Your Key to High-Value Career Mobility or Hype?
In today’s brutal job market, the ability to pivot across industries and roles is a valuable asset.
Transferable skills – as implied by the name – are claimed to be those competencies that are not tied to a specific job but rather are applicable across various roles and industries. They can be âtransferredâ from one situation to another, one job to another.
Of course, this is a rather simplistic view, and it stems from a muddled definition of the term âtransferable skillsâ.
Sure, understanding and leveraging your transferable skills can enhance your career prospects and earnings. True.
But the nuances matter.
In fact, the nuances are where the money is atâŠ
Understanding Transferable Skills
Transferable skills are also known by various other terms such as basic skills, generic skills, employability skills, key skills, key qualifications, and essential competencies.
They are the proficiencies that can be applied in multiple job roles and industries. Despite the different terminologies and their slight variations, the common thread is that these skills are universally applicable and valuable across different contexts and situations.
Of course, another way to view this is that transferable skills are the âlowest common denominatorâ skills that every semi-competent individual should possess.
Let’s look at some of the technical definitions for transferable skills (source):
- Basic Skills: These are “transferable core proficiencies” that include literacy, numeracy, critical thinking, management, leadership, interpersonal skills, information technology skills, systems thinking skills, and work ethic dispositions.
- Generic Skills: These skills are applicable in a wide variety of jobs and life situations. They include literacy, leadership, problem-solving, physical skills, influencing, teamwork, planning, numeracy, emotional labor, communication, time management, lifelong learning, technical training, oral, written, and interpersonal skills. Additionally, some academics also include the importance of skills to handle the vast amount of information available through today’s information technologies.
- Employability Skills: Another subset of transferable skills are claimed to help a job applicant’s chances of being hired. These are non-job-specific skills that relate to individual, personal and social skills. Some describe this as “the skills almost everyone needs to do almost any job”. They include communication in one’s mother tongue, teamwork, problem-solving, initiative, enterprise, planning, organizing, self-management, continuous learning, and effective use of technology.
- OECDâs Key Competencies Definition: OECD‘s project on the definition and selection of key competencies (DeSeCo) outlines four primary skill domains: subject competencies, methodological competencies, social competencies, and personal competencies. Subject competencies include knowledge, facts, definitions, concepts, and systems. Methodological competencies cover skills such as fact-finding, analysis, and problem-solving. Social competencies involve communicating, working interactively, and citizenship. Personal competencies include attitudes, values, and ethics.
Like we said earlier… Muddled, too broad, too generic definitions and lowest common denominator…
Still… We should ask: do transferable skills make a tangible difference in your job prospects?
Transferable Skills and Getting Jobs
Employers do indeed claim that they place significant value on transferable skills. Individuals possessing a higher number or better quality of transferable skills are often regarded more favorably (source).
This is because transferable skills act as indicators – or signals – of an individual’s overall employability. And all other factors being equal, a person with superior social or other transferable skills is likely to be perceived as more employable than someone with fewer social skills.
During job applications and interviews, transferable skills help candidates exhibit socially desirable behaviors, such as politeness, active listening, and showing interest (source). Employers often consider these skills crucial as they indicate whether a new hire will be able to collaborate with colleagues and integrate into the team and organization effectively. These social skills and good habits are considered especially critical for early career job seekers (source).
In other words, transferable skills are an advantage, yes. But the scale of that advantage is rather ambiguous.
How about career development?
Transferable Skills, Promotions and Rank
A good way to assess the impact of transferable skills on your career development is to isolate what different individuals across the corporate hierarchy think of them.
And it just so turns out that, the stated importance of transferable skills vary depending on an individual’s position within an organization!
In a study called ââGeneric skillsâ in a changing work environment – Hawke (2004)â they found:
- Executives believed that all employees should possess transferable skills.
- Middle management saw transferable skills as desirable and considered it the employee’s responsibility to cultivate these skills.
- Employees themselves often did not care much for transferable skills or though for them as important
In other words, these skills don’t really help get the job done, but they help managers and executives feel better about their workforce.
This is a really interesting finding, and it highlights the ambiguity of value associated with transferable skills.
Distinguishing Transferable Skills from the Five Core Skills
While transferable skills are considered valuable in the eyes of management, they are NOT the primary skills for which you are paid. They do enable you to perform effectively in some contexts and facilitate job transitions. But in truth, they are the lowest common denominator elements of professionalism – and not really skills.
That’s right. Sorry…
In today’s world, a world where we have Large Language Models, Quantum Computers, Genetic Engineering and Social Media Billionaires; “fact-finding”, “literacy” and “teamwork” are no longer skills, not really.
Of course, this does not mean that there isn’t a set of valuable skills that apply to any job in the modern world. There is, in fact, a set of skills they are trying to approach with the concept of transferable skills…
The Five Core Skills: A Higher-Order Subset
The five core skills are a set of hard skills, which are also root skills – because they are utilized in every profession. These core skills directly create value in an organization and drive revenue generation. They are the skills you actually get paid for, as they directly contribute to the organization’s success and profitability.
The five core skills are the real “transferable skills”.
To better understand the distinction between mainstream transferable skills and the five core skills consider this analogy: transferable skills are like metals, some are valuable and versatile, others are common, and even others are practically worthless. The five core skills, however, are like jewelry made from precious metals. They are not only a subset but also of a higher order, being refined, specialized, and directly impactful.
Of course, this has consequencesâŠ
The Value of Transferable Skills
Despite their limitations, employers do value transferable skills when selecting candidates, we don’t dispute that fact. Given two individuals with similar qualifications, the one possessing superior transferable skills, such as organization, initiative, and problem-solving, will generally be favored. These skills facilitate effective job performance and adaptability, and more importantly, make the candidates professionals to work with – something managers and team members give disproportionate value to.
The Primacy of Core Skills
However, when comparing one candidate with exceptional transferable skills to another who possesses sufficient competence in the five core skills; the latter will undoubtedly be preferred.
Let’s explain…
Say you are an Account Executive. Sure, it’s nice if you are organized and demonstrate initiative, know when to speak and when to listen, and are generally pleasant to work with. You’re even considered to be a good problem solver. These types of transferable skills definitely help you get your job done. Good for you!
Yet, what really gets the job done is your usage of the five core skills – such as your ability to communicate effectively. Your core skills help you close deals and directly contribute to the companyâs revenue.
Your core skills play the lead role, and your transferable skills play the supporting role. Which means, ultimately, it is your core skills that your employer pays for.
Ultimately, core skills are must haves. Transferable skills are nice to haves.
The Language of Value
We cannot emphasize this enoughâŠ
Understanding the distinction between what really generates value versus what assists in the generation of value is an essential aspect of using the Language of Value. It’s what separates the movers and shakers, from assistants and supporters.
Core skills are the driving force behind success and profitability, while transferable skills enhance and facilitate this process.
Core skills are what employers HAVE TO pay for in order to drive any profit, to get anything done. Transferable skills are the skills managers and human resources would prefer for their subordinates to have, so that they are easier to work with and more pleasant to manage.
Recognizing this difference is key to navigating the job market and advancing in one’s career.
Gaps In Education
All that being said, for some people, the development of transferable skills – or what we summarize under the term “professionalism” – is still necessary.
A lot of early career professionals and recent graduates are not ready for success in the corporate world. Technically competent students, like science students, often struggle with self-reflection, and consequently, students miss out on developing critical skills that could significantly enhance their career prospects (source). Many graduates don’t understand the concept of professionalism, and lack the ability to thrive in the real world.
To address this issue, new educational approaches are necessary. Integrating transferable skills in the curriculum can help, but this process must be taught and supported. Peer leadership exercises can also be an effective way to develop and recognize skills such as leadership skills, teamwork, self-confidence, and problem-solving abilities (source).
Unfortunately, we don’t have much confidence that this will happen. Due to the rapid changes in the labor market and our corporate culture, educational institutions can barely able to keep up with training students in hard skills – we do not think they’ll be able to tackle transferable skills anytime soon.
Meaning, just as these skills have been developed over the past few generations, they will continue to be developed on the job. And they will remain yet another signal that differentiates âinsidersâ from âoutsidersâ – the de facto heuristic hiring managers and human resources use in figuring out who to interview and who to hire.
Conclusion
Make no mistake, the cluster of traits that have coagulated under the term “transferable skills” are a net positive overall. But they are not game changers.
Furthermore, they are far less important than developing the five core skills and seven high-value disciplines, and should only be considered as a secondary and supportive initiative in your career development.
Do not fall for the hype in academia, the endless barrage of cheap online articles, or in the self-claimed preferences of managers and executives.
Academia is still wrestling with the fact that they have graduated two generations of professionals unprepared for the professional world, due to their inability to predict or prepare for technological disruptions. And most managers and executives merely state what makes them look good, not what actually leads them to their decisions. (Many don’t even have the self-awareness to identify their own cognitive mechanisms!)
At the end of the day, the corporate world operates – not based on what people would âpreferâ – but based on what is âprofitableâ.
And what is profitable is not having “transferable skills”, but having skills with high demand.
It is having credentials with prestige that open doors.
It is having friends in high places that allow you to bypass obtuse HR requirements.
It is speaking the Language of Value that positions you as an âinsiderâ to the company you’re interested in.
It is cultivating power through the creation and control of value in the corporate machine.
The days where âcommunication in your motherâs tongueâ, âproblem solvingâ, or ânumeracyâ were considered skills are long goneâŠ
The bar is higher, period.
Focus on what gets you jobs, gets you employed, and gets you paid; not what some academics say would be ideal, or what some managers say they want.