Discovering Your Unique Transferable Skills

During challenging times when jobs are being lost and some organizations are re-structuring, it is crucial to discover, re-evaluate and recognize our unique skills to enable us to truly represent our values. When corporations are re-evaluating their work-force and individual employee’s skills we should take this opportunity to be proactive. It is critical to recall our past experiences, difficulties and successes. We need to formulate our past life lessons into words that can clearly articulate our values and what we can offer as transferable skills. Internalizing and appreciating such skills and directly correlating these values to align to new opportunities will help in any interview or resume writing activity.

When looking to find other meaningful work, this list will help our prospective employer, our sponsor, stakeholder, or our customers to quickly recognize the values we have to offer that will help us all succeed.

When describing transferable skills to those who do not understand the value of utilizing the differences and abilities of the disabled and others who are perceived to be different can be more challenging. Consider when talking to others who do not value differences, that some skills are unique and rare and if leveraged into transferable skills can be highly valued and a unique selling point, in my opinion. An example of some of my transferable skills (•) I humbly note as an example from my life’s experiences (-) are listed below.

• Strong technical background, unique innovational viewpoints

- 25 years of technical experience. Becoming completely blind instantly has enabled me to develop a rare unique innovational viewpoint.

• Delivers innovative solutions to complex technical and organizational problems.

- I was blessed with the opportunity to now live as a blind person, learn how to walk again, become skilled very quickly in many new technologies enabling me to return to work after a very critical life threatening event. Overcoming many other obstacles has heightened my ability to be innovative at solutions I deliver to complex problems.

• Passionate leadership style and skills to direct or create effective trusting dialogue.

- I am the leader of a business group of over 100 employees from over 15 countries. Collaborate with CEO’s, CIO’s, VP’s and Directors, internal and external to my organization and corporation to enhance and accelerate positive results.

• Experienced in working in networks of interdependent global workers that must share information, act under severe time constraints, and establish effective relationships at a distance.

- The teams and individuals I work with are usually all virtual from many countries and time zones. We have very tight deadlines to deliver our work which requires effective relationships and flexibility working across many time zones.

• Skilled in working on a wide range of projects, domestic and international

- With over 300,000 employees from many countries in the corporation where I am employed has given me many opportunities to work on a wide range of projects. I work with a diverse group of individuals, which always enhances our deliverables.

• Not afraid of taking risks; excellent entrepreneurship and innovative ideas.

- Have accomplished many firsts. Helped to establish first ever internal accessibility group where I am employed by pursuing on my own until I received buy-off for my idea and received sponsorship.

• Enhanced listening, auditory and other interpersonal and physical senses.

- Now that I have no eyesight my other senses have been heightened. My special and unique senses allow me to employ this talent in business collaboration and negotiations.

• Developed written communications that have been published in a variety of sources to educate, inspire and give readers new insights.

- My weblog, where thousands have read and participated, "Networking Forum", "ACM Ubiquity:", "Careers and the disABLED ", "Blind Californian" and other publications.

• Exceptional at networking across businesses, organizations and corporations; maintaining long lasting professional relationships and connecting with others.

- The pioneering work I have accomplished required me to walk alone not allowing the false walls, boundaries of organizational and business structures to stand in my way for success. Maintaining long lasting professional relationships while accomplishing entrepreneurship work.

• High regard for excellence with relentless determination to deliver it

- My relentless determination to deliver value has been documented in many publications, books, articles, videos and by nomination of Hewlett- Packard, and Nationally recognized recipient of Employee of the Year awarded by The Careers and the disABLED Magazine.

• Extremely adaptable, able to handle immediate drastic and critical changes.

- Went from going into a coma in May 1999, losing all vision instantly, in hospital for 7 months, having to learn how to do everything all over again and returning to work in May of 2000, took extreme dedication to re-skill myself, will, desire and passion to succeed.

If we review past life experiences, translating into transferable skills, we can leverage to find exciting, rewarding and gratifying opportunities.

Do you have any tips to help us discover transferable skills from our life’s experience and articulate into words? Any techniques to increase success of describing skills to people who do not understand the value of utilizing the differences, and abilities of the disabled and others who are perceived to be different?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas, success stories and best practices to help educate all to acknowledge our valuable unique transferable skills.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Comments

[Fred Oliveri]

Bill, truly amazing and with your varied skills you would be an asset to any firm. I hope there are insightful readers of this blog that can utilized your determination and talents in the face of adversity.

[Gayle Moss]

Wow, Bill! This is excellent. It's so hard for people to summarize their talents and skills in resumes and CVs when they need to find new work.

Your post gives all of us so many great examples that we can use to help us think about our own past life experiences and translate them into transferable skills.

Thanks Bill!

[evonn]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for keeping me on your list.
I'm looking for more markets for stories about those with disabilities, so keep me posted if you find some that are accessible by the blind. By the way can you listen to the Web publication, Disaboom?

Best,
Evonn (writer, Careers and the Disabled)

[Debbe Kennedy]

Hi Bill,

I agree that you've offered some great ideas for transfering skills that make all of think differently about what we have to offer.

Thanks.

Debbe

[Bill Tipton]

Hello Gayle, Fred, Debbe and Evonn

Thank you for your valuable comments that emphasize the value of describing transferable skills.

Evonn, I can read the information on Disability Information and Resources – Disaboom with my screen reader.
http://www.disaboom.com/

Evonn, as you are demonstrating from your initiative and creativity to find resources, the value of networking is a very valuable transferable skill that all can benefit from. Read what I wrote about skills needed to find and retain a valuable network at eSight Networking Forum: Tapping Your Network in Time of Need.
http://www.tabinc.org/net/archives/2006/05/how_networking_1.html#more

Evonn, I will send you more resources to help.

We look forward to hearing your suggestions, success stories and best practices of translating past life experiences into transferable skills.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

[Simon Cox]

Hi Bill and others,
You have asked about techniques. Well, one I have used successfully with programmes for empowering disabled people in career development is a personal SWOT self-assessment - undertaken bravely, and honestly, and if possible seekng the views of close friends colleagues etc, this is a powerful way to explore strengths, focus on opportunities for action and tackle weaknesses you may want to improve. Its vital during these times we seek to exploit our diverse range of experiences of impairment and disability in a proactive and business focused way to add value to our USP. This short article captures my approach to empowering disabled people in the workplace and in developing our careers:

http://www.diversematters.co.uk/images/pdf/resource10.pdf

Keep spreading the word!
Simon

[Bill Tipton]

Hello Simon and others,

Simon, excellent ideas and suggestions. I also agree one should tackle weaknesses with the gratitude of having the ability to do so, in some instances. Strengthening one’s weaknesses will enable us to be better prepared to say “yes, I can”, with confidence at our next exciting opportunity, instead of hesitantly passing it by!

I enjoyed your article on your approach to empowering disabled people in the workplace and in developing our careers and thought it contained valuable insights.

Does anyone want to share any techniques? Any additional ideas to empower disabled people, and those perceived to be differentin the workplace, and have our skills leveraged and recognized?

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/