Job Journeys: Why Transferable Skills Are Essential For A Successful CV

Because meeting all those coursework deadlines has definitely taught you to be organised.

Although educational achievements and experience are important things to consider when searching for a graduate job, it is also helpful to focus on what transferable skills you have that would be useful in that role.

Our other articles in this series have covered ways you can broaden your skills through internships, volunteering and work placements. Still, there are so many other ways that you can expand on these through activities that might not necessarily relate to your chosen career field.

Even things like getting your degree or working a part-time job can allow you to learn many transferable skills that will help you when it comes to landing a graduate job.

During my time at university, I’ve had to grow and develop a lot of transferable skills that I can use to enhance my CV and future job applications, as well as talk about in interviews.

What skills have I learnt during my degree?

As a music student, I’ve often had to perform in front of people who I don’t know that well, whether that’s lecturers or other students.

As uncomfortable as it can be sometimes, it has definitely helped to grow my confidence and will be beneficial in other situations after uni, such as managing my nerves during job interviews.

I’ve had classes involving group tasks which have forced me to learn how to work alongside people who might have very different ideas and approaches than I do.

This will be a core skill I need in whatever job I end up in, as the music industry is all about connections and working alongside others to create music, run events, and many other things.

I will need to be open to suggestions from others and work with people who might be approaching things from a different perspective to me, so it’s good to have practice about how to communicate with others on projects.

Sticking to deadlines and a schedule at university is another skill that you can strengthen just by doing a degree.

Being able manage your work and time is a skill that almost every single type of employer will be looking for, so it’s a useful one to mention when it comes to demonstrating your skill set on your CV or job application.

Learning to be good under pressure, whether from serving customers during the lunchtime rush at your part-time job or having limited time to finish an assessment at uni, is another skill most employers will be pleased to see on your resume.

Other Things You Can Do To Grow Your Skills

Working a part-time job can also provide you with many impressive skills to beef up your CV.

If you have a customer-facing part-time job (like I do!) you might have acquired people skills and confidence in speaking to the public, or you might find you are great at managing your workload in an admin-focused role.

I have worked many different part-time jobs throughout my time at university, and I’ve massively grown in confidence from them. They were also good practice for understanding the application and interview process of getting a job in the first place.

No matter what sector you are working in, or how high up your position is, you are sure to have acquired plenty of key skills that you can transfer to your future career.

If you have ever undertaken any volunteer work, are part of a club, or even just do regular sports, you most likely will have picked up some transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, or time management that will be valuable to mention when applying for jobs.

Don’t Forget To Mention Them!

Even if you don’t feel you have a lot of experience in your chosen field, by doing just your degree you are already learning so many transferable skills that you can apply to most jobs.

Sometimes during the application and interview process, we get caught up in trying to focus on what experience we have that relates to the job and we overlook all of the vital skills that we have learned from other places.

Make sure that you don’t forget to mention these as they are important and can be just as impressive on your application as direct work experience.

You’ll have picked up a lot more transferable skills than you might realise!

If you want to find out about other ways to improve your job applications or simply build on your career knowledge, check out our futureproof hub.