Revised - May 25 slides_v3-backup

Transferable Skills - Examples

Thinking skills Problem solving

Team based focus Oral & written
English skills

Computational skills

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Critical / Transferable Skills

▪ Technical ▪ Demonstrate positive ▪ Work with others
attitudes and
▪ Communication behaviours ▪ Participate in
▪ Manage projects/tasks
▪ Think and solve
information problems ▪ Ask questions
▪ Use numbers
▪ Adapt to teamwork and
individual contributory
projects

▪ Learn continuously

Which skills are transferable regardless of the job?

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Transferable Skills 53

Why are transferable skills
important?

▪ Your employees cannot be
successful without them

▪ You can train for technical skills
but it’s harder to train
transferable skills

▪ The pool of talent you can hire
from increases when you take
the focus off technical skills and
put it on transferable skills

Source: Trinity College Dublin

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
DISCUSSION

• Think about your “problem” employees. Is the problem
related to technical skills or transferable skills?

• Have you ever interviewed someone who was a perfect
fit for your team/company but who had never worked in
your industry?

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TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

JOB POSTING EXERCISE

Using the job posting handout, identify:
▪ Skills are that can be transferred regardless of the advertised job.
▪ These skills can be utilized in different kinds of jobs and career

paths.

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Will your business be transformed or disrupted?

How can you prepare for transformation?

01 02 03

Develop Take Find

•Develop clarity •Take stock of •Find the skill
on your core the skills your gaps – what
business staff have right skills are your
now teams missing?

Develop ▪ What is the true purpose of your
Clarity business?

▪ What skills will your business require
tomorrow?

▪ What skills are in top demand in your
industry?

Exercise: Let’s work on this together

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

DEVELOPING CLARITY EXERCISE

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

TAKE STOCK OF CURRENT SKILLS EXERCISE

▪ What skills does your company/team need?
▪ What skills do your team currently possess?
▪ At what level are these skills?

Let’s work on this together!

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TAKE STOCK OF CURRENT SKILLS EXERCISE

Checklist 1: Identifying your current understanding of skills requirements

Information Yes No Not sure

Demand for skills

1. What are the key goals within your organisational business plan?
i. __________________________________________________________
ii. _________________________________________________________
iii. _________________________________________________________

2. Can you identify the current demand for skills in your industry and list the
top three here?

i. __________________________________________________________
ii. _________________________________________________________
iii. _________________________________________________________

2.1 Do you know why these skills are important? Please explain:
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Break



▪ What skills are lacking?

Find the ▪ What skills will be needed in the
Skills future?
Gaps
▪ What skills can you add through
training?

▪ What skills could you add by recruiting
new staff?

SKILLS GAPS TOOL

Information Yes No Not sure

Skills Gaps

1. Can you identify and articulate specific skills gaps?

2. Can you identify and articulate specific levels within
the company where there are emerging skills gaps?

3. Can you identify specific teams within the company
where there are emerging skills gaps?

4. Can you identify specific demographic profiles within
the company where there are emerging skills gaps?

Recruiting for
Transferable Skills

Traditional Recruiting

▪ Often focuses on technical skills: education,
certificates, credentials, and work experience

▪ Uses a cookie-cutter approach to job
postings and resume screening

▪ Looks for a perfect match industry to
industry.

Traditional
Recruiting

•What are the positive
aspects of this
approach?

•What are the negative
aspects of this
approach?

Transferable
Skills
Recruitment

Step 1: Build a job
description and job
posting that accurately
reflects what the job
requires

i.e.: If 80% of the job is
customer service, and the
person needs to use a specific
software, they will not be
successful without customer
service skills.

Transferable Skills Recruitment

How do you know what the
job requires?

• Look at the job description and
each skill and ask yourself how
the employee would perform if
they were lacking that skill.

• Consider labeling the skills
with “essential”, “nice to have”,
and “icing on the cake”.

Transferable
Skills
Recruitment

Step 2: Post the
position in non-
traditional places that
will attract people with
ALL the skills you need,
not just the technical
skills.

Give some examples!

Transferable
Skills
Recruitment

Step 3: Screen
applications based
on what you really
need, not just on
technical skills or
flashy experience

Transferable
Skills
Recruitment

If the person has an
excellent background
in customer service,
but they have a
diploma, not a degree,
you need to decide
what is most
important for the job.

Transferable
Skills
Recruitment

Step 4: Use the interview
to find out about
transferable skills.

• Behavioural
Descriptive Interview
questions ask about past
behaviour in order to
predict future behaviour

Transferable Skills
Recruitment

Examples:
• Tell me about a time when you dealt with
a difficult customer? What did you do?
What was the outcome?

• Teamwork is very important here. Tell
me about the most successful work team
you’ve been on. What made it so
successful? What was your role on the
team? What would your past teammates
say about you as a team member?

Transferable Skills Recruitment
Exercise

Take a few minutes to think about a
transferable skill that you might include in a
future Behavioural Interview and questions you

might ask?

Transferable Skills
Recruitment

Step 5: Use the reference
check to find out more
about the candidate’s
transferable skills

• Ask for specific examples
about the candidate’s
ability to adapt and/or
learn new skills

Going Forward…

• How will you transition, transform and not just disrupt?

▪ SWOT analysis should be regular exercises
▪ Skills Gaps should be reviewed regularly
▪ Competencies need to be regularly assessed

Nothing remains static! Or it will DISRUPT!

Thank You!

Javier Lozano

Managing Director, Lozano Management Inc.
@Lozanojavier

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lozanojavier/

Janice MacPherson

HR Expert
@JaniceMacP

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janice-macpherson-cphr-a3340817

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