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Transferring Skills to a New Job You could do that job. You just know it. But, on paper, your resume won't show that you have the necessary experience and skills because your career has been in one industry and the job you want is in another. So how do you convince the hiring company that you're the one they want, considering you lack the experience or skills they say they want? Fear not! Almost any experience from your current job -- and past jobs -- can be used to help land your next job, no matter how unrelated it might seem. It's all in how you present your skills and experience. Here are a couple of tips on assessing and presenting your skills to help you land that new job. Get an objective view of your current job. We're all so close to our jobs that we sometimes lose sight of the "big picture" -- how they fit into the company's scheme of things and the skills they really require. Try explaining your job to someone unfamiliar with it. Again, most people are too close to their jobs, so when they try to explain them, they leave out a lot of detail. Find a friend, relative or mentor who will listen thoughtfully and ask questions that could lead to ideas on presenting your current skills and duties more generally. Make an exhaustive list of every task you do or used to do. Don't take for granted the projects and tasks you do habitually, without thinking -- they still require skill and ability. Until you've made a full list of everything -- from checking the mail to high-level strategic planning -- you can't do a full assessment of your current skills and experience. Note how your job has evolved. Every job evolves, either in the tasks and processes it involves, or the way in which they are accomplished. Keys to your skill assessment may be noting how your job has evolved, the part you played in that evolution (e.g., did you come up with more efficient ways to do your job?), and how you adapted to the required changes. Generalize your job to the largest extent possible. When looking to change jobs within your field, it is important to note details related to that field or industry. They may not be so important, however, when changing industries or fields. Your broader job strokes and universally applicable, desirable skills will be much more significant. For example, most jobs require some amount of process orientation and a method for getting things done. How do your current job and its processes apply to this new position? Is it merely the fact there is a process in your current job that could help you land this one? Maybe your desired position requires someone who understands processes well enough to create or modify one to increase productivity. Consider how your combined skills from several past positions might work in your favor. Just because you didn't gain experiences and skills concurrently doesn't mean they don't count. You may have project management ability in one field and later gained familiarity in a field where you didn't actually perform project management. It's still arguable that you could be qualified to perform project management ability in that field. Figure out how the job/field you want is similar to your current experience. Research the position you're going for and figure out what it really requires. Talk to people doing that kind of job. You may have useful skills for the employer that they didn't even know they wanted. Then assess, as you have with your current job, the high-level requirements of this job and identify parallels between what you've done and what this job requires. Don't underestimate soft skills. Some skills are desirable and transferable, regardless of field or industry, including: 1. Public speaking/presentation skills Don't forget experience outside of work. Maybe you work in IT but do volunteer work for a local charity, with Marketing and PR duties. That's experience and it counts. You don't have to get paid for experience for it to be valid. Be sure to consider those skills and experiences in your self-assessment. Don't be dissuaded by the job ad or description. So many times, perfectly qualified people opt not to apply for a job because they don't fit the exact description of the desired candidate in the job ad or description. Job ads are a wish list. Sure, there will be certain, non-negotiable skills the employer won't budge on, but if you present a compelling case for why your past experience and skill sets will allow you to perform the job well, you can be a contender. The secret is to approach your career progression as a whole, not a step-by-step process. You are more than the sum of your occupational parts! Assess all of your experience, get some objective help and be creative in presenting yourself -- you never know where it will take you! You can email Janet at pbayer@kforce.com
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