Transferable Skills
UCC Careers Service
Content
What are Transferable Skills?
Examples of Transferable Skills
Why do employers look for them?
Transferable Skill Cycle
Highlighting your transferable skills
Importance of analysing your Skills
What are Transferable Skills?
• Transferable skills are the skills you acquire
during any activity in your life, that can be
applied at a later stage in new situations i.e
they can be transferred.
• You can acquire these skills through all sorts
of activities e.g employment, projects,
voluntary work, hobbies, sports.
Examples of Transferable Skills
Willingness to Learn
Commitment
Dependability/Reliability
Team-work
Communication Skills
Co-operation
Drive/Energy
Self Management
Desire to Achieve/
Motivation
Problem Solving Ability
Analytical Ability
Flexibility/Adaptability
Taking Initiative
Summarising Key Issues
Logical Thinking
Numeracy
Coping with Deadlines
Time Management
Research Skills
Why do employers look for them?
With your Transferable Skills, employers see you
as a very valuable source of skilled labour.
Once you have acquired a skill, they know you
have the capacity to transfer it into their
organisation and to develop it further i.e. Skill
Progression.
In your CV and at Interview, employers look for
concrete evidence that you have the skills they
are looking for i.e. Skill Match
Transferable Skill Cycle
SKILL ACQUISITION
Acquired via sports,
employment, projects,
voluntary work, hobbies
SKILL MATCH
Employer looks for
concrete evidence in
CV and at Interview
SKILL TRANSFER
Skills acquired in any
situation applied to
new situation
SKILL PROGRESSION
Skills can be developed &
improved in new situation
Skill Progression
Ability to work in teams in
different situations to reach
team goals & objectives.
Concrete Example
Design Team – 6 members,
deadlines, co-operation,
weekly progress meetings.
Skill Transferred to
new situation:
Placement employer
Skill developed
Team-work Skills
Acquired
through Sports
Rugby or Basketball
Concrete Example
U18, weekly team training,
pulled together to achieve
goals. Overcame obstacles.
Concrete Example
Group project – Team of 4,
deadlines, agreeing tasks based
on our strengths and abilities,
Insight into team dynamics.
Skill transferred to
new situation:
UCC Course
Highlighting your Transferable Skills
Transferable skills must be highlighted on your
CV and be the focus of discussion at interview.
Be aware of your own Transferable Skills.
Research the company and job description.
What key job skills are they looking for?
Where did I develop these skills in the past?
At interview, show you have these skills by
giving concrete examples.
Employer sees a Skill Match between what they
want and what you have to offer.
Importance of analysing your Skills
You may not be aware of it, but, as you progress through
college and through life generally, you are acquiring a
number of these job skills.
During Placement you will have the chance to transfer and
apply these skills in a new situation in the workplace.
Ability to meet deadlines
Willingness to learn
Analytical Ability
Problem-solving
Writing Skills (Reports)
Team-work Skills
Research Skills
Motivation to achieve
Work Placement:
Transfer of existing skills into industry.
Work with qualified people in your field.
Work on challenging projects, allowing you to develop
existing skills and acquire new skills.
Reflect on and record these skills in your Log Book. This
will allow you to draw on them later as part of your
graduate job search strategy.
S
T
A
R
Situation
Task
Action
Results
Situation:
Secured my placement with X Company, working
as a Junior…..
Task:
Assigned to work on the start-up and maintenance of
the …….and assist Department Manager to achieve
departmental targets and standards.
Action:
Was responsible for…..from start through to finish
Carried out tests and recorded results….
Implemented new system……
Results:
Developed strong communication skills in liaising
with key personnel at weekly progress meetings.
Improved my problem-solving skills through
researching possible solutions, analysing options
and identifying optimum solution.
Developed project management skills by planning
work, setting deadlines, managing
workload, prioritising daily tasks and achieving goals.
Good Luck on Placement!