Transferable Skills
I personally feel a bit nostalgic
today, so naturally, I want to write about transferable skills. Way
back in the 1990's and 00's the economy was rocking and rolling. The
job seeker was KING. Qualifications, degrees, certificates and such
often (but not always) took a back seat to the ability to get the job
done. Those were awesome days to be a Career Counselor.
One person of my professional
acquaintance was able to take her skills as a Gas Station Attendant
and translate it into a finance career. I mean, handling money is
handling money, right? So she went from wearing a baseball cap at
work to Assistant to a Mortgage Broker. That was about 2005. Gosh,
I hope she survived the housing crisis that crashed our economy.
My point is, things have drastically
changed. People who were previously stuck in dead end jobs are
trapped in our current economy. They have no hope of rising out of
the mountains of resumes helpfully provided by more experienced and
educated job-seekers. Gas Station Attendants have no chance to
become Financial Assistants these days.
Or DO they? Yes they absolutely do.
They just have to approach the problem a bit differently. However,
the basics remain the same. You have to understand the product that
you are selling (your skills, time, talents). You have to show a
prospective employer how what you have to offer is RELEVANT to them
and their needs. In short, you have to know yourself (honestly and
objectively), and present yourself to a potential employer in
relation to their needs.
Let's go back to that Gas Station
Attendant client a moment. She was not just an average Gas Station
Attendant. She was very detail oriented. She rarely made mistakes.
And she truly like helping people. They got her attention. One of
the people she paid attention to was the owner of a Mortgage company.
He was a regular, and she paid
attention to him, and all of her other customers. She worked hard,
quickly, and accurately. He started hanging out at the gas station
and watched her work with others. She treated her customers well,
and developed relationships with them. She knew the regulars by
name, and heck, I suppose SHE was why they were regulars (yes women
AND men too). She was professional. Even in a job where she had to
wear a baseball cap.
She got a great job offer. The 'regular
customer' who hired her got the ideal Assistant.
The point is that she learned about her
personal strengths. She changed her perspective, and saw what she
had to offer. She took her strengths, and presented them in relation
to what the employer needed.
That's the trick. Know yorself. Know
your 'Customer'. Then show them where you have what they need.
Good Luck and Best Wishes,
Chris
Links to my
work, “Beyond a Career Crisis”:
Kindle Edition
Paperback Edition
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