Transferable Skills

(Courtesy keithparnell.com)

With many out of work or looking to find a better position, it is one of the busiest hiring periods in recent times. Those working in Human Resources (HR) know all too well that the sheer volume of resumes for just one position can reach well over one hundred resumes.  So in order to narrow the possibilities, the HR professionals word the job posting so that no one really has all the "minimum qualifications" that the hiring company is seeking to find.

Not to be overlooked are transferable skills.  Here are some of the common mistakes found in hiring and what fixes the issue:

• "No experience in our industry".  I was once told I didn't have any food industry experience for a manager's position at a local yogurt plant.  What I did have was many years experience in a manufacturing operation.  My experience was in a regulated industry (FAA) that is comparable to another regulated industry, food manufacturing (FDA).  So the skills I learned at Boeing (management, dealing with machines that go down, raw material issues, etc) are transferable to other manufacturing industries.  In fact an outsider may very well bring fresh new insight to the position.  In addition, the learning curve is not so steep that an experienced person can quickly get up to speed.
• "You aren't experienced in our 3D CAD system".  If you have had any training in one  3D CAD system, you can easily learn another.  The commands for doing operations are different but make sense once you get into the nuts and bolts of the CAD system.  In fact with many icon based programs like CATIA V5, all that is required is to know the icons.
• "You have never been a manager before".  Maybe not but every manager out  there was working at a staff level before being promoted.  They were not managers before either.  Many managers join a company with preconceived ideas on how things should be run in the new company.  Often it is better to take an inexperienced face and  mold that person into the leader your company deserves.

(courtesy:csuitementor.com)

On Loan Work Assignments

(Courtesy: ellenlandreth.wordpress.com)

At some point in your career you may be asked by your manager to work outside of your assigned work group as a loaned out employee.  Although these assignments are usually short term to help out another group, you may feel a little put out by the request,  You may feel that your current work contributions are  deemed inadequate or you are as valued as an employee,  However there are several advantages to accepting (or perhaps volunteering) for this type of assignment:

• Get to know other teammates  - Once you report to your new team you may know some of the members but not all.  What better way to network than to work side by side with new people who could perhaps enhance you career down the road.  Or  you may be able to help them in their career.
• Learn a new part of the organization -  You may have a little knowledge of the new group but chances are you will need to know more.  A broad  understanding of your industry will only help you move laterally and upward as well as you progress  in your career.
• Other managers will get to know your work -  Probably the best part of working in a new group is the opportunity to showcase your skills for the new manager.  You will be under the microscope for a little while, so make the best of it and exceed expectations.  Once pay raises come out, the more managers that know of your good work the better chance you will have of getting a stellar raise.

(Courtesy: uthmag.com)