Why is important to be constantly improving job skills and knowledge through continuing education? The reason is that few people actually work for the same employer their entire lifetime. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the average person in their twenties and thirties change employers 10 times. The DOL has no firm data, however their research indicates people change careers an average of 5 times over their lifetime.
Anyone considering changing careers needs to update their resume or should maintain an updated resume at all times. This helps maintain a record of job skills and training achieved with current employer or from recently completed continuing education courses.
Many people often forget job skills and training when rushed to update an out of date resume. These forgotten job skills, training, or education may mean the difference in transferring to a new career field or not.
List of Transferable Skills
What type of job skills are transferable when changing careers and should be emphasized on a resume? The following is a brief list:
- Delegated responsibility – indicates prior leadership experience.
- Assessed and evaluated other’s work – indicates prior leadership experience.
- Used computer software programs (list types) – indicates computer skills.
- Gathered information – indicates the ability to conduct research.
- Worked on group projects – indicates the ability to work with others.
- Dealt with obstacles and crises – indicates a quick thinking problem solver.
- Multitasked – indicates ability to work on more than one project at a time.
- Trained and taught others – knowledgeable of specific skills and communication skills.
- Speak a foreign language (list) – indicates important multilingual abilities
- And many more.
Identifying Personal Transferable Skills
Maintaining an updated resume at all times can be a challenge at times. Alternative options are keeping a journal or a spreadsheet. Either option works well and recommended headings in the journal or spreadsheet includes:
- Job Titles – bank teller, assistant manager, department supervisor, driver, etc.
- Skills – handle cash, working with customer, evaluating others, etc.
- Training – any courses or classes completed with current employer.
- Education – any continuing education courses completed at a local college or online.
This method helps identify transferable job skills, when it comes time to write or update a resume.
How to Acquire Additional Skills
Often people discover they need additional job skills for changing to a new career. This is where maintaining list of current job skills and education comes in handy. Once these gaps in job skills have been identified it is time to solve the problem.
The following are methods for closing gaps or obtaining new job skills:
- Volunteer for training for skills that are transferable in current job.
- Attend non-credit community education courses or classes that offer certificates of completion.
- Attend continuing education courses at local college.
- Complete online distance education courses.
- Enroll in a course at a local technical institute or business school.
Everyone has jobs skills, whether they held formal jobs or not, and most are transferable to new careers. Using all the strategies listed above, someone desiring to make a career change will be able to plan their road to success. Visit Advantages of Distance Education for Adults and Community Education for Lifelong Learners to find additional information on how to acquire additional job skills.
David R. Wetzel - Dr. David Wetzel's experience includes more than 25 years in continuing, adult, and teacher education.
