What Are Transferable Skills?

Soft skills, hard skills and transferable skills. If you've been looking for a job or internship, you may have come across these terms. But what are they? How are they connected? And how do you identify yours and use them to your advantage on your resume, cover letter and in interviews?

Transferable Skills Defined

According to Dana McGrath, an employer relations partner with the Career Services team at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), transferable skills are abilities learned or developed from past experiences that can be applied in the future. In a career context, these are skills that can move with you from one workplace to another.

Transferable skills can come from all kinds of places, including jobs, volunteering, sports or even personal challenges. “The concept is typically referenced in a professional context, but these abilities can be gained through, or used in, personal experiences as well,” McGrath said.

When thinking about how your skills might move from one role to another, more of what you’ve already done likely qualifies than you might think. “Any skill — technical, inherent, or developed painstakingly over time — where you can show proven success that would be relevant to the role you want in the future is important to the recruiter, the hiring manager and should be important to you,” she said.

What Are Examples of Transferable Skills?

Transferable skills fall into two categories: hard skills and soft skills. According to McGrath, hard skills are learned technical skills that can be easily proven, while soft skills may be less obvious and aren't always as easy to demonstrate.

McGrath said the most recognizable transferable skills tend to be the technical ones, like knowledge of computer programming languages. “(Hard skills) can be proven with demonstrable use of SQL or R for data analysis, a portfolio project highlighting a successful application coded in Java or Python or a published news article that specifically follows Associated Press (AP) Style standard rules for writing,” she said.

Soft skills, on the other hand, may be harder to quantify. However, they're equally as important to employers. “If these are inherent or learned skills for you, for which you can successfully provide examples, celebrate it,” said McGrath. “Each of these skills is relevant in pretty much any role and across every industry.”

Learn more: What Are Soft Skills and Why Are They Important?

How Do You Identify Your Transferable Skills?

One way to identify your transferable skills is to think about what you've already accomplished. “Break down your experience by achievements and branch those achievements further into the skills you used to achieve them,” said McGrath. “Those are your transferable skills.”

For instance, a former warehouse associate who consistently met or exceeded task targets with minimal error is doing more than just basic tasks, according to McGrath. “They're fulfilling their duties at a fast pace, collaborating with team members and ensuring they are entering order specifications into the correct fulfillment areas,” she said. “Those responsibilities require time management, communication and attention to detail.”

McGrath also suggests using AI tools to discover skills you might not have initially considered. For example, you could ask AI to identify what transferable skills a cashier might bring to an accounts payable specialist position. “Then, review the responses provided and tie back the relevant suggestions to your actual experience,” she said. “This can help to get you started in uncovering practical examples to showcase and prove your transferable skills.”

If you're a college student, you may also have access to career support through your institution. SNHU, for example, has a dedicated Career Services team that can help you identify your transferable skills and learn how to articulate them to potential employers.

As you research and identify your skills, you may come across some you don't yet have but want to develop. Education, technical training courses or practical hands-on experience can help you build hard skills. SNHU, for example, offers professional development courses, where you could develop skills in data literacy and generative AI.

In the case of soft skills, consider volunteering, internships or early career opportunities. “These types of roles are intended to introduce and hone new skills, and it is always okay to start again when you find yourself with alternative goals for a future career,” said McGrath.

What Are the Most Valuable Transferable Skills?

So what are the most coveted transferable skills? “This is a tough question because a skill that is in high demand in one area or industry may be less prevalent in another,” said McGrath.

A good starting point to figure out what skills are most valuable in your area of interest, she said, is to look through related job descriptions and map out the skills that appear most frequently. For example, in her own online search of a career platform, McGrath noted that time management, communication and attention to detail appeared in thousands of job listings.

She also suggested reaching out to professionals in your existing network or seeking out contacts who already work at companies of interest or in roles you hope to land one day. “Ask to connect and discuss the skills they think are currently, or will become, most valuable for continued success in that seat,” McGrath said.

Also worth noting: in the age of artificial intelligence, McGrath said the most valuable skills could be the ones a computer can’t imitate. “It could be interpersonal, relationship-focused or critical thinking skills derived from human experience that may become more in-demand,” she said.

Read More: What is Professional Networking?

How Do You Make Your Transferable Skills Stand Out?

Your resume, cover letter and interviews are all places to showcase your transferable skills when searching for a job.

On your resume, include a skills section and, when applicable, a credentials or certifications section. But don't stop there. “Be sure to reflect and reiterate on your resume the measurable examples of how you used those skills to make a positive, impactful difference in the past throughout the bulleted details of your professional/work experience section,” McGrath said.

For example, if you're a store manager of a retail boutique looking to transition into a project management role, you could show off your skills on your resume like this:

• Skills section: List project management as a skill. According to McGrath, retail management involves many merchandising, inventory and marketing projects, making it directly transferable.
• Work experience section: Elaborate on why you listed project management. “The bulleted details under the current role on their resume should also supplement the listed skill with quantified examples, such as ‘Managed a team of 5 employees to launch and complete retail projects, generating $1 million in annual revenue,’” she said.

A cover letter gives you even more room to elaborate. “You can expand upon a specific example or provide a more qualitative description of a scenario or personal experience — with professional grace — that would prove relevant to the desired role,” McGrath said.

In an interview, she suggests answering questions using the STAR method — Situation, Task, Action, Result — to articulate your transferable skills in a measurable way.

When the interviewer asks if you have questions, consider asking about the challenges someone in the role might face. Use their answer as an opportunity to explain how your skills would help solve them. “Most people can fashion a theoretical response of how they would work through a professional obstacle or situation,” said McGrath. “What may make you shine is answering an interview question with clear examples of the skills you possess, and the specific actions and impact you have and could make with those skills.”

One last piece of advice? You don't need to list every skill every time you send a resume. “An endless medley of skill-soup is not always appreciated on the palate of a recruiter reviewing tens or hundreds of applications,” she said. “Focus on relevance for the role you are applying for and take the time to develop intentional examples for your resume and to use during interview responses.”

Overall, knowing how to identify and articulate your transferable skills is a big advantage when searching for a job. "It's important to fully understand your own experience and skills so you can present the amazing version of yourself that you may not yet realize is truly there," McGrath said.

Rebecca Cahill '26 is a content marketing assistant and writer at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). She completed her bachelor’s in creative writing and English at SNHU and is now pursuing a master's in English and creative writing. Based in Ohio, she has also written for FreshWater Cleveland and The Land and serves on the board of Literary Cleveland. When she’s not writing, you'll most likely find her nose in a book, dogs at her side, surrounded by way too many houseplants. Connect with her on LinkedIn.