Transferable Skills: Concept, Definition & Examples for Job Interviews ( T & P Series on Wednesdays: 09)

Now a day, in the job market, there is the hype about transferable skills. Recruiters often talk about these skills in the interviews. Transferable skills are also called hard skills. These skills are learned through experience. Many people mistake transferable skills for soft skills. But, there is a vast difference between these two types of skill.

Definition

Soft skills help you to carry out normal activities in an organization without having problems such as good English communication which is a soft skill. It helps you to communicate your thoughts effectively to seniors and juniors while working on a project.

Hard skills are something you learned from your experience which can be quantified. Suppose, you are good at the financial analysis of a project and you have done ten such financial analyses for different projects. Then, financial analysis is your hard skill. Similarly, you have managed ten research projects as the principal investigator in a University, then project handling is your thing.

Even a simple receptionist can market his or her hard skills. Suppose the receptionist in a hospital handles hundred plus calls daily and sets an appointment for thousands of patient, and then these are her or his hard skills which can be quantified. A recruiter looking for a receptionist who can handle a large volume of calls and customers will like to recruit the person.

  Examples

Some hard skill examples are

(1) Business analysis skill

(2) Financial analysis

(3) Project management

(4) Educator (Training/ coaching/ Explaining to people)

(5) Sales and business developments

(6) Customer service

(7) Super connectors who help in networking people in business etc. 

 The fresh graduates should always keep in mind to develop these hard skills. Now a day, recruitment is done by private firms on behalf of the organization or company. The employer asks the recruiters to find persons with specific skill sets. They have to abide by the deadline. Within the deadline, they have to shortlist people by going through thousands of resumes and conduct an interview. While applying for the opening, if somebody can market his/her hard skill as per the job description through the resumes, the half work is done already.  This will also help one to get shortlisted through an automatic tracking system for various online portals for the job.

Now, let me tell my story. I worked in two engineering colleges in Assam as an Assistant professor before coming to the current university. In my interview, I had been asked to introduce myself. I gave them my bio-data in a nutshell and also mentioned where I worked and what subjects I handled. They asked me can you handle ‘Engineering Graphics’ in the first year. I told them that I taught some engineering graphics in both of the colleges and was very fond of machine drawing. If it was required, I could learn it very quickly to teach students. Now, I think that I was able to market my hard skills unknowingly that day. They wanted someone who can handle engineering graphics for first-year engineering students. My candidature fitted their bill.

In my story, you can see that engineering subjects taught in various engineering colleges are my biggest hard skills or transferable skills. These can be quantified and measured easily.

    Everyone has some kind of hard skills or transferable skills. He or she has to see the things from that angle and market those for their benefits.  

 If you like the post you can read or gift the author's books “B.Tech Guide Book" & "Campus Placement Guidebook" available worldwide in Amazon in Kindle format. These book will help you strategize your life. You will find many important things which are not discussed anywhere. Click in the link below.

 

 

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Enhancing your employability during graduation years: (T& P Series on wednesdays: 08)

 

 ( Picture Source: pexels.com)

The college or university days are golden days. We learn a lot and enjoy a lot in those days. Every good thing should end with a good note. That good note is the placement in some organizations.

 It is needless to say that everyone wants to be placed right after college or university. For that matter, one has to adopt a systematic approach with a well-thought strategy. There are some steps

 

(1) Continuous development: During your undergraduate program, you learn a lot from various courses, workshops, projects, case studies, training, internships, conferences, social work, volunteer work, etc. that held in your college or university. You acquire a lot of experience, skills & attributes such as software skills, communication skills, teamwork, project handling & leadership qualities through the programs. By participating in those programs, you are building your brand. But, we forget things and lose track of the activities completed so far. Keeping track of activities is another important aspect. You can do it by maintaining & constantly updating a resume. A resume is a summary of accomplishments. It is a personal marketing brochure. Whenever you go for an interview, you can pick relevant experience as per the job description for inclusion in the resume.

   

(2) Professional networking: Many people underestimate the power of professional networking. Professional networking sites like LinkedIn have huge potential. One can connect with employers and peers through LinkedIn in his/her areas of interest. One should carefully update his/her profile with the latest experiences or skills. Many employers reach out to students via LinkedIn seeing their profile and ask for an interview. Moreover, you can keep yourself abreast with the latest information in your relevant area.

 

(3) Service & Volunteer: During your college days, you will get many opportunities to offer social service & volunteer. When you do social service, you develop attributes like communication skills & teamwork. Similarly, when you volunteer for various events like workshops, conferences, college/university weeks, alumni meets, tech fests, you learn to handle finances, lead, and work in a team. These attributes are very important for personal development. Frankly speaking, these activities shine your resume or CV.

(4) Internships:  Now a day, every undergraduate program in India has internships. In internships, you go to the relevant industry and learn your trade. It is the best way to have hands-on experience. Many a time, interns impress employers and they get recruited by the company right after their degrees. It happens mostly in post-graduate degrees since there are such programs that allow students to go for last year's project as an intern to some organization.

(5) Maintain relationships: When you maintain relationships, sometimes you may get a lead by your friend, alumni, or acquaintance to find a new job. In many industries, employers recruit based on reference only. In such a case, your alumni must be helpful. Therefore, we should not be reluctant to connect with peers, alumni, and faculties. Many a time, faculties are well connected with industry people. One can take the help of LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

(6) Professional Organization:  Professional organization membership is a great way to learn the latest updates. Generally, professional memberships like IEEE memberships, ISTE, ASME, etc. cost a lot. But, students get these memberships at a concessional rate. You can cite your membership in your resume which is a sign of a serious candidate.

(7) Professional branding: During your college years, you need to create a brand of yours. You market your brand through resumes and cover letters. When appearing for a job interview in a specific company, one should take time to prepare a cover letter and resume specially tailor-made for that company with relevant experiences and skill sets as per the job description. It is unwise to furnish a generic one. It should answer some basic questions like “Why do you want to work in the company?”, “What do you have to offer?” etc.

You can learn a lot about B.Tech by reading B.Tech Guide Book (2021)  & Campus Placement Guidebook (2022) by Madhurjya Saikia for a  successful career ( Knowledge is  always power which helps you to stand out among the average lot)

 

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