Transferring skills to a new Industry

Transferring skills to a new Industry

With the current pandemic, this has left many Australians unemployed and worried about their financial futures.

We understand it’s an incredibly uncertain time for everyone….whether you’re a worker who has just lost their job, a small business owner who’s had to close their doors, or someone who has been unemployed for some time. There are still jobs out there and it’s a good time to have a think about how your skills may be transferred over to a new in-demand industry.

Here’s some examples to give you an idea of what we mean by transferring your skills:

Transferable skills, also known as “portable skills,” are qualities that can be transferred from one job to another.

• Do you a driver’s licence and a good track record? How about a delivery job helping out some of the local hospitality businesses who have been restricted to provide take-away only.
• Do you have experience working in the beauty industry? You no doubt have excellent customer service skills and attention to detail which would be viewed favourable in any customer service role.
• Have you been working in a pub, club or café and part of that role was to help set-up, pack-up and clean? Did you know cleaners are in high demand at the moment?
• Hospitality and Retail workers have a whole range of qualities including good listening skills, customer service, teamwork, adaptability, multitasking…the list goes on

Now get yourself in the “transferable skills” frame of mind and think outside the box for what employment you can apply for. Life as we know it has been turned upside down, so you might as well turn your thinking upside down too.

So as your job searching, have a think about what qualities you could bring to these workplaces. Even though you might not tick all of the boxes, there are certain things that can be trained on the job.

Skills Match is a tool that helps individuals to identify their skills gained in past jobs and presents ideas for new jobs into which they may be able to transfer these skills. Check out Skills Match here >>

So how do I apply for these jobs?

First things first – update your Resume and Cover Letter to highlight your transferable skills.

Then check-out ETC’s Job Seeker Toolkit – this is a great collection of tips and advice to help you prepare for job applications and interviews.

Our Business Relationship Team is working closely with businesses to help fill vacancies during this time. Contact 1800 007 400 and our Customer Contact Centre will transfer you through to your Jobs / Youth Advisor to help you.

Also, here’s some helpful job searching websites:

https://jobsearch.gov.au/

https://www.seek.com.au/

https://www.careerone.com.au/