It All Connects: How to Identify Transferrable Skills

 Written by Emmanuela Abbe, Youth Employment Counsellor

One of the hardest parts of job applications is proving you meet the requirements to complete the job. It is easy to be discouraged if you don't have experience with one particular item. This part of job searching comes through practice and learning how to relay your experiences in a manner to support the roles you’re applying to.

It is important to remember that non-formal experience still counts! Don’t sell yourself short in thinking that what you’ve learned can’t be transferred to another environment or won’t be applicable.

Let’s look at how you would showcase your skills from one opportunity to another.

Step 1: Identify Transferable Skills

Firstly, we want to look at the skills in the job posting. This is found in the ‘qualifications’, ‘what is required’, ‘what you bring’, etc. section of a job posting. After reviewing these skills, you want to think about what skills you have and other requirements you meet.

Example Job Posting: Retail Store Associate Part-Time – Marshalls

What You’ll Do:

• Greeting customers in a friendly manner; being knowledgeable to answer questions regarding merchandise items, prices, and brands, and providing information on promotions, TJX Canada policies and procedures, events, and store locations.
• Processing daily shipments, organizing and setting up the warehouse area, and ensuring merchandise presentation standards are maintained.
• Demonstrating a high degree of customer service while processing refunds, exchanges, and purchases in accordance with company guidelines.
• Assisting with Fitting Room duties, including ensuring the counter area is clean, organized, and stocked with the proper supplies while addressing customer inquiries.

What You’ll Need:

• High school education or equivalent work experience.
• Excellent customer service, communication (verbal and written), and time management skills.
• The ability to set up and maintain a warehouse environment.

Step 2: Break Down the Skills in the Job Posting

What are some main skills you see that would be important to include on your resume? See an example below of how to break down the skills:

• Customer service: highlighting your ability to assist and interact with customers in a friendly and helpful manner.
• A friendly manner: showcasing your interpersonal skills and ability to create a welcoming environment.
• Knowledge of merchandising and promotions: pointing to any experience with product displays, inventory, or sales strategies
• Maintaining a clean and organized work environment: demonstrating your attention to detail and commitment to workplace standards
• Time management: focusing on how you prioritize tasks and meet deadline in a fast-paced setting.

Step 3: Connect Your Experiences

Below is an example of some informal experience you may have gained through school or volunteering, that you can use to highlight your transferable skills. 

Skill: Customer Service

• Example Experience: Volunteered at a food bank or worked a school fair. These are both environments that were customer facing, and you assisted in meeting their needs and providing a great experience for them.
• How to Translate: “Delivered quality customer service by informing and assisting customers to ensure their needs were met.”

Skill: Maintaining an Organized Environment

• Example Experience: Organized storage areas for a school event, labelled and categorized items for access
• How to Translate: “Maintained a clean and organized work environment by implementing an efficient labeling system, improving team organization and productivity."

Final Thoughts

The key to bridging your experiences is to think about the skills you’ve learned in previous roles and showcase how they connect to the job you’re applying to. Job titles and responsibilities are not the main things to focus on when figuring out if you’re the right fit for a position.  Teamwork, communication, and organizational skills are already taught to you. You are more experienced than you think.

Everything counts, it’s all about framing it correctly and show how your unique journey makes you a strong candidate. Reflect on all the wins, big and small and connect the dots.