Transferable skills for a CV: examples that work

How to identify your transferable skills

Compare your target job descriptions with recent projects, responsibilities and problems you solved. Look past job titles. A retail supervisor may have coached staff, analysed sales patterns, handled escalations and managed compliance—evidence relevant to operations, customer success and team leadership roles.

Communication

Weak: Excellent communication skills.

Stronger: “Translated complex policy changes into weekly briefings for 40 colleagues, reducing repeated queries and implementation errors.”

Project coordination

Weak: Good at managing projects.

Stronger: “Coordinated a three-month office move across facilities, IT and suppliers, tracking risks and delivering the move on schedule.”

Analysis and problem solving

Weak: Strong problem solver.

Stronger: “Reviewed recurring customer complaints, identified a handover gap and introduced a checklist that reduced repeat contacts.”

Leadership and coaching

Weak: Natural leader.

Stronger: “Coached eight new starters through structured shadowing and feedback, helping each reach independent working targets.”

Organisation and prioritisation

Weak: Highly organised.

Stronger: “Prioritised 60–80 weekly cases against risk and deadline, maintaining accurate records during peak demand.”

Customer and stakeholder insight

Customer-facing experience can demonstrate discovery, empathy and needs analysis. For example: “Interviewed service users to understand recurring barriers, then presented three improvement recommendations to senior managers.”

A reliable formula for CV bullets

Use action + context + outcome. Start with what you did, show the scale or situation, and finish with the result where you genuinely know it. Never invent a percentage because a bullet feels incomplete. A specific process, volume, audience or deadline can add credibility without a financial metric.

Where to place transferable skills

Mention the most important skills in your profile, summarise four to six in a key-skills section, then prove them through your employment bullets. Repetition without evidence feels generic; consistent evidence creates a convincing career-change story.