transferable skills assignment

Career Life Connections, CVOLC, 2020-21

3.2 assignment - transferable skills.

Required: Create the following table. Identify the transferable skills you've learned in school and apply them to the outside world.

Submit to  Assignment - Transferable Skills  link found in this section of the course for uploading to be graded by your teacher.

Work will be graded based on the rubric below:

Submit your assignment here.

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Learning Objective for Transferable Skills Exercise

The intent of this exercise is to raise your awareness of the connection between the skills students use to complete academic assignments and the skills used to carry out job responsibilities in the workplace. But w hat exactly does this connection look like? When you read the assignment guidelines, please keep in mind that you’re not expected to be an expert in thinking through strategies for applying for a job. Should you run into difficulty with Part III of the assignment, complete Parts I & II, post your document in the discussion forum, and ask for help. Any assignment submitted later than three days after the due date will receive a zero for the assignment.

NOTE: If you are a Teacher Certification Candidate, please proceed to the next chapter for your assignment guidelines.

Guidelines for Transferable Skills Exercise

Part I: Conduct Transferable Skills Research & Analysis

1. Find a job posting related to your field of study that includes responsibilities for evaluating information, thinking analytically, and/or reflecting on professional practice.

• Go to https://www.indeed.com/ (or another job site), and search for a job related to your field of study. If you are already aware of job titles in your field, you can use them as your key words, or you can use the name of your field (human services, business management, criminal justice, etc.).
• Review the postings until you find one that a) lists the evaluation of information, analytical thinking, or reflective professional practice as needed for the job and b) lists the specific responsibilities.  Note: For the purposes of this assignment, you can consider “critical thinking” the same as “analytical thinking.”

2. Compare the skills and responsibilities in the job posting with the following list of CRIT 602 transferable skills:

• Determine the information needed.
• Evaluate information and its sources using validity criteria.
• Access and use information ethically and legally.
• Analyze concepts or evidence.
• Question assumptions.
• Identify relevant context.
• Draw logical conclusions based on information.
• Identify consequences and implications.
• Reflect on your experiences and learn from them.
• Use feedback to improve your performance.

Note: If you need more information about each transferable skill listed above, scroll down to the orange-shaded section below.

3. Confirm that one (or more) of the skills and responsibilities in the job posting aligns with one (or more) of the transferable skills on the above list.

Part II: Create a Transferable Skills Document

1. Create a document in your word processing program.

2. Copy-and-paste the job posting into your document.

3. Use the comments feature in your word processing program to annotate one (or more) of the skills and responsibilities of the job posting with one (or more) of the transferable skills from the above list. For examples and more details about this, please click on the examples in the purple box below. In Microsoft Word, for example, you can open a new document and click on the Review tab at the top to add a new comment.

Part III: Create a Discussion Post

Respond to the following scenario and attach your transferable skills document to your post.

Write a cover letter addressed to the hiring committee that focuses on transferable skills. Imagine that you are applying for the position, and the hiring committee just doesn’t get the connection between academics and employment. What specific example from either your own academic experience or a hypothetical academic experience could you provide to the committee to make this connection clear to them? Your post should discuss the connection between the job description and the transferable skills listed in Part I of this assignment.  Be thorough and specific as if you are actually preparing for an interview. The goal of the assignment is to highlight transferable skills, so the cover letter does not have to follow all of the typical conventions of an official cover letter, but should focus on making connections between academic experience and employment skills.

Part IV: Respond to at Least One Post

In your response, indicate whether your classmate makes the connection between academic skills and the skills required for the job clear enough to get an interview? If not, what revisions would you recommend to make the connection more clear? If so, what follow-up question would you anticipate that the hiring committee would ask your classmate in the interview?

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS ASSIGNMENT SAMPLES:

Transferable-Skills-Director-Tourism-With Instructional Comments

CRIT602_TransferableSkills-FlightNurse

CRIT602 Transferable Skills: Evaluate Information

Determine the Information Needed. The types of information (sources) you select relate to concepts or answer the research question.

Evaluate Information & Its Sources. You choose a variety of information sources. You select sources using basic criteria such as relevance to the research question and currency.

Access & Use Information Ethically & Legally . You distinguish between common knowledge and ideas requiring attribution through use of citations and references. You demonstrate a developing awareness of the differences among paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting. You demonstrate an emerging understanding of the ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published, confidential, and/or proprietary information.

CRIT602 Transferable Skills: Think Analytically

Analysis. You break concepts or evidence into parts and explain how the parts are related to each other.

Conclusions & Related Implications & Consequences. Your conclusion is logically tied to information. You have identified consequences and implications clearly.

CRIT602 Transferable Skills: Reflect on Learning to Guide Professional Practice

Reflection. You relate present ideas, concepts, or experiences to previous ones. You demonstrate an emerging awareness for future professional practice.

Application. You use feedback to develop learning goals and strategies for further learning that have potential application to professional practice.

CRIT 602 Readings and Resources by Granite State College (USNH) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Transferable Skills: How to Use Them to Land Your Next Job

Learn what transferable skills are, why they matter, and how they could help you land your next job.

The global pandemic has forced a mass re-appraisal of work. As a result, many are beginning to ask themselves whether they can successfully change careers and, if so, what skills do they have to offer new employers?

The answer likely lies in your transferable skills .

Transferable skills, or portable skills, are all the skills that you take with you from one job to another. The ability to clearly communicate ideas to others, solve unexpected problems, or work well in a team are all examples of transferable skills.

While technical skills allow you to accomplish specific technical tasks, such as coding with Python or creating wireframes for UX design , transferable skills are the skills that ensure you do your job well. As a result, transferable skills are highly prized by employers: after all, a programmer with the ability to work in a team is likely more valuable than a programmer who doesn’t code well with others. 

Learn how transferable skills are viewed by employers, how to identify your own, and find a list of five common transferable skills with examples to help you better identify your own.

At the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how to highlight your transferable skills to potential employers as you search for your next career. 

6 transferable skills with examples

Here are six common transferable skills, with examples of how they might show up in different roles. Use this list to help identify your own transferrable skills.  

1. Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate, synthesize, and analyze information in an objective manner in order to produce an original insight or judgement. Individuals who are critical thinkers will often prompt themselves and others to think more deeply about an issue, ensuring that a product, idea, or policy is thoroughly conceptualized. 

Examples of critical thinking include:

A teacher who crafts a curriculum to fit the unique needs of their students 

An employee who routinely questions the popular opinion in meetings to ensure that decisions are sound

A data scientist who asks original questions of datasets 

A union representative who asks important questions of employers to ensure the safety and wellbeing of factory workers 

2. Problem solving 

Problem solving is the ability to find solutions to complex or difficult issues. A person who is a skilled problem solver is likely good at identifying the underlying reasons a problem exists and then executing a plan to resolve it. 

Problem solving can come in many forms, including:

A cashier who quickly devises a way to take orders when the point-of-sale (POS) system shuts down

An accountant who creates a more efficient filing system

An intern in a political campaign who constructs a database to improve voter outreach 

3. Adaptability

Adaptability is the ability to quickly adjust to new situations. A person who is adaptable is not only comfortable entering unfamiliar environments and facing new challenges, but also often succeeds in such situations. 

Examples of adaptability include: 

A worker in a warehouse who is equally comfortable packing products, taking inventory, making deliveries, and negotiating shift schedules

A dispatcher who quickly responds to driver requests and offers alternative routes while switching between multiple applications 

A recently hired employee at a company who quickly gets up to speed on an important project  

4. Teamwork

Teamwork is the ability to work well with others and put the good of the project ahead of personal interest. A person who is good at teamwork is capable of supporting teammates, motivating others, and both giving and receiving constructive feedback.  

Some examples of teamwork include: 

A waiter who works under pressure with a team of bussers, cooks, and dishwashers, while tactfully maneuvering a range of personalities and interfacing with customers 

A builder who must work with many others to ensure the timely completion of a home 

A stagehand who must work with a team to ensure that a stage is quickly set during an opera performance 

A copywriter who must simultaneously produce original material for a client and also adjust to client feedback 

5. Attention to detail

Attention to detail is the ability to assure the quality of the finer aspects of a project. An individual who exhibits a refined attention to detail is able to focus on the minute—though crucial—aspects of a project or product that many others may overlook.  

Some examples of attention to detail at work include: 

A worker in a ceramics factory who assures the quality of each tile by checking them for imperfections in glaze, size, shape, and material 

A bookkeeper who makes a habit of going through a company’s accounts line-by-line to ensure that all financial records are in order

An editor who reads through written content to correct any errors in spelling, grammar, or phrasing

A programmer who reads through lines of codes to fix any mistakes

A  garment worker who checks that the stitching on newly manufactured coats are correct  

6. Management  

Management is the ability to effectively handle other people and processes, such as time or plans. An effective manager of other people might be adept at supervising, directing, and scheduling. At the same time, they are likely skilled at understanding how each team member fits into the larger picture of the organization or project they are undertaking. 

Here a few examples of management from the real world:

A stage manager for a theatrical production who must ensure everything runs smoothly during a live performance

A parent who must plan, schedule, and juggle numerous responsibilities for a family

A shift leader who must ensure their team understands what they are doing and stays on task

A club president who regularly runs club meetings, facilitates discussions, and plans activities

A grocery store owner who must schedule employees and regularly order produce from suppliers

Transferable skills and your resume

Whether you are looking for a job opportunity or are considering a career change, you are likely wondering what transferable skills you already possess. 

In this section you will find a list of numerous transferable skills alongside an exercise to help you identify some of yours.

Transferable skills list

The first step to identifying your transferable skills is to understand what some of the most common transferable skills actually are. The list below offers a wide variety of transferable skills: 

Identifying your transferable skills 

Now that you have an understanding of some of the most common transferable skills, it’s time to identify some of your own: 

1. Identify 10 skills from the above list that you most exhibit.

2. Write down all the ways you have used each skill in both your professional and personal life. Try to be as comprehensive as possible, making sure to include all the ways you embody the skill. (If you need some examples look at the section above).

3. Identify the five skills that have been most impactful for you in your professional or personal life. 

4. Jot down key achievements for each skill on your short list.

5. Rank your five skills from most impactful to least impactful . The purpose here is not to judge your skills but instead to have a clear sense of what skills have served you well so far. 

Congratulations! You now have a list of your most impactful transferable skills. As you are applying to jobs, look for opportunities where you can convey your transferable skills either on your resume or during your job interview. 

Tip: One way to identify valuable transferable skills in your desired area of employment is to read through job postings and identify the skills they highlight. Once you have made a list of the desired skills, use the above exercise to identify the ways you have used those skills in your personal and professional life. 

For more inspiration, consider asking a friend, family member, or coworker what they think your best skills are. Sometimes, the people closest to us can see our strengths better than we can.

Read more: What are Job Skills and Why Do They Matter?

Why transferable skills matter in the job market

Transferable skills are what many often refer to as the “ soft skills ,” a term that intentionally contrasts with “hard” technical skills . As a result, many get the mistaken impression that transferable skills are less important than technical skills. This belief couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, employees with strong transferable skills have been found to greatly increase workplace productivity and overall profits. 

A 2017 study found that garment workers trained in skills like communication, time management, problem solving, financial and legal literacy, and decision making were considerably more productive than workers who received no training. Ultimately, researchers found that the garment factory reaped a 256-percent return on investment as a result of workplace skills training [ 1 ].

In the near future, transferable skills will become even more important to employers as automation replaces previous jobs with adept machines. For example, a 2018 report by McKinsey & Company found that the need for transferable skills will increase markedly in the next decade, while the need for repetitive and manual tasks will decrease [ 2 ]. 

Although transferable skills have proven to be effective in the workplace and needed for the future, McKinsey & Company noted that human resource professionals found it difficult to identify potential employees with in-demand transferable skills. The top three “missing skills” according to HR professionals are as follows: 

Problem solving, critical thinking, innovation, and creativity

Ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity

Communication

The message is clear: neither employees nor employers should underestimate the value of transferable skills. Transferable skills can increase workplace productivity, are becoming increasingly valuable in the job market, and offer an opportunity for job seekers to stand out from the applicant pool. 

Now that you have a thorough understanding of what transferable skills are, why they are valuable to employers, and how you already use them in your life, it is time to highlight them on your resume. Whether it is your first resume or simply your most recent, you might benefit from taking a course on resume and cover letter writing. 

If you’d like to expand your technical skills, consider a Professional Certificate to help you get job ready for a high-demand field like data analysis, project management, UX design, social media marketing, or IT support.

Whatever you do next, though, just remember that you likely already have a wide range of skills that will be as valuable in your next workplace as they are in your daily life today. 

Give your team access to a catalog of 8,000+ engaging courses and hands-on Guided Projects to help them develop impactful skills. Learn more about Coursera for Business .

Article sources

Michigan Ross. " Soft Skills Training Boosts Productivity , https://michiganross.umich.edu/rtia-articles/soft-skills-training-boosts-productivity." Accessed December 9, 2022.

McKinsey & Company. " Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce , https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce." Accessed December 9, 2022.

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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Transferable Skills and Employment Sample Assignment

Transferable Skills & Employment

1. Introduction

Transferable skill refers to those multi-situational skills that can be used anywhere to resolve the situation or effectively perform in that particular time. To make it clearer it is “ a skill that is developed in one situation but help to effectively perform in another situation” (tcd.ie, 206) . These skills are often referred to as the ones created in a curriculum environment in order to make sure they can be used for effective performance in the work place.

1.2 Importance

Transferrable skills are important because they are multi-situational skills that can be used for lives. Different events that include social, professional and personal requires attention and basic skill set to get out of the necessary situation effectively. The development of these skills helps to create an efficient workplace and that is the reason these skills are regarded as basic required skills for a workplace. These are the same skills that interviewers often looks in a candidate when they try to find the best possible team within their organizations (Denicolo & Reeves, 2013). They are so important that they are often kept as priority and even relevant experience is ignored in place of them owing to the importance of these skills because of nature of the job.{" "}

2 Different Academic Areas with Potential to Soft Skills

Oral Presentation

Oral presentations refers to events in which students in a classroom have to present a specially assigned topic before their classmates. The activity is done to create confidence amongst the students and to let them face their fear of public speaking. A cozy environment is created in initial years of college in order to encourage students to come and talk before their colleagues. This activity is later ensured through regulations that are made tough with the passage of time and by the time the students reached their final years of college, the activity is often an exact replica of a professional situation. The activity has the ability of create communication skills within the students that are transferable to the professional environment (Verderber, et al., 2007). The ability of oral presentation to build confidence in communication is vital and there is no denial of the fact that this skills possess a strong value at the workplace. Employers love to recruit people that are confident in their communication and know the rules and manners of doing that in a professional place. These skills are vital for the employers before their customers and that is why a person having such skill is likely improve with great pace in a workplace. The skill is an enabling tool to communicate with the colleagues within the workplace in order to create a strong bond (Keyton, et al., 2013). It will also help to present ideas, concepts and reports before the higher management in a professional way which proposer the chances of workplace progress as compared to others. Not only is that, the fear of public speaking once removed is likely to make the person likable in any gathering especially a professional one.{" "}

2.2 Lectures/Tutorials

Lectures ad tutorials are activities focused on transferring knowledge to the students in a classroom about a particular topic. There is a difference between the lectures and tutorials. Lectures often refer to as pre-written or pre-arranged script that professor delivers before the className. The lecture is more about direct sermon given to the student about a particular topic. On a slightly different node comes tutorials that is a set of different activities related to a particular topic. Tutorials include interactive activities, videos and knowledge through examples targeted to transfer knowledge to the students (Walton, 2012). It works through visuals, interesting examples to offer direct and indirect understanding about the topic and its complexities. Lectures and Tutorials are significant in incorporation of multiple transferrable skills that include analytical skills to understand topics through lectures and tutorials. In a professional workplace, complex market, customer or an organization’s internal situations are shown to the managers to help them understand what is going on and what can be done to avoid the situation or get advantage of that situation (Whiley, et al., 2015). For proper understanding, it is important that a person listens to the knowledge with complete attention and greater presence. This is something that takes a lot of practice as it may seems ordinary to sit and listen in order to understand, it is often a challenging task to do especially when it gets complex. Employees with better analytical skills are likely to survive in tough environment as they better understand what is going on at the workplace and why it is going on? The possible solution to the problem and the time it will take to vanish. These understandings when communicated through verbal and non-verbal skills help employees to gain employer’s attention.{" "}

2.3 Group Work

Group work is an activity in which the whole className is divided into different groups in order to perform a presentation or a particular task together. The purpose of this activity is to incorporate a deep sense of working together in different situations in order to gain collective profits. Group work is highly linked to success at the workplace. There is a lot to do when it comes to group work as the cultural, communicational and personality differences often prolongs and eventually creates a sense of chaos in the group. This chaos makes the group ineffective and literally takes everyone down with it that results in a loss for everyone. Though, a person did the best to secure his/her interest the failure to follow the group work and collective goals will ensure loss of personal interest too. This is an important skill transferrable to the workplace as it helps in creation of an attitude amongst the student to work in coordination by setting aside the differences in order to achieve common goals. It makes them learn how to be a tea player and what strategies should be employed to keep the group interest ahead of personal interest. The benefit of this in the workplace will be seen in the attitude of the employee who will be more likable and comfortable to work with than others. That employee will gain the attention of the employers as they prefer people looking to achieve organizational goals over personal achievements. The skill is likely to take a person’s progress in the workplace to another level as that person creates a healthy and effective environment around him/herself in the workplace that is essential for effective performance.

2.4 Observation

Observation in a classroom is about keeping an eye on surroundings to silently monitor different situations about that event. In reality, it is seldom used but is very effective when it comes to the knowledge gained through watching a particular event. The students are often presented with different displays and situations either over the internet or in className and they are asked to offer their reflection on the event (Allwright, 2014). Critical observation include getting clues from non-verbal expressions or implied meanings hidden. This is important to enhance the sense of surrounding amongst the employees as they are likely to get benefitted in the professional workplace. To know what is going on without even being told is an important trait for success in professional life (Monk, et al., 2006). The observation also helps students to be employees with critical observation on any situation in a workplace and then their constructive feedback is likely to enhance the overall effectiveness of the organization. These employees are likely to flourish because they often comes up with constructive ideas with whom the organization can benefit in the longer run and eventually returns the favor by rewarding the employees for their critical analysis. The professional benefits of observation is different in different situation. However, it is a skill that ensures a person above waters even when it gets tough. Observation also leads to involvement of other employees of the organization and that creates an environment of success within the organization. This environment is highly liked by the professionals and such person gets the chance to be in a monitoring committee or any other group that is formed to create a strategy for wither a department or the whole organization.{" "}

2.5 Writing Task

Writing Task are projects, term papers and assignments given by the professors to ensure students learn to convert their ideas onto papers in a professional manner. It is important to understand that business communication often revolves around memos, business letters and other professional writings that are essential for the presentation of the organization before the corporate world. It is very important for an employer that his/her employee know how to write and what to write in different business paper keeping the relevant formalities and needs of that paper intact (Walton, 2012). This is hard to be done without proper knowledge of the writing requirements and that is what these writing projects meant to achieve. They led to the knowledge of appropriate writing and necessary skills to ensure a greater piece of writing that often helps to win great bids and highest possible orders for an organization. The writing tasks lead to effective conversion of ideas on to the paper and this is vital for businesses as they try to make an offer to their potential customer or make a report to present to their investor or try to market the product through flyers or other professional content. The knowledge will led the person to achieve greater position within the organization may be their spoke person or a representative before the client (Denicolo & Reeves, 2013). The employee may be attached to drafting of company’s proposals and other official document. The writing task given in the className also helps to research and create an information through set of data scattered over the internet. The better the practice, the more will be the benefit gained by the employee in the workplace. Research skills are essential to read the market and to estimate what will happen for the company if the perspective product will be launched successfully or not. The key is to search in a better that offers concert results.

Summing up all, transferable skills are important tools to learn in order to use in multiple situation that is likely to reward students in various fields of their lives and not limited to the professional one only. Out of these essential skills, the art of communication is learned through oral presentation while the sense of critical thinking is gained through lectures and tutorials. The other important task that offers team work is group work and that is one of the vital traits required to be successful in an origination. The last but not the least is writing tasks that helps to learn the art of business writings.{" "}

Allwright, D., 2014.{" "} Observation in the Language Classroom. 1st ed. s.l.:Routledge .

Denicolo, P. & Reeves, J., 2013.{" "} Developing Transferable Skills: Enhancing Your Research and Employment Potential.{" "} 1st ed. s.l.:SAGE.

Keyton, J. et al., 2013. Investigating Verbal Workplace Communication Behaviors.{" "} International Journal of Business COmmunication , 50(2), pp. 152-169.

Monk, M., Swain, J. & Johnson, S., 2006. The Evaluation of Classroom Observation Activities.{" "} Journal of In-Service Education , p. 1367.

tcd.ie, 206.{" "} Making Transferable Skills Explicit in the Curricula.{" "} [Online] Available at:{" "} https://www.tcd.ie/Careers/downloads/Transferable_Skiills_flyer.pdf {" "} [Accessed 28 November 2017].

Verderber, R. F., Verderber, K. S. & Sellnow, D. D., 2007. The Challenge of Effective Speaking. 1st ed. s.l.:Cengage Brain.

Walton, A., 2012.{" "} Lectures, Tutorials and the Like: A Primer in the Techniques of Higher Scientific Education.{" "} 1st ed. s.l.:Springer Science & Business .

Whiley, D. et al., 2015. Enhancing critical thinking skills in first year environmental management students: a tale of curriculum design, application and reflection.{" "} Journal of Geography in Higher Education , 47(2), pp. 166-181.

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