How to insert transferable skills on resumes [Guide + Examples]

If you have years of experience in the same or different career fields, you may have developed a professional skill set. This skill set may include job-specific skills as well as technical skills such as knowing how to use software, tools, and platforms.

You may have also gained transferable skills in your career, such as leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and so on. These skills can be applied to any job in any industry, and they are critical for your job search if you want to go from being a good job candidate to a great one.

Inserting these transferable skills on your resume could easily land you a job offer in 2022. Not sure what transferable skills to include on your resume or how to include them? Continue reading this guide to learn more about them.

What are transferable skills?

Transferable skills are the portable skills you have learned through your college education, internship, or your entire career that can transfer from one job to another.

These skills can be divided either as hard transferable skills or soft transferable skills. Let’s see some common transferable skills that employers value.

Best transferable skills to list on your resume 2022

01. Communication

Excellent communication skills are required for almost every job. Since the ability to communicate effectively with coworkers is beneficial to a company’s overall working dynamic, they are highly valued in the workplace.

When we work, we need to be able to communicate in a variety of situations. We must have excellent verbal communication skills when giving presentations. We must have excellent written communication skills when documenting or reporting. In order to provide excellent customer service, we must have excellent listening skills when gathering requirements from a client.

Therefore you can understand how important these communication transferable skills are. So when you write your resume try to highlight your communication abilities using the following phrases.

• Public speaking
• Verbal communication
• Written communication
• Listening skills
• Presentation skills

02. Teamwork

No matter what industry or job title you are in, teamwork skills are critical to your success at work. Working well with clients, colleagues, managers, and others in your workplace can help you complete tasks more efficiently while also creating a fun work environment for yourself and others.

A workplace that has good teamwork skills is usually a healthy and a well-functioning one. Therefore, don’t forget to include your teamwork skills in your resume. Explain how your teamwork skills assisted you achieve your goals.

03. Management skills

Every organization requires competent management to run smoothly. Of course, management skills are required for jobs labeled as “management positions”, but they are also required for employees in a variety of other roles. As a result, management is crucial to have on your resume.

If you want to show your potential employers that you are good at management, here are some phrases to use your management transferable skills.

• Planning
• Administration
• Time management
• Project management
• Networking
• Team building
• Conflict management

04. Analytical skills

A person with analytical skills possesses a diverse set of professional qualities, including the ability to think critically, ability to analyze data, make difficult decisions, and find solutions to complex problems. Because of these reasons, hiring managers always value people with strong analytical skills when selecting candidates for their organizations.

When listing skills on your resume, try to include some of the transferable analytical skills listed below to demonstrate your strong analytical abilities.

• Brainstorming
• Research
• Data analysis
• Troubleshooting
• Problem solving
• Forecasting
• Critical thinking

05. Organization skills

Organizational skills enable you to use your resources in the workplace more efficiently and effectively. Whether you are applying for a mid-senior position or an entry-level position in any job industry, having the right organizational skills will help you succeed.

Following are some transferable organization skills that you can use in your resume.

• Goal setting
• Time management
• Scheduling
• Delegation
• Resource coordination

06. Leadership

Employers seek leadership skills in the candidates they hire for their organizations. Strong leadership skills are vital for all job applicants and employees. Here are the best transferable leadership skills that make you a strong leader in the workplace.

• Relationship building
• Adaptability
• Innovation
• Motivation
• Conflict management
• Decision making

07. Multitasking skills

This means the ability to perform more than one task at the same time. Most employers need candidates to have multitasking skills. No matter what the job title is. Below are some situations where employees need to use their multitasking skills when performing their job duties.

This refers to the ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time. Most employers require candidates to be able to multitask. The following are some examples of situations in which employees must use their multitasking abilities while performing their job duties.

• Managing several social media accounts.
• Answering phone calls and email simultaneously.
• Preparing multiple food orders at once.

As we can see, multitasking skills are essential in the job search. Therefore, never underestimate the value of emphasizing multitasking abilities on your resume.

08. Creativity skills

Creativity is a valuable workplace skill that has a huge demand in the job market. Creative thinking is considered as one of the most essential skills for any kind of job. If you are creative, you look at things from a unique perspective. So you’ll be able to solve complex problems or find interesting ways to approach tasks. That’s why recruiters are trying to hire creative and innovative people for their organizations.

09. Numeracy skills

Numerical skills are vital in any workplace. Most jobs use numeracy skills at least in some capacity. Here are some of the most important numeracy skills that you may want to use in the workplace.

• Basic knowledge of numbers
• Calculation skills
• Point of Sales system (POS)
• Budgeting
• Understanding trends
• Measurement and data analysis

10. Language skills

If you want to work in a multicultural organization, you must insert your foreign language skills on your resume.

Employers prefer to hire candidates who are fluent in a foreign language. Because some businesses deal directly with foreign clients. As the economy globalizes across all industries, language skills are becoming vital for businesses.
If you don’t know how to insert them on a resume, see our complete guide on resume language skills.

Hard skills vs soft skills vs transferable skills

Hard skills or technical skills are the learned skills or gained through work experience. These skills are measurable.

When compared to hard skills, soft skills are character traits and interpersonal skills that relate to how you work and how you interact with other people. These skills are also called “people skills”. However, soft skills are less measurable than hard skills.

Transferable skills are general skills that can be applied to a wide range of jobs and are not specific to one job or field. These can be either hard skills or soft skills.

Why do employers seek transferable skills

Employers place a high value on transferable skills of employees.

Because they understand that transferable skills are difficult to learn and even more difficult to teach. Employers are also aware that a person with a diverse set of transferable skills is versatile. That means, they can perform a variety of roles and tasks with minimal supervision.

As a result, hiring candidates with transferable skills could save the employer a significant amount of time and money.

This can improve the efficiency of an organization as well. That is why employers look for candidates with transferable skills.

Why should you include transferable skills on a resume

A resume is a professional career tool that can be used to market yourself.

Mentioning transferable skills on your resume has a big impact on your job search because it can help you stand out from the crowd. It also demonstrates your potential to your future employers.

Even if everyone possesses transferable skills, the majority of them are unaware of how to apply those skills in a variety of situations and challenges.

If you’re a recent graduate or considering a career change, transferable skills on your resume are your best assets. Because transferable skills allow you to demonstrate to employers what you can bring to the table even if you have little experience.

However, you should be wise in choosing the most relevant transferable skills to include on your resume. After carefully reading the job posting, you can choose which skills to include on your resume. Because you can see the required skills for the relevant position there.

Where to insert transferable skills on a resume

There are 3 places on a resume where we can showcase our transferable skills.

1. Resume summary/Objective statement
2. Work experience section
3. Skills section

01. Resume summary/Objective statement

If you want to put your transferable skill set at the top of your resume and make a good first impression on recruiters, this is the place to do it.

For example, if you have experience with a leadership role in a student association back in the university, you can mention your transferable skills from your university to the job, as shown below.

02. Work experience section

If you have some work experience to showcase, you can include your transferable skills in your work experience section. When describing your accomplishments in previous roles, emphasize how your transferable skills assisted you in achieving those accomplishments.

See the below resume work experience section example. It clearly demonstrates how to list your skills as a restaurant manager that can be transferred into a digital marketing role.

The above work experience section of a restaurant manager clearly demonstrates that the candidate has customer service, teamwork, communication, decision making, and computer skills, all of which are inevitably useful for a digital marketing role.

03. Skills section

Transferable skills which you have gained from your university or previous workplaces can also be listed in the resume skills section in the form of bullet points.

If an employer wants to see one’s skills, they will directly head up into this section. So if you include relevant skills here, you could show that you have several useful skills to offer.