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Transferable skills are abilities you can use across different jobs, such as communication, problem solving and teamwork. To use them in a career change, identify specific examples from your experience, compare them with a target role’s requirements, and explain the connection honestly. They can help you make a stronger case for a new role, but they do not replace required technical knowledge, education or credentials.
What counts as a transferable skill?
A skill is transferable when the underlying activity appears in more than one kind of job, even if the subject, tools or setting change. O*NET groups transferable skills into areas that include communication, teamwork, complex problem solving and resource management. O*NET’s transferable-skills categories can help you identify more precise abilities than broad descriptions such as “good with people.”
For example, explaining a complicated process to customers may demonstrate communication and the ability to adapt an explanation to an audience. Coordinating schedules or supplies may show planning and resource management. Name the action you performed; do not assume that doing it in one setting is identical to doing it in another role.
How to identify skills you can carry into another role
1. Inventory experience from more than one setting
Consider current and previous jobs, education, other work experience and daily life. Write down tasks you handled, responsibilities you took on and problems you helped solve. The National Careers Service guide to identifying and developing skills recommends reflecting across these areas, including strengths and areas to improve.
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2. Turn each skill label into evidence
For every possible skill, record a situation, what you did and the result or responsibility involved. Keep the example factual. A useful note might be: “When a project deadline changed, I reorganized the team’s task list and updated the people affected.” That gives an employer something concrete to assess; “I’m organized” alone does not.
3. Start with the jobs you might actually pursue
Review job descriptions and reliable job profiles for the roles that interest you. Note the tasks, skills and qualifications employers request, and speak with people familiar with the work where possible. This helps you avoid building an inventory around skills that are not relevant to your likely next step.
4. Map your evidence to requirements—and mark gaps
For each requirement, mark whether you have direct evidence, partial evidence or no evidence yet. A related experience can support a claim of potential, but it is not the same as professional experience in the target task. Separately note requirements involving technical skills, education, training or credentials; transferable abilities do not automatically satisfy them.
5. Choose a realistic way to address important gaps
If a gap matters for the roles you are considering, investigate an appropriate course, apprenticeship, relevant work experience or learning on the job. Volunteering can help you build skills and experience, but describe it as volunteering rather than implying it was paid professional practice. Check the role’s actual requirements before committing time to training.
6. Tailor your application to the role
Put the most relevant evidence near the top of your CV or application. Use the employer’s terminology when it accurately describes what you did, then make the link to the target role explicit. Avoid simply copying a list of requested skills: show how your example demonstrates the underlying ability, while being clear about differences in tools, context or experience.
How to compare career options
If you are considering more than one direction, compare the options against the same practical questions rather than relying on a skills list alone:
- Evidence overlap: Which role’s stated requirements are best supported by things you have actually done?
- Unmet requirements: What technical skills, education or credentials are missing or only partly covered?
- Path to close gaps: Is there a realistic route to gain what is missing, and does the time or effort fit your circumstances?
- Day-to-day fit: Do the work activities, environment and values suit what you want?
- Practical opportunity: Are suitable roles available where you can work, and do the conditions fit your constraints?
Career exploration tools can help you consider interests, work values and abilities, but suggestions need to be checked against role details and your circumstances. The U.S. Department of Labor describes O*NET career exploration tools as a way to explore occupations and consider skill gaps and education needs. CareerOneStop’s guide to finding career ideas also recommends examining preferences, interests, skills and work values before narrowing options.
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No assessment can establish by itself that you are qualified for a particular job or guarantee that a career will be a good match. Treat results as prompts for further investigation: compare suggested occupations with their actual tasks and requirements, then decide whether they fit your priorities and practical circumstances.
Best Value
The National Careers Service’s Discover your skills and careers assessment is a 40-question multiple-choice exercise that the service says takes 5 to 10 minutes. It asks what you like or are good at and returns motivations and career suggestions to compare; the service says you may discuss results with a careers adviser. These figures describe this assessment, not career-change outcomes or employment prospects.
How to explain a transferable skill in an application
Build a short explanation from three parts: the relevant situation, the action you took and the reason it matters to the target role. For instance: “In my previous role, I coordinated schedule changes across several teams. That required clear updates and follow-through, which are relevant to keeping stakeholders informed in this position.” Adjust the example to your own experience and the job description; do not claim experience or results you cannot support.
Where the target role requires a specific tool, technical task or credential you have not used or earned, say so plainly and explain any concrete steps you are taking to address the gap. A well-supported account of related skills is more credible than presenting them as a substitute for a qualification.
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