Transferable Skills
A ‘job for life’ is something Australian workers just don’t seem to want anymore. But even if you did want to stay in the same role, it would be an unlikely possibility – the digital age has transformed the job market forever.
These days, an average Australian worker will change employers three times every ten years. This means you could experience five different careers in a lifetime!
Changing roles could be triggered in numerous ways, for numerous reasons – a need for change or desire to retrain. There is also a risk that, as technology advances, your job could become obsolete.
So how do you prepare for a job market that is constantly in a state of flux?
The best solution is to build upon your transferable skills.
These abilities aren’t purely technical, or specific to a particular type of job or career. Rather, they are skills that your future employers are looking for and are in high demand, such as:
- communication skills: listening, public speaking, confidence to perform in the real world
- collaboration skills: networking, teamwork, compromise, diplomacy
- agility and flexibility to adapt to changing landscapes
- analytical skills: problem solving and critical thinking
- leadership abilities: motivating and directing
- information-management skills: knowledge of relevant computer software and research.
While employers increasingly want people who possess these skills, they are finding that job-seeking graduates do not have them. Consider broadening your skillset by studying a microcredential course at VU.
VU’s award-winning Block Model is designed to enhance students’ skills on a scale never seen before in Australia; the learning model fully develops transferable skills in its graduates.
Through hands-on, problem-based, work-integrated learning, as well as smaller class sizes and greater opportunities for collaboration, students receive opportunities to hone their transferable skills and get the edge employers are looking for.
Through this, you’ll gain the confidence and the in-demand skills to begin the career – or careers – of a lifetime.
