Using Indeed.com is one of the best ways to research the skills to emphasize in your resume and other marketing materials. By using Indeed.com, which searches many job boards at once, you can identify jobs of interest and the consistent skills (transferable, personal, and content skills) employers seek. Search for a job title (such as “Athletic Trainer”), and you will find many advertised jobs to look at. Identify advertised jobs with a comprehensive description versus jobs with only a two- or three-sentence description.
When you have found a few job postings, you can analyze the job descriptions according to the three skill groups: transferable skills, personal skills, and content skills. You can use any key to identify the three skill groups. We will highlight the transferable skills using the color red, personal skills with the color blue, and content skills with the color green. You could also use a key where you underline transferable skills, circle personal skills, and box content skills.
Transferable Skills: Transferable skills are action words. These skills are emphasized in your resume as you describe your job duties. Here is an example from a job posting for an Athletic Trainer position:
– Ability to instruct student-athletes in the proper use of exercise equipment
In this case, as you see above, “instruct” is a transferable skill and thus has been highlighted in red.
Personal Skills: Personal skills are typically inborn and part of your personality. (Sometimes, job descriptions may not describe them directly. Instead, you may need to infer what personal skills are relevant to the position.) Here is an example of personal skills from the Athletic Trainer position:
– Demonstrates organizational skills, dependability, and patience
The personal skills in this statement give insight into the qualities the employer desires. You should emphasize in your resume and cover letter how you have demonstrated being organized, dependable, and patient.
Content Skills: The third skill group, content skills, is the knowledge area needed for particular jobs. These knowledge areas could be from work, education, books, or online. Here are two examples from the Athletic Trainer position:
– Competency with Microsoft Office software, particularly Excel
– Serve as the clinical instructor in the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) Athletic Training Curriculum;
In this example, the two content skills relate to knowledge about software and a particular curriculum.
Here is an example of a job from Indeed.com (Director of Marketing and Public Relations) analyzed according to transferable, personal, and content skills.
After analyzing a few job descriptions, you will most likely see consistent transferable, personal, and content skills. These skills will be essential in writing objectified skill statements, which are the building blocks for an effective resume, LinkedIn profile, Strengths Summary, and cover letter.
Next Steps
After analyzing a job or jobs of interest, you are prepared to write quantified skills statements for your “big six” job search marketing tools.