Transferrable Skills
A woodworker, by definition, a worker of wood. Woodworking is my part time job. Full time I am a project manager. I organize and align people to accomplish tasks. Those two jobs are very different. Woodworking is a solo activity, at least in my shop. The only person needing alignment is me, and that’s easy because I call the shots and tell myself what needs to get done. But how do I know what needs to get done and when should it happen? I make a plan, put together a cut list, detail out my order of operations, and track my progress against a schedule until the project is done. Hey, wait a second, that sounds very similar to a project plan.
So maybe the two jobs are more interconnected than I previously thought. In fact, they are very similar.
I have filled many roles in my day including project manager, service delivery, manager, director, consultant, maintenance worker, tutor, contractor’s assistant, and metrics analyst, to name a few. In each of those jobs I developed skills specific to the job, but a few transferred to the next role and continued to grow.
In college I was a math tutored at a local high school teaching students calculus. My job was not to teach, but to help them solve the problem in a way where they learned how to work through future problems without me there. I had technical skills, but I didn’t need them. I needed clear communication and problem solving, two of the most sought after skills in the workplace today.
As a contractor’s assistant my job was to stay ahead of my boss. I was there to free up his time so jobs went faster. I learned prioritization and forethought. My job was to see ahead of my boss while cleaning up behind him. Anticipating what needed to be done so he didn’t have to stop then prioritize my actions to keep the job moving seamlessly.
Those two roles I filled when I was 19 - 21 were some of the most influential to my career. I didn’t know it at the time, but those skills I learned as I was caulking windows were not just technical, they were also soft. Soft skills, I hate that term, stick with you always. They don’t go away and they always improve.
Next time you are doing a mundane task, think about what lesson it’s teaching you. Are you developing a soft skill without you realizing it? Identify what you’re learning, hone it, and put it in your tool bag, it’ll come in handy more often than you think.