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Transferable skills

Transferable skills – where next? Part 4.

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This is part 4 of a 4-part blog series about transferable skills.

This blog is an extract from section 6 of our Energise career e course: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/e-course/

Read part 1: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-1/

Read part 2: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-2/

Read part 3: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-3/

People often don’t know how the skills they use in one context could be useful in another context, job or career. We can only know what we know and it can be hard to be clear about what other career options are open to us.

One of the things that I do with my clients is help them understand how their minds work and the steps they take with solving a problem for example; then identify other contexts where this approach could be useful. It is amazing how skills are transferable to completely new areas.

Examples of skills that can be transferred:

  • From cooking for a family to cooking ready-made convenient meals for busy commuters
  • From factory assembly worker in a company to flat-pack furniture assembler in other people’s homes
  • From dog lover to dog walker

From cooking for a family to cooking ready-made convenient meals for busy commuters

If you love cooking or come from a large family so are used to cooking large quantities, you can use this talent to make a living. You could sell your products online, through food festivals and farmers’ markets or start with your own network. Not everyone has the time or passion for cooking, so what you do naturally is really useful for them – a win win.

The ideal is where you get paid for doing what you love and are good at; and your customers get more time from not having to cook and enjoy food that they might never have the time or imagination to create themselves.  You could also have a positive impact on their health by creating nutritionally balanced convenient meals for them when they might otherwise eat take-ways. Or specialise in a specific customer need such as gluten intolerance, creating a focused niche for yourself, with cookery workshops as an additional revenue stream.

From factory assembly worker in a company to flat-pack furniture assembler in other people’s homes

I hate buying flat-packs and assembling the bits into a piece of furniture – it makes me stressed and takes too long. I found a handyman who specialises in assembling flat-pack furniture in double quick time. He has made a career out of what he is excellent at and something that other people hate and are happy to pay him for. His specific skill, something he does naturally, is really useful to busy people who haven’t got the time, patience and interest to do it.

From dog lover to dog walker

If you love dogs and are happy to take them for walks, rain or shine, you can use this skill and passion to earn a living as a dog walker. A friend of mine loves dogs and has 8 horses so she is outside most of the day.

She looks after the dog of someone who commutes to London during the week and gets paid for it. An extra dog makes little difference to her as she has two dogs of her own.  She gets paid for what she already does, the dog’s owner has peace of mind that his dog is well cared for, and the dog has a fantastic time outside with other dogs, rather than being stuck inside by itself or taken out just once a day for a walk.  She is more than a dog walker she is a dog nanny!

What next?

If you are at a major career crossroads and thinking about changing career direction, becoming self-employed or developing a portfolio career, we can help.

Why not get in touch to arrange your free no obligation meeting?https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Save the dates! Coming soon.

Energise seminars to help you to market yourself.

10-12 Tuesday 11 May 2021 on Zoom: “Why me? What value do you bring?” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-149507654419

10-12 Tuesday 15 June 2021 on Zoom. “Marketing me: Proactive marketing.”

Contact us to find out more: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Transferable skills – where next? Part 3.

By //  by 

This is part 3 of a 4 part blog series about transferable skills.

This blog is an extract from section 6 of our Energise career e course: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/e-course/

Read part 1: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-1/

Read part 2: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-2/

How can you use your best skill in new contexts?

People often don’t know how the skills they use in one context could be useful in another context, job or career. We can only know what we know and it can be hard to be clear about what other career options are open to us.

One of the things that I do with my clients is help them understand how their minds work and the steps they take with solving a problem for example; then identify other contexts where this approach could be useful. It is amazing how skills are transferable to completely new areas.

Examples of skills that can be transferred:

  • From sales & marketing property to sales & marketing hotels as a place to stay
  • From insights about consumers to insights about people
  • From employed PA to self-employed virtual PA

From sales and marketing property to sales and marketing hotels as a place to stay

One participant of our Energise ‘Steer your career’ workshop had been made redundant from her job in the property industry, selling houses. At that time, the prospects of finding another similar job were almost non-existent. We helped her to see how her skills of sales, marketing and dealing with customers were very transferable. She reshaped her CV and achieved a fantastic prestigious job for Malmaison hotels, broadening her experience and marketability.

She missed the property world, so went back to it when more jobs became available, so her career revitalisation was temporary based on market conditions.  As a result of working with us, she gained an increased awareness of herself, her values, her skills and motivations, so she knew that property was where her heart lay.

From insights about consumers to insights about people

Insight mining is one of my key skills and it is a combination of observation, analysis, making connections and thinking laterally. In the past, I worked as an account planner in the communication industry and a key part of my job was reading research, looking at trends and analysing information to mine insights that would help brands and companies to achieve a competitive advantage.

I now use those same skills with my clients in career revitalisation. Insights about themselves and what makes them unique, insights about what target employers or customers want, insights about how they can be different from their competitors.  Different context, same skill.

From employed PA to self-employed virtual PA

Many companies have been making PAs redundant, partly to reduce costs to companies, but also because computers and technological advances make it easy for management to do their own typing and administration.

This is an example of huge change to what used to be an established career for life. At the same time as demand for this type of job is shrinking, more and more people have been setting up their own business. If you own a business and have no staff (usual when you start) it is hard to do everything yourself and makes a lot of sense to focus on what you are really good at. Having a virtual PA makes good sense.

The number of hours in each working day is finite, so it makes sense to be smart and use them wisely. If I am spending time in customer care lines to renew my domain name, not only am I feeling frustrated, but also I am not using my time in the best way which plays to my strengths!

Read my article about having a virtual PA on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-looking-after-you-rachel-brushfield-the-talent-liberator/

What next?

If you are at a major career crossroads and thinking about changing career direction, becoming self-employed or developing a portfolio career, we can help.

Why not get in touch to arrange your free no obligation meeting?https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Save the dates! Coming soon.

Energise seminars to help you to market yourself.

10-12 Tuesday 11 May 2021 on Zoom: “Why me? What value do you bring?” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-149507654419

10-12 Tuesday 15 June 2021 on Zoom. “Marketing me: Proactive marketing.”

Contact us to find out more: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Transferable skills – where next? Part 2.

By //  by 

This is part 2 of a 4-part blog series about transferable skills.

This forms part of section 6 of our Energise career e course: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/e-course/

Read part 1: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-1/

How can you use your best skill in new contexts?

People often don’t know how the skills they use in one context could be useful in another context, job or career.

We can only know what we know, and it can be hard to be clear about what other career options are open to us.

One of the things that I do with my clients is help them understand how their minds work and the steps they take with solving a problem for example; then identify other contexts where this approach could be useful. It is amazing how skills are transferable to completely new areas.

Examples of skills that can be transferred:

• From sales to fundraising
• From marketing products to marketing people
• From organising events to project management

We’ll take each one at a time and show how the skill in each case is transferable.

From sales to fundraising

If you are good at selling with the following skills: persuasion, listening, understanding needs, overcoming objections, understanding motivations, influencing and achieving a ‘win win’, then you can use these same skills in the area of fundraising. The skills it takes to persuade someone to buy something are equally relevant in fundraising – persuading them to part with cash for a good cause, whether as a one off or a regular donation via direct debit.

From marketing products to marketing people


In the past I worked in marketing in the food industry and spent time on chilled ready meals, sausages, pizzas etc.

Marketing is about understanding the needs of your customers, segmenting them into smaller groups with similar needs and creating things that are appealing to them. I now use those same skills to help people to market themselves as well as market my own business and services.

I help my clients to think about and research the needs of their target audience, whether it is an employer or customer, then define what makes themselves unique and work out how to appeal to their audience. Same skill, different context.

One of the reasons I created the Energise career e-course is because many people dislike marketing themselves. They avoid it so don’t realise their potential. I help them to understand their limiting beliefs about self-promotion, to feel more comfortable about it, define their personal brand and increase their chances of success.

I feel more passionate about the difference I can make helping people to market themselves rather than marketing food!

From organising events to project management


If you are good at organising events, creating a clear outcome, thinking about what’s involved, planning ahead, communicating tasks and deadlines clearly and effectively, and engaging the team involved under pressure, you could use these same skills as a project manager.

Project management is a role needed in many different industries and professions and it may be a question of reshaping your CV to emphasis certain aspects more.

More examples of transferable skills will be shared in parts 3 and 4 of this four part blog series about transferable skills.

What next?

If you are at a major career crossroads and thinking about changing career direction, becoming self-employed or developing a portfolio career, we can help.

This blog is an extract from section 6 of our Energise career e course: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/e-course/

Why not get in touch to arrange your free no obligation meeting?https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Save the dates! Coming soon.

Energise seminars to help you to market yourself.

10-12 Tuesday 11 May 2021 on Zoom: “Why me? What value do you bring?” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-149507654419

10-12 Tuesday 15 June 2021 on Zoom. “Marketing me: Proactive marketing.”

Contact us to find out more:https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Transferable skills – where next? Part 1.

By //  by 

This is part 1 of a 4-part blog series about transferable skills.

A common theme amongst all of the career coaching clients I work with is a) they have a blind spot seeing their own skills and talents and b) how they can use them in other ways, i.e. possible new jobs or different careers to what they have done before.

I act as a pair of ‘wing mirrors’ to help them see their skills and be clear about where else they can use them.

In these times of redundancies and shrinking sectors caused by the impact of the coronavirus, this is a very important area to explore as part of your future-proof career.

What is a skill?

A skill is defined as: “cleverness at doing a thing, either from practice or a natural gift.”

Why do people find it hard to see their own skills?

Most people don’t think of themselves in terms of skills, and find it immodest to talk about their own ‘natural gifts’.

Common phrases that people express are: “I just do my job” or “it’s just what I do.”

It is not surprising therefore that people need support in seeing new career options for themselves.

People are discouraged from saying that they are clever and our specific and unique talents are rarely acknowledged or recognised by others. Other people may have thought about you are good at, but not shared this information with you, so it is worth asking to elicit this useful information.

In employer engagement research, frustration about lack of feedback is a common complaint from employees about their line managers, so giving feedback to your direct reports is a good thing to do to boost morale at this time if you are a manager.

Articulating the benefits you bring

Awareness of your specific skills and the ability to articulate them, sharing tangible examples of the benefits they bring is crucial in career success, especially when you are competing against a lot of good candidates.

Spell it out

For people seeking a new or different career, being explicit in helping others to see how your skills are useful in a related context is a must to convince your potential employer that you are up to the task, and not a risk. Self-awareness, confidence and the ability to market yourself, plus overcoming natural fears about change enable a change in career direction to be within reach.

Self-reflective questions

  • What’s my best skill and in what other contexts is it useful?
  • What work tasks make me feel energised?
  • What work activity can I not stop myself from doing?

Inspiring quote

“Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities. Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.”

Norman Vincent Peale

5 tips to help you identify your transferable skills

1) Get someone to ask you how you do your job and to write down what you say and then share their perspective of your skills with you.

2) Think about something you do well naturally and write down the specifics using the third person. Practice saying “I am really good at, for example when ….” This makes it feel more comfortable and not ‘boastful.’

3) Analyse the ‘process’ you use to do your work step by step. Most people have a process incorporating certain skills but don’t see this, as they are too close to themselves. This can be turned into a model or infographic to use on your CV, on social media or on a personal web site.

4) Ask people you work with or live with for feedback about your specific skills and do the same for them.

5) If you want to fast track your awareness, get a career coach who is trained to see your skills and help you to see opportunities where they are useful that you may be unaware even existed.

Helping people to identify their skills, knowledge and experience and new context in which it can be applied is one of my best skills. This is a combination of analysis, lateral thinking, making connections, keeping up with trends in careers and skills, and working with people from many different sectors over the 20+ years that I have been doing career coaching.

If you are at a major career crossroads and thinking about changing career direction, becoming self-employed or developing a portfolio career, we can help.

Why not get in touch for your free no obligation meeting? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Save the dates! Coming soon.

Energise seminars to help you to market yourself.

10-12 Tuesday 11 May 2021 on Zoom: “Why me? What value do you bring?” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-149507654419

10-12 Tuesday 15 June 2021 on Zoom. “Marketing me: Proactive marketing.”

Contact us to find out more: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Transferable skills – where next?

By //  by 

A common theme amongst all of the career coaching clients I work with is a) they have a blind spot seeing their own skills and talents and b) how they can use them in other ways, i.e. possible new jobs or different careers to what they have done before.

I act as a pair of ‘wing mirrors’ to help them see their skills and be clear about where else they can use them.

In these times of redundancies and shrinking sectors caused by the impact of the coronavirus, this is a very important area to explore as part of your future-proof career.

What is a skill?

A skill is defined as: “cleverness at doing a thing, either from practice or a natural gift.”

Why do people find it hard to see their own skills?

Most people don’t think of themselves in terms of skills, and find it immodest to talk about their own ‘natural gifts’.

Common phrases that people express are: “I just do my job” or “it’s just what I do.”

It is not surprising therefore that people need support in seeing new career options for themselves. 

People are discouraged from saying that they are clever and our specific and unique talents are rarely acknowledged or recognised by others. Other people may have thought about you are good at, but not shared this information with you, so it is worth asking to elicit this useful information.

In employer engagement research, frustration about lack of feedback is a common complaint from employees about their line managers, so giving feedback to your direct reports is a good thing to do to boost morale at this time if you are a manager.

Articulating the benefits you bring

Awareness of your specific skills and the ability to articulate them, sharing tangible examples of the benefits they bring is crucial in career success, especially when you are competing against a lot of good candidates.

Spell it out

For people seeking a new or different career, being explicit in helping others to see how your skills are useful in a related context is a must to convince your potential employer that you are up to the task, and not a risk. Self-awareness, confidence and the ability to market yourself, plus overcoming natural fears about change enable a change in career direction to be within reach.

Self-reflective question

What’s my best skill and in what other contexts is it useful?

Inspiring quote

“Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities. Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.”

Norman Vincent Peale

5 tips to help you identify your transferable skills

1) Get someone to ask you how you do your job and to write down what you say and then share their perspective of your skills with you.

2) Think about something you do well naturally and write down the specifics using the third person. Practice saying “I am really good at, for example when ….” This makes it feel more comfortable and not ‘boastful.’

3) Analyse the ‘process’ you use to do your work step by step. Most people have a process incorporating certain skills but don’t see this, as they are too close to themselves. This can be turned into a model or infographic to use on your CV, on social media or on a personal web site.

4) Ask people you work with or live with for feedback about your specific skills and do the same for them.

5) If you want to fast track your awareness, get a career coach who is trained to see your skills and help you to see opportunities where they are useful that you may be unaware even existed.

To receive a free report Personal Skills Audit, please get in touch: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/