Transferable Skills
A skill is a learned or acquired behavior, activity, competency, or proficiency.
Knowing about transferable skills will help teens and adults prepare to be successful in the workplace or business. Transferable skills are a product of our talents, traits and knowledge. These skills determine how you respond to new activities, work situations or jobs.
Transferable skills are non-job specific skills that you have acquired during any activity or life experiences. Student activities and experiences include campus and community activities, class projects, and assignments, hobbies, athletic activities, internships and summer part-time jobs.
Transferable skills fall into three (3) groups: Working with people, working with things, and working with data/information.
These terms are defined below:
Working with people skills happen when people sell, train, advise, and negotiate.
Working with things skills occur when people repair, operate machinery, sketch, survey, or troubleshoot.
Working with data/information skills involve budgeting, researching, and analyzing.
The Skills web site matches the following skills to careers –
Basic Skills
Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Social Skills
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Complex Problem Solving Skills
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Technical Skills -
Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operations Analysis - Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Programming - Writing computer programs for various purposes.
Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Technology Design - Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
System Skills
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Resource Management Skills
Management of Financial Resources - Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Management of Material Resources - Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Desktop Computer Skills
Spreadsheets - Using a computer application to enter, manipulate, and format text and numerical data; insert, delete, and manipulate cells, rows, and columns; and create and save worksheets, charts, and graphs.
Presentations - Using a computer application to create, manipulate, edit, and show virtual slide presentations.
Internet - Navigating the Internet to find information, including the ability to open and configure standard browsers; use searches, hypertext references, and transfer protocols; and send and retrieve electronic mail (e-mail).
Navigation - Using scroll bars, a mouse, and dialog boxes to work within the computer's operating system. Being able to access and switch between applications and files of interest.
Word Processing - Using a computer application to type text, insert pictures, format, edit, print, save, and retrieve word processing documents.
Graphics - Working with pictures in graphics programs or other applications, including creating simple graphics, manipulating the appearance, and inserting graphics into other programs.
Databases - Using a computer application to manage large amounts of information, including creating and editing simple databases, inputting data, retrieving specific records, and creating reports to communicate the information.
Use the information from the Transferable Skills Scale to complete the activity.
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