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The Importance of Transferable Skills

by Annette Clemens, Assistant Director

One of the most common complaints I hear when advising students about their resumes is that they have no major-related experience.  “Who would want to hire me when I’ve only worked at Walgreen’s?” they ask.  Actually, many employers would hire you as long as you show them that the skills you have would transfer to the position for which you are applying.

Let’s use restaurant work as an example.  It’s safe to assume that a student who has worked as a waiter or waitress will probably have a lot of experience dealing with the public.  The student would be wise to represent this experience on the resume.  Here’s one way of wording it:

  • Managed diverse personalities effectively.

This bullet point conveys a few things to an employer.  For one, it implies that the student is diplomatic when interacting with others and would probably be respectful of co-workers.  It also implies that the student would likely be an effective team player: a very valuable skill in today’s work world.

If we use the waiter/waitress example again, we could consider the high-pressure atmosphere of working in a restaurant and how this skill could transfer into the business world.  Let’s say that our student waitress waited on six tables per hour.  Here’s how she could compose a bullet point to convey this.

  • Coordinated order taking, serving, and customer service for up to 30 tables per shift.

This bullet point implies a variety of things.  Despite living in the technological age, customer service is still highly valued in the business world.  Furthermore, it also implies that the student is highly organized, and has developed solid time management skills since anyone who has been in a restaurant has seen what a busy environment this can be.  The number of tables is also important to mention since the employer then has a better sense of the student’s level of responsibility.

These are just two examples of how no work experience should be considered too insignificant to articulate both on your resume and on an interview.  Employers are really just trying to get a sense of you both as a person and as a potential employee.  It is important to own your work experience and to convey to the employer that although you may not yet have major-related experience, you have a wealth of skills that can be applied to the position you want.