5 Transferable Skills to Look Out for in a Potential Hire
With the job market experiencing a talent crunch, it has become challenging to hire that perfect candidate for your role. Perhaps they lack some specialised skills or knowledge but have other skills or a stellar personality that make them a suitable fit for the company. Instead of looking for a perfect fit, why not consider the transferable skills a potential candidate has?
What Are Transferable Skills?
Are you learning about transferable skills for the first time? These are various soft skills that people pick up from your education, internships, and work experiences. While they are not technical skills, they are just as valuable. In fact, they complement one’s technical expertise and make them a more well-rounded employee.
Given the global disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic brought, it has become even more challenging to find the perfect candidate. However, the workplace and approaches to work have also tremendously changed. Now, more than ever, Singaporean companies, organisations, and businesses are turning to creative, out-of-the-box solutions to the ongoing challenges. Transferable skills will certainly come in handy at a time like this.
In a nutshell, transferable skills will make an employee prepared to take on different roles, explore various industries, or better navigate their current job. It can even future-proof their career, whatever industry or field they choose, which means that they could stay on in the company for a long time.
Top 5 Transferable Skills You Must Have
Now that you know what these skills are and why they are important, the next question is: What are the top transferable skills to have? For starters, here are the top five soft skills that you can look out for while hiring:
1. Interpersonal Skills This might be a term that gets thrown around with the idea that it simply means being friendly with your peers. However, there is more to it than being well-liked in the workplace. Also called people skills, interpersonal skills involve knowing how to deal with people of different backgrounds and personalities.
Human relations in the workplace can be tough sometimes. But interpersonal skills will allow one to better communicate with demanding clients or competitive co-workers.
2. Time Management Skills Punctuality is important in every workplace. Being always late at work or habitually missing deadlines will never look good on an employee. It reflects a lack of commitment and poor time management skills. When one knows how to manage your schedule so you always deliver promptly, they can easily position themselves as an asset to any team.
3. Problem-Solving Skills When days at work are far from smooth-sailing, an employee’s problem-solving skills will be put to the test. This involves identifying the problem, understanding the cause, and coming up with solutions that will either address it or prevent it from happening again. Regardless of the industry or role, this analytical expertise will get the team through hardships at work.
4. Creativity The past two years have pushed many companies and businesses to adopt unconventional solutions to the challenges brought by the pandemic. Being able to demonstrate creativity through out-of-the-box ideas and solutions will make an employee a valuable asset. Resourcefulness, inventiveness, and originality will take them far!
5. Leadership Skills Does your potential hire think it is time to step up and take on a bigger role? Leadership skills are one of the first things to look for when hiring or promoting for management roles. While some individuals can be considered natural-born leaders, it is not impossible to learn to become one as well.
Picking up leadership skills will allow employees to coach and motivate your team, bring direction to projects, and delegate tasks with ease. When challenges and setbacks come, they will also be more level-headed to take accountability and address them with confidence.
Start Managing Your Transferable Skills Inventory
Now, you are ready to put together a transferable skills checklist. The first step is to assess your current transferable skills list. This can be part of your skills inventory management, which will provide a detailed overview of an employee’s strengths and areas for improvement.
Think of it as a collection of skills that will give you a better idea about an employee’s value. It will also help you better see their potential for growth should they join your company.
Possible Questions to Ask a Potential Hire
How well do they interact with my peers? Was there ever a time they found it difficult to approach, communicate, or collaborate with their peers?
Do they find it difficult to speak clearly and effectively during presentations?
Do they find it hard to write their thoughts and ideas for reports and other deliverables?
Have they ever been called to help solve a difficult problem or challenge at work? Did they come up with effective solutions or contributions?
Have they ever struggled with meeting deadlines or being punctual at work?
Have they ever been called to coach or train a fellow co-worker? How did it turn out?
Do they see themselves leading their own team one day?
How good are they at spotting problems, discovering what caused them, and coming up with the best solutions?
Do they enjoy strategising and thinking about new ways or approaches to doing things at work?
How good are they at managing their schedule and stress levels?
Download a Sample Transferable Skills Checklist
No time to create your own transferable skills checklist? Not sure what you should write in it? To save you time, you can also download JobStreet’s transferable skills list PDF. It contains a checklist of the core soft skills. Remember, you can always tailor this checklist according to your hiring needs.
While specialist skills are a must for certain roles, candidates with solid transferable skills can also be valuable assets to your company. When looking through the candidate pool to fill a role, hire someone who can not only fit the role but also grow alongside your company.
Visit JobStreet’s Career Resources Hub for other expert advice on how to hire the right fit for your company.