Transferable Job Skills Might be the Key to Your Job Search

Written by Ron Herzog Jun 07, 2009 www.jobsarticle.com

Job skills are at the core of any hiring. The bottom line that the employer wants to know is, do you have the skills to get the job done right.? If you identify your transferable job skills, you'll unlock a lot more opportunities in your search for employment. While your industry might be laying people off on a grand scale, there are other industries that have openings they need filled.

According to Ron Herzog, President, FPC, while many industries are hurting in this struggling economy there are many that have a good deal of hiring activity. Herzog says, “Most industries are hiring at some level, but the industries where we see the most activity are life sciences (Pharmaceuticals, Medical Device, and Bio Technology), chemicals, health care and energy."

And that's where your transferable job skills can strike pay dirt.

Obvious and Not-So-Obvious Transferable Skills

If you're in IT, you know your skills transfer to any number of different industries. After all, every industry uses computers to some degree, and businesses can't afford to have their system down for any length of time.

Some of the job functions that transfer across industries are:

• Quality Control
• Sales & Marketing
• Engineering
• Human Resources
• Purchasing
• Accounting & Finance
• among others

So how do you identify which industries are open to candidates from other industries in these job functions?? Sue Kanrich, Director of Training & Operations at FPC says “Research how closely aligned another industry is with yours by looking at:

• How it’s manufactured (or packaged if it’s a service)
• How the product or service is used
• Who is it used by

If there is a similar process with a similar audience (B2B vs. B2C), your job function may very cross over.? It’s worth investigating.? You may open up a whole new area for your job search.? AND, the similarities that you gather will be the basis for how you package yourself to potential companies in those new industries.”

There are also many subtle transferable job skills that you might not even realize you have.

• Writing
• Problem Solving
• Research
• Listening
• Team Leading
• Motivation

According to FPC, many companies are looking to hire candidates with strong leadership and team player instincts. The list of transferable skills goes on and on.

If you were a team leader in the automotive industry, you might be well suited for a position in another industry, such as biotech based on transferable skill set you gained as a team leader.

Develop your list of transferable job skills and check out “When One Size Doesn't Fit All” to find out how to incorporate them into your resume.

The Challenge of Transferring Job Skills

Listing your transferable job skills and finding a way to make them transfer to a position in a different industry takes work, but it's that kind of work that will give you an edge over others who are applying for the position.

Ron Herzog says, “The greatest challenge is having the candidate show the potential employer what he or she accomplished and how it can be translated to the new job.”

List your previous jobs and pull out your old job descriptions. Which parts of those job descriptions did you excel at? If you don't have a copy of your old job description, just list the tasks you were responsible for. Hidden among all the things you've done for other employers are the tasks you excel at. Those are your most important skills.? And who knows, those skills may well be the very same ones another industry is seeking.

Remember to couch all your job skills in a form that shows not just what you can do, but what you can do for the prospective employer. Every job seeker is a sales person. You're selling yourself when you contact a potential employer.

So, develop your list of transferable job skills, put them in your updated resume, read “So Tell Me About Yourself”: Perfecting Your Two-Minute Sales Presentation, and start to feature your transferable job skills when approaching prospective employers.

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Are You Spending Your Job-Search Time Wisely?

by Mike O'Brien, Climber.com


Looking for a new job is rarely a short-term proposition, but sometimes the problem isn't the lack of jobs available--it's how you're allocating your time.

According to a recent Climber.com poll of 250 new members who earn $50,000 or more, most job seekers spend the majority of their time--over 50 percent of it--on two activities: searching for and applying for new positions. The numbers break down as follows:

• Searching for Positions Online 29.94%
• Applying to Positions 27.28%
• Networking 24.11%
• Researching Companies 12.89%
• Working with a Recruiter 5.56%

With a balance of activities like this, you can get caught in the "activity not productivity" trap--spending the majority of your time on job-search activities that make you feel like you're making progress, but that aren't helping you reach your goals.

Instead, you should reorder your job-seeking priorities and focus on the activities that lead to meaningful, engaging conversations with the recruiters and employers who can best help you gain your next position. A better time breakdown for professionals in the $50,000-and-above marketplace would be as follows:

• Networking 30%
• Researching Companies 25%
• Working with a Recruiter 20%
• Applying to Positions 15%
• Searching for Positions Online 10%

Why the shift? For advanced professionals, the focus of your job search should be on developing a strategy specific to you: identifying what your ideal next position is, and in what type of organization, and then networking with people who can help you achieve that goal. You should not be spending the majority of your time on the highly manual process of seeking out new positions. In fact, most job boards and career-management sites can provide you with excellent automated listings, particularly if you've done a good job of identifying your skills, experience, and interests to attract the employers who would best be a fit for you.

In addition, you should take the time to actually research the companies you're considering for your next position. Too often, job searchers feel they "don't have a choice"--that they must take the first job opportunity they find. This may get you employed more quickly, but it will not help advance your career for the long-term. By carefully considering each company you apply to, you can update your resume to position yourself effectively for those organizations, and you will be better prepared to excel during the interview process.

Bottom line, start treating your job search like the next step in a long-term success plan for your career, and don't settle for a stop-gap solution to a temporary problem. You'll start thinking of yourself in a more positive and strategic light--and both recruiters and future employers will as well.

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Job Search Tips - Top 3 Mistakes That Will Keep You Unemployed

Everyone makes mistakes. That's a given and excusable part of being human. But if you're embarking on a job search, you can ill afford too many of them. One mistake here or there, and your job search can be set back weeks if not months. So, what are some of the common mistakes that are made in a job search? Here are my top three...

Fuzzy Goals

If you're stumbling out of the house in the morning with the goal of "getting a job," good luck with that. This is the kind of economy, in the aftermath of the worst recession in 50 years, that will chew up and spit out those job seekers without a clear career goal and a plan to achieve it. Why? Largely, it's the shear number of applicants for available positions; they're simply overwhelming recruiters and hiring officials. Weeding out those applicants who "just want a job" is the first order of priority for those overtaxed employers.

Take some time to identify the position you want, and the company or companies that are capable of offering that opportunity. It's a new world order out there, and those who know what they want and focus their job search like a laser are more likely to get what they want.

A Resume That's Too General

Forget the illusion that a general resume allows you to apply to a variety of job opportunities. In reality, a general resume simply facilitates you getting rejected from a number of job opportunities. As mention above in "fuzzy goals," recruiters and hiring officials are overwhelmed by the shear number of resumes coming in daily. When they've got an opening, it's a title with a real specific set of duties and responsibilities. If your resume doesn't demonstrate job goals and qualifications in keeping with that title, you're out.

Employers today don't have the time or inclination to wonder if your stated objective, "A challenging position with a progressive corporation..." really means, "Senior Buyer with a national apparel retailer that could benefit from an impressive, 10-year history of contribution to comparable store sales and gross margin improvement." If the employer needs to fill a position for a buyer and is left staring the above two objective statements, guess which resume gets the call and which one gets the boot?

Target your resume to a specific job opening or a narrow range of potential openings. While that might mean tweaking the document seemingly every time you turn around, it beats the alternative: a single "general" resume generating zero phone calls.

Wasting Your Time On Internet Job Boards

Yes, there are jobs listed on job boards. And there's the siren call. The problem is, some of those jobs are out of date, and many others are increasingly ‘generic' jobs (that don't necessarily exist) posted by employment agencies or recruiters trolling for candidates to represent. While the latter isn't necessarily a bad thing (assuming you don't mind being deceived), the end result is one more person standing between you and a hiring official. Finally, even when the listings are legitimate and timely, there are thousands of candidates responding to every job listing. It's a crap shoot at best, with success rates of landing jobs running at about 2-4%. Compare that to a success rate of over 60% for ‘word-of-mouth' referrals.

Post your resume to a couple of job boards if you must, or schedule a very limited time every few days to peruse the latest listings. If you see an interesting job pop up on a job board, use the listing information as a springboard to pursue the opening directly through the company's website, or via your growing contacts in the industry.

Personal, one-on-one contact with decision makers, movers and shakers is time better spent that will improve your odds the most in landing your next job. Limit your time on the internet in general, and on job boards in particular, or run the risk of being consumed day and night with nothing to show for your job search but bloodshot eyes.

It goes without saying that your resume needs to be "top shelf" in this tough job market. If you're considering a professional resume service, make sure their writers are certified, have experience with your industry, and are prepared to conduct a consultative interview over the phone. Former recruiter David Alan Carter has put together Resume Service Reviews of 10 of the Web's most popular writers, reviewing quality of workmanship, spelling out their pricing, and giving each a star ranking. (Note: David's "Top Pick" actually guarantees interviews.)

By David Alan Carter

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5 Ways to Shake Up Your Job Search

Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer

With 2010 in full swing, it's hopeful that things are starting to look up for those who had a tough time in 2009, professionally or otherwise. While the hope is that those who have been unemployed in recent months have found a job, recent numbers show many people are still looking for work.

Out of the 15.3 million people reported to be unemployed in December 2009, 6.1 million had been unemployed for more than 27 weeks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In December, 4 in 10 unemployed workers were jobless for 27 weeks or longer. That's a long time for anything, especially to be out of work.

This year, try doing things totally different than you've been doing in the past. Write a new résumé, revitalize your cover letters and kick up your job search a notch.

Here are five ways to shake up your job search in 2010:

1. Instead of job searching where you live ... try relocating

We know it's not easy to just pack up and move somewhere for a new job -- we're only suggesting that you think about it. Assess where you are, personally and professionally. If there's nothing keeping you in your current city, expand your job search to other areas and see what you get. It's no secret that some cities have been hit harder than others, so try looking in thriving areas. It definitely won't hurt.

2. Instead of networking with only friends and family ... try broadening your network

Everyone knows that one of the best ways to find a job is through friends and family. Hiring managers are more likely to pay attention to a résumé from someone they trust than by searching through hundreds of applications. If you've been doing this, but your job search is still coming up short, it's time to cast a wider net. Reach out to former co-workers and managers, old college professors or members of clubs or associations you belong to. Take your job search to Twitter or other social networking sites, so everyone knows you are on the hunt. Become a fan of your desired employer's Facebook page and engage with it.

3. Instead of applying only to "new" companies ... try revisiting old possibilities

You might hesitate to reach out to companies you have already applied to for fear of seeming impatient or nagging, but we beg to differ. It never hurts to get back in touch with people you've already contacted. You can let them know you are still looking for work to see if they know of anything that might be up your alley, or you can specify the type of position you were hoping to find in their company. Even if you interviewed with an employer, reach out to them and get feedback on why they didn't hire you. If they chose a more experienced candidate, for example, maybe they have an open position that is a better fit with your qualifications.

4. Instead of focusing on your strengths ... try strengthening your weaknesses

While you should focus on what things you do well, consider that those aren't the things that need work. After all, it's not like you aren't getting a job because you are so good at something, right? Say, for example, that you know you look good on paper and you get a lot of interviews -- but nothing pans out after that. One might guess that your interview skills aren't up to speed. Instead of trying to "fix" something that works (your résumé and cover letter), try spending more time perfecting your interview skills. Review questions you've been asked in interviews before and had a hard time answering, and work through answers to questions you'll be asked all the time, like, "Tell me about yourself," or "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

5. Instead of waiting for a full-time job ... try looking for something in the interim

While most people might prefer to lock down a full-time job, these types of jobs are not abundant right now. Try expanding your search to something temporary or part time. Any kind of work, no matter how many hours you put in, will help you build up your skill set, which can only benefit you in your search for a full-time job. Not to mention, any new supervisors or co-workers that you meet will likely serve as a reference or at least part of your network in the future. Lastly, if you're able to land a part-time gig in an area that interests you and in which you excel, it could lead to a full-time job.

Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CBwriterRZ.

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