Transferable skills are skills that aren’t associated with specific fields. Instead, they’re useful for many different jobs across various industries.
Transferable skills are especially important skills to highlight on your resume if you’re an entry-level applicant or if you’re changing careers, because they can help convince employers that you’ll be able to succeed in your new career.
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Below, we list 10 transferable skills you may already have that employers are looking for:
Transferable skills for recent graduates
If you’re applying for your first job, these are excellent transferable skills to include on your application documents:
1. Public speaking
Being a good public speaker is a trait valued across industries, and you’ve likely had plenty of practice in school or university. Strong public speaking skills indicate to employers that you’ll have no problem delivering presentations and participating actively in team meetings.
Example of how to showcase public speaking skills on a resume:
- Delivered engaging speeches to audiences of 500+ students and faculty at campus events as the Student Body Vice President
2. Basic computer skills
It’s not just web developers and software engineers who need computer skills. Most employers expect you to possess at least a basic understanding of Google Docs and Microsoft Office Suite, which you’ve most likely used during your studies.
Example of how to showcase basic computer skills on a resume:
- Collaborated on group projects using Google Docs, ensuring seamless document sharing and real-time updates
3. Time management
Time management skills are highly sought after by employers because they make you a more reliable employee. If you can be trusted to finish your work on schedule, get back to clients in a timely manner, and competently juggle multiple daily tasks, time that would otherwise be spent on micromanagement can be spent in more productive ways.
Example of how to showcase time management skills on a resume:
- Successfully balanced a full-time workload with volunteer commitments, dedicating 10+ hours per week to community service while maintaining a 3.8 GPA
4. Writing
Writing plays a crucial role in almost every profession. It helps you get your point across clearly whether you’re emailing coworkers, creating reports, or communicating with clients.
Example of how to showcase writing skills on a resume:
Wrote monthly articles for the university’s online magazine, contributing to increasing website traffic by 10% in 3 months
5. Teamwork
The ability to work well as part of a team is essential for nearly any job, and it’s something all students get practice with through group projects. When writing your resume, make sure to provide specific examples that demonstrate your teamwork skills.
Example of how to showcase teamwork skills on a resume:
- Worked as part of a 10-member planning committee to organize a university-wide career fair, coordinating logistics and securing participation from 50+ employers
6. Research
Research skills are important across many industries, from finding out what customers want to growing a business. Giving hiring managers evidence of what you’ve achieved by applying your research skills in the past will give them an idea of how you can contribute in your new role if hired.
Example of how to showcase research skills on a resume:
- Conducted in-depth research for a senior thesis on the impact of social media marketing on small business growth, analyzing 50+ scholarly articles and case studies, and presenting findings in a 20-page paper that earned departmental honors
7. Math
Strong math skills can significantly improve your ability to land a job in many industries. While math may not always be the focal point of every job, the ability to analyze data, work with numbers, and solve problems using quantitative methods is highly valuable.
Example of how to showcase math skills on a resume:
- Used calculus and data visualization techniques to optimize a machine learning algorithm, improving model accuracy by 15%
8. Language skills
If you speak more than one language, don’t forget to mention it on your resume. Even if foreign language skills aren’t typically required in your field of work, they could give you an advantage over other applicants, especially if you’re in a customer-facing role.
Example of how to showcase language skills on a resume:
- Used bilingual proficiency in Spanish and English to assist customers in a retail environment, improving overall customer satisfaction
Transferable skills for career changers
Making a career change? List some of these transferable skills on your resume to show employers you’ll be able to hit the ground running:
1. Advanced Microsoft Office skills
Advanced Microsoft Office skills can be a powerful asset for career changers. Beyond basic familiarity with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, advanced skills like creating pivot tables, automating tasks with macros, and designing professional presentations are abilities that can help you stand out as a candidate.
Example of how to showcase advanced MS Office skills on a resume:
- Automated routine data management tasks using macros in Excel, improving workflow efficiency and eliminating errors in monthly financial reports
2. Data analysis
Data analysis skills are key in many professions. Whether it’s analyzing sales trends, measuring marketing campaign performance, or identifying inefficiencies in operations, data analysis empowers you to make informed decisions that drive results.
Example of how to showcase data analysis skills on a resume:
Analyzed sales data using Excel and Tableau to identify trends, providing actionable insights that contributed to a 10% increase in quarterly sales
3. Project management software
While familiarity with specific project management software may not be the deciding factor in whether you get a job, experience with tools like Asana, Jira, or Trello indicates that you’re organized and accustomed to digital collaboration.
Example of how to showcase project management skills on a resume:
- Tracked projects using Trello, ensuring tasks were completed on time and stakeholders received regular project updates
4. Leadership
Leadership skills are required for managerial roles, but they’re valuable for any type of role. Even if you’re not in charge of a team, being able to delegate work, motivate people, and quickly make decisions gives you an advantage for different types of jobs.
Example of how to showcase leadership skills on a resume:
- Facilitated weekly team meetings, ensuring effective communication and driving the successful completion of key project milestones
5. Business acumen
Business acumen is a skill that demonstrates your understanding of how businesses operate and succeed. While technical expertise and industry-specific skills are important, having strong business acumen allows you to see the bigger picture and understand the impact of decisions on overall business performance.
Example of how to showcase business acumen on a resume:
- Presented strategic business plans to senior leadership, providing insights into cost-saving measures that resulted in an 8% reduction in operational expenses
6. Networking
Once you’ve landed a new job after a career change, networking skills continue to be important. If your new role is in business development or involves client interaction, networking skills will help you build and maintain strong professional relationships.
Example of how to showcase networking skills on a resume:
- Built and maintained relationships with key industry professionals through networking events and LinkedIn, resulting in valuable business partnerships and collaboration opportunities
7. Stakeholder management
Stakeholder management is a critical skill that can accelerate your success in your new role, especially if you’re in a position that requires collaboration across different departments or with external clients.
Example of how to showcase stakeholder management skills on a resume:
- Led weekly updates with stakeholders to communicate progress, address concerns, and manage risks to ensure successful project deliveries on time and within budget
8. Negotiation
Negotiation skills are essential for effective communication and collaboration with clients, colleagues, and business partners. These skills enable you to navigate and manage expectations, resolve conflicts, and find mutually beneficial solutions in a professional setting.
Example of how to showcase negotiation skills on a resume:
- Negotiated contracts with vendors to secure favorable terms, reducing supply costs by 15% while maintaining quality and service standards
How to highlight transferable skills
There are three opportunities for you to draw attention to your transferable skills on your resume. These are:
On your resume
When writing your resume, include relevant transferable skills in your:
- Resume introduction
- Experience section
- Education section
A good resume introduction summarizes your experience and tells employers why they should hire you in 2-5 sentences. Because it’s the first thing employers see when they pick up your resume, it’s important you make it count.
Then, tailor the resume bullet points in your experience section to the job you want by highlighting transferable skills mentioned in the job ad. For example, if the job description mentions leadership skills, you could write:
- Led a team of 5 in organizing a company-wide charity event, coordinating tasks, managing deadlines, and ensuring all team members were motivated and aligned with project goals.
If you don’t have any work experience yet, make your education section the focus of your resume and include details related to projects, courses, and extracurricular activities that have helped you develop transferable skills the employer wants.
Here’s an example that demonstrates a recent grad’s teamwork skills:
- Collaborated with a team of 4 to create a marketing plan for a local business as part of a capstone project, contributing ideas, coordinating tasks, and ensuring all team members met deadlines, resulting in a well-received presentation that earned an A grade.
In your cover letter
Use your cover letter to provide hiring managers with additional insights into your skill set. A cover letter is less structured than a resume, so you have a bit more freedom.
You could include a list of 2-5 bullet points showcasing accomplishments that emphasize your transferable skills, or you could write 2-3 paragraphs going into detail about specific projects you worked on.
Either way, make sure you quantify your achievements to demonstrate the impact of your work, giving employers an idea of the value you can bring to their organization. For example:
In my previous role as a marketing assistant, I conducted market research that identified key consumer trends, helping the team adjust our strategy and increase social media engagement by 25%.
In a job interview
Job interviews are great for demonstrating your transferable skills, because interviewers often ask open-ended questions.
This means you can answer in a way that shows why your previous experiences are relevant to your target job, and how you plan to use your transferable skills to excel in your new position.
The more specific you are, the better. For example, if asked a common interview question like “why should we hire you?” you could say:
The skills I developed in my previous role are directly transferable to this position. As a customer service representative, I listened to customers, trying to understand their unique needs and come up with tailored solutions, often resulting in successful upsells. Experiences like this have honed my ability to listen actively, understand customers’ pain points, and identify opportunities, all skills I know are essential in sales.
By linking your past experiences to your current career goals, you show the interviewer not only what you’ve accomplished but also how you plan to apply the lessons you’ve learned in a new context.
Additional skills-related resources
Here are more transferable skills to highlight on your resume.

Ida Pettersson
Career Coach and Resume Expert
Committed to empowering job seekers of all experience levels to take the next step in their careers, Ida helps professionals navigate the job hunt from start to finish. After graduating from New College of Florida with a B.A. in Philosophy and Chinese Language and Culture, Ida moved to Hong Kong to begin her own career journey and finally settled in Taiwan. Her insights on resume writing, interview strategies, and career development have been featured on websites such as LawCareers.net, Digital Marketer, and SheCanCode.
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