All jobs are different. They invariably involve a focus and a skillset that are particular to the role, and this can often lead to a sensation that your career is becoming increasingly defined by your previous and current job. To many people this is no bad thing, as it represents a career path after all, but what happens if you want to change career? The tendency to feel that previous professional experiences can restrict your future career choices is common, although it only represents part of the story.

Along the way, we have all developed a great variety of skills that are essentially transferable into different roles or even entirely new careers. From communication to management, office skills to decision-making and negotiation, the chances are that you will have accrued and developed a great many transferable skills without even realising.

Appreciating the skills you have acquired allows you the opportunity to look at your career path with an expanded range of options. Many of the key areas of any new career or job, such as planning, computer literacy and communication skills, will be familiar to you, and may be attractive to your next potential employer. Below is a list of some of the primary skills that can be applied to just about any professional career.

• Teamwork and leadership
• Organisation
• Commercial awareness
• Working to deadlines
• Languages and written communication
• Interpersonal communication
• Problem solving and research
• Networking
• Initiative
• Planning and organisation
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Numeracy
• Computer literacy
• Negotiation
• Time management
• Project and budget management
• IT skills

Displaying your skills – the bespoke CV
If you are planning a career change, or are serious about being considered for a new role within your current industry or sector, then it can pay dividends to create a bespoke CV. Take a moment to consider which of your key skills are most attractive and relevant to prospective employers for the specifics of the role concerned. By investing a small amount of time into the personalisation of your CV, you can make the most of your transferable skills, which can go some way to balancing a lack of direct experience within a career or sector.

Realise your intrinsic worth
If you are considering changing your career, or your role within a previously chosen career, the most important thing to remember is to be confident about your decision. Many people have become very successful through changing their career, and have realised that their transferable skills are actually sufficient to facilitate a successful move. If your desired move is a complete career change, it is likely that you may be required to accept a role at a different level than you are currently on

When you have made your decision, create your bespoke CV’s, and believe in your rationale for the change. It could be that some of your transferable skills are more highly prized in your new sector, so realise your intrinsic worth and approach your new steps with self-belief.