by PR Clepper

Created on: March 24, 2009

As with many young people looking for a first job, I began working in the fast food industry while I was still in high school. I stayed in this field for many years, eventually advancing to management after I had graduated high school. I was drawn to the work due to the availability and variability of hours, as well as what I perceived to be the limited requirements to perform the tasks which I was asked to perform. Though I eventually graduated from college with the beginnings of a new career, the most useful thing I learned was how to transfer the skills I had acquired in fast food to a resume worthy of consideration for work in the health care industry.

The art of demonstrating transferable skills in your resume involves a number of subtle talents, which can be carried out in a few simple steps. The most important of these is a change in perception about the tasks which you have carried out as a former employee. Once you have attained this new perception, it is much easier to take inventory of the part you played in the successful operation of your former place of employment. By combining the steps above, you can begin to combine your personal inventory into a list of your prospective value to any employer.

The subtle art of changing your perception about your marketable skills begins with dropping the restrictions of describing the exact tasks which you performed in your former place of employment. The trick is in realizing that there are specific skills that may be employed no matter what task is being performed. To borrow an example from my own experience, the joking description of myself as a "burger flipper" wasn't exactly the wording I sought when seeking to relay my value to my next potential supervisor. By "zooming out" and attempting to survey all of the pieces of performing my duties as a fast food employee, I was able to redefine the part I played: I was not only a vital part of the team, but possessed a desire to be so good at anything I did that I became a team leader, even before my eventual promotion to management. This is a simple example, but a vital exercise in discovering transferable skills. It is important to question what part you played in the whole, how many parts you were willing and able to perform to achieve success and, of special importance, your search to make improvements in job performance efficiency and yourself.

Redefining yourself as a capable and efficient team player, eager to learn and grow within your given (or desired)

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