Developing transferable skills

Employers often talk about the shortage of transferable and work-ready skills when young people join them directly after school or from university. This can be confusing for young people - they might be thinking: “What are transferable skills and how do I acquire them?”

Good academic grades are, of course, essential. However, employers are looking for more: the ability to articulate additional skills relevant to the workplace will be more likely to secure an interview and the subsequent job.

Transferable skills are just that: the skills that have utility in every job, no matter the field or the title. Some transferable skills are ‘hard’, like coding or data analysis, and some are ‘soft’ skills, like communication, relationship building and teamwork. Think of transferable skills as things that can be developed throughout the school years by volunteering, joining local clubs, work experience and internships. They are the skills that you will use in any professional setting and will give any employer confidence in a person’s ability to quickly fit into any role.

An example of a school-based activity that can help develop transferable skills is charity fundraising, when a team is working together to identify a cause to support, plan the fundraising and communications campaign, agree who takes on what roles within the team and reconcile the funds raised. Writing this up for a CV, the skills acquired in this instance can be referred to as: team working, ability to communicate, organisational skills, decision making, problem solving, working to a deadline and financial awareness. This would equally apply to being involved in a play, musical concert or other school event.

Many young people are involved in clubs or local groups such as Scouts or after-school clubs. These also provide important opportunities to learn work-ready skills such as teamwork, problem solving, creativity and leadership.

When writing a first CV, young people should bring in these activities as a central element after listing school and academic achievements in a section entitled Activities and Employability Skills. They can list projects and write a few sentences linking the activities undertaken alongside the skills developed.

Taking part in activities beyond academic studies becomes an important way to build and enhance a CV over time. These, when identified and explained in the language of transferable skills, become the crucial points that ensure that a CV immediately stands out to an employer.

Lancing College, an independent school in Sussex, gives students an opportunity to achieve their best academically and offers over 100 different co-curricular clubs and activities in which to gain many important skills for work.

DIANA CREE Executive Director of External Relations at Lancing College www.lancingcollege.co.uk