Transferable Skills (huh, yeah! What are they good for? Absolutely nothin')

Actually, I've been pretty remiss in blogging recently -- trying to balance out so many different things (and, the end result, of course, is that nothing actually gets completed).

I've thought about this post for a while, but I've fluctuated on how to tackle it.

When you first attend unemployment seminars, they advocate (hard) for candidates to embrace their transferable skills -- these are skills that are developed that aren't tied to a specific job industry or position type (things like exceptional organization, or project management, or writing).

I've long said that my role, thankfully, is able to be productive in any industry, by-and-large. Communications is predominantly about finding and writing stories and building relationships; that's the breakdown of the role, and -- it's easy to see -- it can be a productive asset in nearly any company.

And yet, I would say the number one reason for many of my rejections is a lack of industry experience -- no experience in education, or healthcare, or finance, or law (despite my interest and enthusiasm for each of those industries). I've had one recruiter tell me that I should be looking "only in the industry I've just left (i.e., distribution), despite the fact that there was nothing about my role that was even remotely tied to it being a distribution-oriented company).

It's easy to take a superior-feeling opinion -- to say, "well, clearly, the company is losing out on some extremely talented workers because of an extremely narrow view of what would make for a successful employee," but, of course, that loss cuts two ways.

But, the reason I've vacillated on this is that I have recently started getting some interest -- in some cases, strong interest -- from industries outside my normal area of expertise. And, that's certainly encouraging. Perhaps it's a sign that, as the economy (slowly) recovers, positions that have sat vacant for too long are now becoming more necessary (and the lack of qualified candidates means companies have to look outside the narrow parameters they've established). And, in some other cases, maybe, it's just a case of some companies being far more proactive and forward-thinking.

In either case, thankfully, it's a good sign. For too long, the concept of transferable skills could easily have been translated as "waste of time." Finally, it seems some companies are starting to see the talent that may be escaping, due to nothing more than an antiquated concept that only persons with a specific industry background can be successful.