TRANSFERABLE SKILLS EXERCISE
Introduction
Transferable skills are critical to success on any job. Students must not only
develop them, they must be able to identify the ones they already possess.
Transferable skills are any skills that a student has learned in one place that can
be used in another. For example, if a student has learned how to communicate
clearly on the phone from helpi
ngoutathi
smom’
sbeaut
ysal
on, then he can
transfer that skill to another job that might require some phone assignments. Or,
if a student learned how to organize multiple projects from a teacher she had in
middle school, she can transfer that skill to a job that might require organizational
skills. If students can identify, develop and convey details about their
transferable skills, they will have significantly greater amounts of job search and
career development satisfaction. This exercise will help students identify and
discuss transferable skills they currently possess as well as those they wish to
develop.
The skills are broken down into three main categories:

Education

Life

Next Job or First Job
FIRST: Ask students to make a checkmark next to each Transferable Skill on
the 2-page inventory. They should make a checkmark in the box if they believe
they possess the described Transferable Skill.
 They should check the box entitled EDUCATION if they think they learned the
skill in school.
 They should check the box entitled LIFE if they think they learned the skill at
home, from family or friends or from general life experiences.
 They should check the box entitled NEXT JOB or FIRST JOB if they believe
they would like to utilize that skill in the workplace. Meaning: it is a skill they
enjoy possessing, learning or using and they would like it to be a part of their
future careers.
SECOND: Ask the student to organize their responses on the summary sheet
following the Transferable Skills Checklist.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS SUMMARY SHEET
Name:
Date:
This is a list of all of the skills I learned from my EDUCATION:
(Write each one down that you checked in the EDUCATION column.)
DATA
PEOPLE
THINGS
1. …………………………….
.
2. …………………………….
3. …………………………….
4. …………………………….
.
5. …………………………….
.
6. …………………………….
7. …………………………….
8. …………………………….
.
9. …………………………….
10. ……………………………
11. ……………………………
12. ……………………………
13. …………………………….
.
14. …………………………….
.
15. …………………………….
.
This is a list of all of the skills I learned from my LIFE EXPERIENCES:
(Write each one down that you checked in the LIFE EXPERIENCES column.)
DATA
16. …………………………….
17. …………………………….
18. …………………………….
.
19. …………………………….
.
20. …………………………….
21. …………………………….
22. …………………………….
.
23. …………………………….
24. ……………………………
25. ……………………………
26. ……………………………
27. …………………………….
.
28. …………………………….
.
PEOPLE
THINGS
29. …………………………….
.
This is a list of all of the skills I want/learned from my FUTURE JOB/FIRST JOB:
(Write each one down that you checked in the FUTURE JOB/FIRST JOB
column.)
DATA
PEOPLE
THINGS
30. …………………………….
.
31. …………………………….
32. …………………………….
33. …………………………….
.
34. …………………………….
.
35. …………………………….
36. …………………………….
37. …………………………….
.
38. …………………………….
39. ……………………………
40. ……………………………
41. ……………………………
42. …………………………….
.
43. …………………………….
.
44. …………………………….
.
THIRD: Now that the students have all of their Transferable Skills listed, it is
time to find THEMES for the skills.
Ask the students to categorize their skills from EDUCATION, LIFE and FIRST
JOB under these headings:
DATA
PEOPLE
THINGS
REMEMBER: Some skills are obvious as to whether they impact data, people,
or things; but some can fit under all three. If that is the case, the skill can be
added under the category for which the student would like to use the skill. If she
does not like working with things, but would rather work with people using that
particular skill, then she can add it under the people list.
FOURTH: Discuss with your students what their DATA/PEOPLE/THINGS lists
look like. What types of skills are they listed under? Do they have more in one
category than the others? Ask them to describe or explain why they have the
type of lists they do.
FIFTH: Under each of the DATA/PEOPLE/THINGS categories, ask students to
identify how many of the skills fit these criteria:

Management

Design/Planning

Research/Investigating

Communication

Human Relations

Thinking/Analyzing

Organizing
In other words, ask students to think about all the skills they listed under DATA.
Do the majority of them relate to Management of data? Or how about
Communicating data? Or maybe Organizing data?
Do the same with PEOPLE category skills and THINGS category skills.
How do these relate to EDUCATION or LIFE skills? What did they learn
most in school? Human Relations related skills? Or Communication
skills?
Finally, talk to them about the FIRST JOB skills.
Do they see any patterns? Do they fall under one or more of the subcategories listed above?
SIXTH: Provide a wrap-up discussion with your students about what each
student found in this exercise. Every student should be able to stand in front of
the class and answer these questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
My top five transferable skills from EDUCTION are:
My top five transferable skills from LIFE are:
My top five transferable skills I want to use or learn from my FIRST
JOB are:
Most of the skills I learned in EDUCTION are related to the
______________sub-categories (Communication, Management,
Organizing, etc.)
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Most of the skills I learned in LIFE are related to the
______________sub-categories (Communication, Management,
Organizing, etc.)
Most of the skills I want to learn or use in my FIRST JOB are related to
the ______________sub-categories (Communication, Management,
Organizing, etc.)
This exercise taught me __________________ about my skills.
Now, when an employer asks me about the skills I possess, I will say
_____________.
”
When I look for my first/next job, I will make sure I can use these 3
skills:
________________________________________________________