A recruitment professional in the United States recently wrote in Forbes Magazine about firms willing to recruit candidates with transferable skills…
“…The firms that dare to diversify their talent pool will be the ones to set new benchmarks …The future of finance is inclusive, and it begins with re-imagining who gets to shape it.”
At Firstcall we work with a number of firms that are clearly re-imagining the shape of Guernsey’s finance industry because we have multiple clients that are happy to recruit “non-traditional” candidates into finance roles.
But what are transferable skills?
Transferable skills – or portable skills – are the collection of skills you possess that can be used in more than one role. They are soft skills as well as hard skills you’ve developed in one job or industry that could be transferred and used successfully in another.
If you are keen on moving into a finance role from another industry what transferable skills might be useful to you?
SOFT SKILLS
- COMMUNICATION – Whether you are communicating via telephone, email or face-to-face, the ability to share ideas and information in a clear and concise manner is an important skill. To be an effective communicator you have to be an active listener – If you aren’t a good listener, you may not understand what someone is communicating to you and therefore stopping any progress.
- TEAMWORK & PEOPLE SKILLS – Whatever business you work in, it is likely that you will have had to work with other people to work towards a common goal. Effective teamwork requires several qualities such as empathy, active listening and strong communication.
- FLEXIBILITY/ADAPTABILITY – The ability to quickly adjust to new situations is important since teams, projects, managements or products can change rapidly. Employers are more likely to hire flexible candidates who are able to learn new skills and processes to ensure work gets done quickly, efficiently and with a positive attitude despite unexpected changes.
- LEADERSHIP – the ability to get the best out of a team as you work collectively is a useful skill to have. Leadership skills include delegation, conflict resolution and project management.
- ORGANISATION – an organised person has a strong structure in how they approach tasks and relationships. People who are organised typically meet deadlines, follow instructions well and communicate with others in a timely fashion. Employers can trust these candidates to meet deadlines, take notes effectively and ensure projects are completed efficiently.
HARD SKILLS
Hard transferable skills, unlike soft skills, are measurable, often industry specific, mostly learned through education and are often identified within a job description and include:
- COMPUTER SKILLS – most positions in financial services involved working on various systems so computer literacy and familiarity with the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc) is essential. Other computer skills that would benefit your career would largely depend upon the role you want. For example, an accounts role would require a deeper understanding of Microsoft Excel, a proficiency in accounting software such as QuickBooks, SAP or Oracle.
- ADMINISTRATION– proven administrative skills whether that be letter writing, organising documentation, payments or working with client data are all transferable activities across an array of job roles.
- ACCOUNTS– Similar to administration, if you’ve worked in a role undertaking accounts tasks – reconciliations, bookkeeping, generating reports or recording transactions, these can be universally applied.
- CLIENT/CUSTOMER SERVICES– Working with customers, managing expectations, arriving at solutions and maintaining relationships are all experiences that can be utilised in new industries and sectors.
- FOREIGN LANGUAGES – Being able to converse in another language is a valuable skill in many areas – particularly with an increasing global (and remote) approach to business. Possessing a second (or third, fourth or more) language allows you to communicate with a wider range of people and can increase your value as a candidate.
If you are interested in pursuing a new role, whether this be to gain greater career prospects, improve your income OR to embark on a new challenge, get in touch with our team to find out if there’s a role available for you. Call 01481 714634 or Email [email protected] to talk with one of our consultants.
