How to List Transferable Skills Effectively on a Resume

Transferable Skills

There are many different types of skills out there, and if you’re writing a resume, you need to understand the importance of all of them. While soft skills and hard skills are likely the two classes of skills you’ll hear the most about, transferable skills, also called portable skills, are equally important, especially if you’re planning to switch careers. Transferable skills can be an important part of getting you into the job market and ensuring prospective employers are interested in hiring you. Here’s what you need to know about these types of skills.

What Are Transferable Skills?

Simply put, transferable skills are skills that easily transfer from one job to another. How transferable skill depends on the job you’re applying for. If your job has an extremely specific POS system, for example, and you need to know how to work that POS system, that skill is non-transferable unless you go to another company that uses the same specific POS system. But some transferable skills can apply to almost any job. Here are a few examples of universally transferable skills:

• Problem-solving
• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Time management
• Leadership skills
• Public speaking
• Management skills
• Teamwork
• Critical thinking
• Decision making
• Listening skills
• Meeting deadlines
• Adaptability
• Analytical skills
• Project management
• Active listening
• Punctuality
• Writing skills

All of these skills can benefit you at more than one job – that is, if you learned some of these skills at a previous job, you’re just as likely to be able to use them in your next job.