Skills Finder
1. Discover Your Transferable Skills
Table of Contents
Resume and Cover Letter Formatting
Sector Specific Resumes
Skills Finder
What are Transferable Skills?
Transferable Skills are skills you have developed over the course of your life. These skills can be transferred from one job or industry to another. Transferable skills don’t disappear; they grow over time. Some skills learned in one job may help in another job.
How to Apply Transferable Skills
Don’t just list the skills, tell the employer how well, or how often, you displayed them, or tell them where you learned it.
- If you worked at McDonald’s for two years, that is an asset because they have an excellent training program, and that job shows you know how to handle working in a team environment and how to treat a customer. You can work in a fast-paced team-based environment while providing friendly customer service.
- Experience in marketing and sales developed through retail customer service.
- Friendly and personal approach to building strong relationships with customers, clients, and colleagues.
Top Five Transferable Skills
This section has an interactive activity designed to help you discover and articulate your transferable skills. Whether you’re preparing a resume, writing a cover letter, or simply exploring your strengths, this activity will guide you through a structured self-assessment based on five transferable skills:
These five skills are sourced from the Government of Canada’s Skills for Success framework, which identifies key transferable skills needed to thrive in learning, work, and life. These skills are among the top transferable qualities employers seek in candidates, regardless of industry. Employers value them not just for technical roles, but for how they reflect your ability to think, connect, and adapt in real-world situations. Explore the full framework and its research-backed insights at Canada’s Skills for Success.
Why Finding Your Skills Matters
- Transferable skills are the bridge between your experiences and your future opportunities.
- They show employers how you think, collaborate, adapt, and communicate, regardless of your field or background.
- By identifying and articulating these skills, you’ll be better equipped to present yourself confidently and authentically in professional settings.
How Skills Finder works
- Complete five interactive activities, each focused on one skill: Problem Solving, Creativity & Innovation, Communication, Collaboration, and Adaptability.
- For each activity, read the questions and choose the statement that best describes you. Your choices highlight how your skills appear in everyday situations.
- At the end of each activity, you’ll get personalized feedback:
- A description of your current skill level, whether you’re building the skill, enhancing it or already proficient.
- Insights on how to leverage and improve these skills.
- Sample action statements you can use in resumes.
- Activities can be completed in any order, repeated as needed and used to support resumes, cover letters or interview preparation.
- Each activity is based on the Transferable Skills Assessment document below.
Review the Transferable Skills Assessment
Download the PDF version of the activity: Transferable-Skills-Assessment.pdf. Or, explore the book below to see the Transferable Skills Assessment without downloading the PDF.
This assessment is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license by Noah D. Arney
The process of finding solutions to problems.
The ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas.
The creating and use of new ideas or methods.
The act of sharing information with others by speaking, writing, moving your body, or using other signals.
The situation of two or more people working together to create or achieve the same thing.
An ability or willingness to change in order to suit different conditions.
