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Virtual Career Center
Self Assessment Tools:
Developing Transferable Skills
Being competitive in any job market
includes understanding how your
past experience is relevant to the
positions you are now pursuing,
and will pursue in the future. Consider
these tips to help you recognize
your skills and present them effectively.
- List your accomplishments (from
your work history and from extracurricular
activities, too).
- What has your value been to
past organizations, within and
beyond the scope of your position?
- What do you do best?
- Write about past successes,
and talk with friends, former
colleagues or a career counselor,
to express your stories fully
and to find help with naming
- What strong analytical, communication,
organizational, interpersonal
and creative skills can you identify
from your writing? What examples
can you list that you would like
prospective employers to know
about? Several skills in each
category are listed below, to
help you get started.
- What are the key qualifications
needed in the jobs you are applying
for, in addition to the occupation-specific
skills? Job postings are an excellent
source for these points, as are
informational interviews with
people who are already doing the
kind of work you want to do.
- Practice talking about your
stories to prepare for interviews,
and to evaluate whether your best
professional qualifications are
included on your resume, in your
cover letters and in your networking
sound byte.
Selected Transferable Skills
- ANALYTICAL SKILLS
- Examining data
- Forecasting future goals
- Investigating situations/problems
- Recommending solutions based
on data
- COMMUNICATION SKILLS
- Critical listening
- Facilitating meetings
- Presenting
- Teaching/training (can also
be interpersonal)
- Writing
- INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
- Advising colleagues/clients
- Developing relationships
with customers
- Leading teams
- Managing staff
- Mediating problems
- Mentoring / motivating individuals
- Negotiating agreements
- ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS
- Coordinating projects/events
- Managing projects
- Meeting deadlines
- Maintaining inventory/files/a
library/a facility
- CREATIVE SKILLS
- Adapting to change
- Initiating a new procedure
- Innovative problem solving
- Managing crisis situations
How can
the Alumni Career Center help you
know and talk about your transferable
skills?
- Career
Advising - A career
adviser can listen to your description
of past experiences and ask questions
to help you identify the skills
that will transfer to new jobs
and careers. We can also help
you present those experiences
within the new responsibilities
you are seeking. Career advising
is a feature of the Alumni Career
Center's Comprehensive
Service Package, available
for an annual fee of $160 to Alumni
Association members. An option
to meet one time for one hour
with a career adviser for a $40
fee is also available to Alumni
Association members.
- Professional
Development Workshops
- Sessions on resume tune-up and
on job search correspondence can
give you the tools to tell your
story on paper, at all points
in your career. See the calendar
for more information. See the
calendar at www.uiaa.org/calendar
for details.
- Virtual
Career Center - Visit
the sections on resumes
and cover letters and successful
interviewing.
Can't find the resources you are
looking for? Have questions about
the Alumni Career Center services?
University of Illinois alumni can
ask our career experts for help
with job searching and career questions.
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