Transferable Skills vs. Accomplishments

THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.

Everyone should know (but these days who knows? ) that you should never discuss sex, politics, or religion during a job interview. I would add one more thing: NEVER say that you have “transferable skills.” When a candidate says, or writes that, the employer hears/reads, “Look, I am not qualified for the position but do me a favor and consider me anyways.” Employers don’t do favors. They know what they want, or at least they should, and they definitely don’t like it when candidates imply that they (the candidate) knows better than they (the employer).

Instead of talking about “skills,” focus on “transferable accomplishments.” Employers like accomplishments. When I prepare a resume it is dripping accomplishments. Employers are only interest in one thing: What can the candidate do for them? There is only one way to convince them of what they can do for them: Show them what they did for another employer. Those are the sacred accomplishments.

I had a client who wanted to be a project manager. He got the certification, but he had no experience. He was, and he was good at it, a warehouse manager. He managed a warehouse, not a project. So we turned the warehouse into a project. A very complicated project. He had not only to keep to a budget, but he had to supervise staff, keep track of inventory, and utilize different technologies. Bottom line was, he was responsible for millions of dollars worth of inventory and equipment and never so much as lost a paperclip. Moreover, he had no turnover in his team and no one was ever injured.

Yes, he had the skills. But he did not use the word. He only spoke of “accomplishments.”

(Seriously? That’s the question you’re asking! I would not have told the story if he hadn’t got the job!)