Selling Your Transferable Skills

Your knowledge and personality are marketable

Do you have knowledge of a job, a product, a process or a market... from work, hobbies, alumni relationships, research or suppliers? If so, it may be marketable. Personality, of course, is just a word for that combination of traits that either attracts us to someone or leaves us unimpressed. More employment decisions are based on personality and chemistry than any other factor. For example: “He’s certainly professional and quick-thinking. I like him, and better yet, I trust him. He’ll fit in with our team. I need to get him into the firm.” The perception of your personality has to do with your interest and enthusiasm. How many people get hired because they showed real interest? A lot.

Leadership qualities are marketable

If there is one quality you want to communicate, it is leadership ability. Experts say that leaders possess and communicate real convictions— strong feelings and principles that have grown with them over time.

Leadership is also attributed to those who create an image of operating at the leading edge... into new products, new services and new solutions. We expect our leaders to have the vision and talent to develop new things. Another skill common to leaders is their ability to assemble teams and motivate them to peak achievement. Often creative, intuitive and passionate, they project integrity and trust. If you have these traits, they should be marketed. Image, attitude and presence also play a role.

To best communicate your skills... you should have a communication strategy

To appreciate a communication strategy, consider the platform of a presidential candidate. It anticipates questions on issues and formulates statements to guide the candidate’s answers. Now, when any of us recruit, we have a concept in mind. In the final analysis, we hire others for the skills and abilities that certain key descriptive phrases imply.

To expand your marketability, develop stories that incorporate those phrases to create maximum interest. Without stories, most people will forget what you say in a matter of minutes. We all remember good stories. To ensure your points are memorable, we suggest a method for creating interesting stories. SOAR is an acronym that stands for Situation, Opportunities, Actions and Results. It offers a process for describing your past experience.

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