed during jobs in fields as diverse as engineering and public policy. To convey nonbusiness experience in relevant terms, therefore, nontraditional candidates should draw on the language of business to speak about their work, conveying in compelling terms the business relevance of their experience.