Frustrated that there aren’t more jobs out there for you? Are you not sure you want to do the same job anymore? Well, perhaps it is time to transfer your skills to a new occupation or industyr.
Let me add beyond transferable skills, you’ve performed transferable functions. Functions within your last jobs will transfer to many other jobs if you look at what skills the functions required.
There are many ways to assess your transferrable skills. None are easy. Assessment usually requires digging below the surface. You could do a pen and paper assessment or an online assessment.
Dig deep. At the core, there are things you enjoy doing more than others. Enjoying something will most likely make it a better choice. Find the root of your motivation.
Because I am no-nonsense kind, my recommendation is to use the O-Net Interest Profiler assessment. It isn’t very long and it is a good starting place. Oh, and it is free.
The results of your assessment will help you uncover occupations that use the skills you like using most!
Use “Skills Search” to start your exploration. This will be a high level overview of skills. I would recommend you only select those you truly enjoy right now. You could go back and enter all skills you can perform next if you choose.
Here is what the skills listing looks like:
Next, you will be provided with a listing of occupations that require the use of these skills. You will most likely see some that are similar to what you have done or been doing.
If you click on any of these occupations you will see job responsibilities as well as other requirements of the job. Read carefully. There are clues in here.
You will also see at the very bottom a listing of similar occupations. You can learn more about those occupations by clicking on the title.
I hope this is somewhat helpful. The more you use this tool, the more user-friendly it becomes.
Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.