By PAULA SANTONOCITO

Although there's a lot of talk about transferable skills, identifying and articulating skills that are transferable beyond a position or industry can be challenging.

Determining Fit

Ideally, determining how past experience and acquired skills translate to a new opportunity should initially be the job seeker's responsibility.

Under the best circumstances, an employer or recruiter posts a job opening that includes a detailed description of the position. The job seeker reads the posting and figures out if his or her background matches the requirements. If there is a fit, the person submits a carefully prepared resume that contains keywords that align with the job description.

Unfortunately, job seekers don't always pay attention to whether their skills are applicable. This is especially true in the current employment environment. "We see a lot of job seekers who say this is a job I'm going for. A lot of job seekers get locked into the job description," says Randall Hansen, Ph.D., president of Quintessential Careers, an online employment resource founded in 1996.

Some of these job seekers may be savvy enough to use keywords, which allow their resumes to come to the top of the electronic pile. Other job seekers, however, fire off documents that do not match. These resumes only serve to contribute to the number of applicants for a given position, creating additional work for employers and recruiters and frustrating the job seekers who then lament about the black hole of the job search process.

Identifying Skills

Addressing the issue from the job seeker side requires educating the masses. Quintessential Careers provides information about transferable skills at its website in order to help job seekers identify exactly what skills they have and how these skills relate to the job search.

Under the heading, "Transferable Skills Sets for Job-Seekers," Quintessential Careers indicates that job skills can be broken down into five basic categories: communication, research and planning, human relations, organization, management and leadership, and work survival.

Under the communication heading, job seekers will find skills like speaking effectively, writing concisely, listening attentively and expressing ideas.

The research and planning category includes forecasting, predicting, creating ideas, identifying problems and imagining alternatives.

Human relations includes developing rapport, being sensitive, listening, conveying feelings, providing support for others and motivating.

Under organization, management and leadership, job seekers will find skills such as initiating new ideas, handling details, coordinating tasks, managing groups and delegating responsibility.

Finally, work survival includes implementing decisions, cooperating, enforcing policies, being punctual and managing time.

All are common words and phrases that, when aligned with job requirements, can pique employer interest.

Defining Skills

Nevertheless, a resume has its limitations. Words on paper, electronic or otherwise, are only words on paper. How those words relate to activities and accomplishments determine whether skills are transferable.

Once an employer has identified a highly viable candidate and invites the person to interview, Hansen recommends probing with the intent of identifying depth of skills. "Ask some pertinent questions to expand upon what they did in the past job that's not on the resume," he says.

Hansen advises breaking down the skills into actions. Employers and recruiters looking for communication, teamwork and other skills have to ask behavioral type questions in order to do this, he says. To probe for teamwork skills, for example, ask the candidate to provide an example where she or he worked as a member of a team. "It forces the person to tell a story," Hansen says.

He also cites the importance of quantifying accomplishments. The term "management experience," for example, is vague. "Managed a staff of 50 as opposed to managing a staff of two is very different," Hansen says.

Similarly, a candidate's proclaimed accomplishment doesn't always provide enough information about related skills. Even managing a staff of 50 doesn't necessarily say anything about management ability. You need to have the story behind it, Hansen says, which you can get to by asking questions like, how did you motivate people.

Employer's Responsibility

The interview is an ideal time to probe for transferable skills. However, Hansen finds employers and recruiters miss an earlier opportunity to find candidates with skills that fit.

"Not all employers give great job descriptions," he says, noting the most common mistake is that the descriptions are too brief.

"I think the best job postings are the ones that are explicit," Hansen says. When skills are detailed, a job seeker in theory knows how to tailor a resume, he says, which creates a win-win situation.

Some employers take the process beyond detailed job descriptions in an effort to match skills. Hansen gives the example of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, which was one of the first companies to use its corporate careers site to basically say, here's how you get hired at our organization. Procter & Gamble continues to offer step-by-step guidelines at its careers site.

Hansen suggests other companies adopt the approach to increase the likelihood of finding candidates who fit. Making sure people are doing their due diligence also helps to thin out the number of qualified candidates, he says.

Changing Industries

Even so, transferable skills are generally easiest to articulate and recognize within an industry. When job seekers wish to change industries, they have to prove they have skills applicable to a new environment. "That's the hardest thing for job seekers," Hansen says.

Yet he also points out this is the power of transferable skills. Teamwork, good writing skills and organizational skills are all transferable.

Be that as it may, Hansen indicates there is a tendency on the part of employers to look at candidates within an industry, even when skills don't completely match. Employers find it easier to hire someone in the field, someone who appears to be able to hit the ground running.

This industry-specific mindset can lead to missed opportunity. A candidate from another industry, who has the skills, can bring an outside perspective, and new perspective can make a difference, Hansen says.

Interestingly, transferable skills are what recruiters and hiring managers consider at the senior executive level. A CEO of a retail company may have no retail experience, but since his skill set includes extensive turnaround and leadership experience, he is recognized as a fit for the job.

Effective Recruiting

A major difference is that the senior executive is able to effectively articulate his transferable skills. Meanwhile, identifying transferable skills for entry- and mid-level candidates requires additional effort on the part employers.

Nevertheless, creating detailed job descriptions and asking behavioral-based interview questions in order to identify transferable skills can prove worthwhile.

"I would think employers would really want to do this," says Hansen. "It should give them a better pool of applicants."

Paula Santonocito is a business journalist whose story was posted Aug. 23 on RecruitingTrends.com.