Career Success Center

The eight transferable skills (soft-skills) are:

1. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
2. Oral/Written Communications
3. Teamwork/Collaboration
4. Leadership
5. Digital Technology
6. Professionalism/Work Ethic
7. Career Management
8. Global/Intercultural Fluency

We have included, below, examples to help you get started. You can use these if they apply, or create others that show you have demonstrated these competencies. The key is to remember to give examples instead of saying you have a skill.

For example, instead of saying you are hard working. It is best to take it one step further and instead you might say, “I have demonstrated hard work while working part-time and going to school full-time, while still playing a sport and maintaining a 3.5 GPA.”

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

• Established inventory management system that helped reduce inventory levels from 3% to 0.2% in 2007, while increasing by 41%
• Implemented product design changes that resulted in fewer rejects
• Reduced quarterly operating expenses by 35 percent

Oral/Written communications

• Represented and promoted WCSU during Prospective Student Day, Orientation and Alumni Day, engaging future students, parents, alumni, and other visitors
• Gave study tips, answered questions, helped calculate math problems, assisted in deciphering professors lectures and prepared students for upcoming tests

• Trained incoming interns by creating 50-page guidebook with vivid and detailed instructions

Teamwork/Collaboration

• Part of a major team effort to develop new business of over $100 million; leveraged internal partnerships and increased communication among sales teams
• Worked with children, staff, and parents to develop plans for children experiencing difficulties; identified natural supports and provided referrals and advocacy with outside services, monitored ongoing progress

Leadership

• Successfully kept all delinquent accounts under 5 percent each week
• Developed a new employee training that increased employee retention by more than 80 percent
• Coordinated three fundraising events for local shelters which raised over $8,000 (20% over goal) and greatly improved community awareness

Digital Technology

• Increased followers on social media by 150% on average (Twitter, G+, Facebook, and LinkedIn), resulting in $45,000 in increased sales via the Internet and significant increase in brand awareness
• Authored exhibit script and app materials, recorded and edited original material, and collaborated with a staff of 5 to develop exhibit and app
• Introduced Google Documents infrastructure to coordinate project tasks between offices to increase efficiency

Professional/Work Ethic

• Consistently earned 5 out of 5 stars [list the specific awarding authority] for outstanding guest services
• Adhered to departmental controls and regulations maintained ethical conduct at all times
• Achieved record-high ratings on customer satisfaction surveys from an average of 89% to 96%.

Career Management

• Collaborated with a team of five technicians in caring for and examining animals; Monitored up to 20 sick animals and prepared conference room and contributed to weekly staff meetings of 35
• Implemented a marketing strategy that directly increased quarterly sales by 25 percent
• Worked with Dr. Barry Kripke to write the grant proposal for a new fusion reactor

Global/Intercultural Fluency

• Selected for freshman year experience; worked in two rural communities building a ceramic water filter for residents as well as developing the frame work for an after school education program for children ages 5 to 10