Highlighting ‘transferable skills’ in your CV
When most job seekers put together their CV, it is usually a fact based summary and chronology of work history, with details on achievements and skills acquired from their job function. While this forms the basis of a good CV, are you marketing the real ‘you’ to potential employers? Are you giving yourself the opportunity to explore new job opportunities or new responsibilities? Including the details that better explains who you are as a person and what you looking for in your next role helps you stand out from the crowd when you put your CV forward.
Look at the skills that you have acquired outside of the results and metrics of your work experience is a start. Identify the transferable skills that you have acquired with experience both inside and outside the work environment. Do you have a talent for communications or public speaking that you can give example of inside or outside of your current job? Have you developed skills or achieved results from other areas of your life, through participation in clubs or associations, volunteering or community activities?
When applying for a role in a different field, look at core skills in the job description that the employer wants from the individual, with particular attention to the ones that are key or desirable. Do you have some or all of these skills and can these be highlighted in your CV?
Once you have defined what your transferable skills are, consider how to incorporate them into your CV. There are several areas on your CV to do this, such as a career summary or core skills section, where you can not only explain how you have achieved them but how you want to utilise them in a new position.
With the correct positioning of these skills in your CV, you then have the platform to further expand on a broader accomplishment of skills and examples drawn from all aspects of your experiences in the interview process.
