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How to Identify Transferable Skills to – Change Careers or Get Promoted!

Tag a colleague, friend, family member that’s been discussing a career change or desired promotion but doesn’t know where to start.

Taking control of your career means gaining an understanding of your skillset and desirable talents.

Before I started my own business in 2016, I managed a local workforce development/career center in Southern California. At my center we worked with professionals in manufacturing assembly line up to  Sr. Engineers and HR Directors. No matter where you are in your career or what industry you are in/transitioning into, the tools and advice below will work for you!

TOOLS YOU CAN USE

1. Onet Online: https://www.onetonline.org/

I learned about Onet during my time managing a career center in Escondido, CA. You can look up your current job and desired occupation to find transferable skills with explanations andexamples of those skills in use for the industry/occupation of choice.

The site is easy to navigate and straight forward. It’s a great tool!

– Military “crosswalk” MOC

During my time with the career center, I found transitioning Military Members struggling to identify transferable skills and successfully transfer those skills to Civilian language. Onet has a tab labeled “crosswalk” that allows you to enter the branch and corresponding MOC to help identify skills and how they transfer to related industries and positions.

2. CA Career Zone: https://www.cacareerzone.org/

Yes, this says California because it uses stats and data from the state. However, the same information is useful regardless of where you reside. This tool is for the professional interested in an in-depth evaluation of skills and career path. The service is free, but be forewarned, this takes time. And if you don’t like taking tests, then avoid this tool.

Here are the three tests I recommend:

– Interests Profiler
– Skills
– Occupations


3. Review Job Postings/Descriptions: I recommend Indeed.comand LinkedIn Jobs for detailed descriptions.

– Pick three job postings/descriptions and review for common Keywords
– Next, write down the keywords. For each one, write a sentence describing a time you used this skill to complete a task, accomplish a goal, trained or coached another employee to use the skill.

Business professionals from all industries and at any level can use the tools I described above to help pinpoint transferable skills. Remember, these tools provide a foundation in transferable skills.

The next step is to figure out what are the most valuable transferable skills you possess. I suggest finding three job descriptions that you desire. Then compare for common words.

LinkedIn User Tip – If you have a LinkedIn Prime account, you gain additional stats and insight for descriptions. If this is in your monthly budget, I highly recommend you take advantage.

Next week’s post will address your concerns. I will provide a list of the top soft/hard skills, complete with descriptions.

You are on your way to taking control of your professional attributes and expanding your career opportunities!

01/21/2020 – Top Soft Skills /Top Hard Skills. And examples of how they transfer between industries

01/28/2020 – How to display your transferable skills on your resumé

02/04/2020 – How to discuss your transferable skills in your interview

 

For more information watch my recorded live stream episode 3 Tips to Execute a Successful Job Search in 2020 appearance with host Mary Fain Brandt where we explored these topics in detail.

 

Until next Tuesday…

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