Part 13 (1/2)

Simpler skills can be, and usually are, heavily prescribed (by the employer), so if you claim only the simpler skills, you will have to ”fit in”-following the instructions of your supervisor, and doing exactly what you are told to do. The higher the skills you can legitimately claim, the more you will be given discretion to carve out the job the way you want to-so that it truly fits you.

4. The higher your transferable skills, the less compet.i.tion you will face for whatever job you are seeking, because jobs that use such skills will rarely be advertised through normal channels.

Not for you the way of cla.s.sified ads, resumes, and agencies. No, if you can legitimately claim higher skills, then to find such jobs you must follow the step-by-step process I am describing here.

The essence of our approach to job-hunting or career-changing is that once you have identified your favorite transferable skills, and your favorite special knowledges, you may then approach any organization that interests you, whether they have a known vacancy or not. Naturally, whatever places you visit-and particularly those that have not advertised any vacancy-you will find far fewer job-hunters that you have to compete with.

In fact, if the employers you visit happen to like you well enough, they may be willing to create for you a job that does not presently exist. In which case, you will be competing with no one, since you will be the sole applicant for that newly created job. While this doesn't happen all the time, it is astounding to me how many times it does happen. The reason it does is that the employers often have been thinking about creating a new job within their organization, for quite some time-but with this and that, they just have never gotten around to doing it. Until you walked in.

Then they decided they didn't want to let you get away, since good employees are as hard to find as good employers. And they suddenly remember that job they have been thinking about creating for many weeks or months, now. So they dust off their intention, create the job on the spot, and offer it to you! And if that new job is not only what they need, but is exactly what you were looking for, then you have a dream job. Match-match. Win-win.

From our country's perspective, it is also interesting to note this: by this job-hunting initiative of yours, you have helped accelerate the creation of more jobs in your country, which is so much on everybody's mind here in the new millennium. How nice to help your country, as well as yourself!

5. Don't confuse transferable skills with traits.

Functional/transferable skills are often confused with traits, temperaments, or type. People think transferable skills are such things as: has lots of energy, gives attention to details, gets along well with people, shows determination, works well under pressure, is sympathetic, intuitive, persistent, dynamic, dependable, etc. As mentioned earlier, these are not functional/transferable skills, but traits, or the style with which you do your transferable skills. For example, take ”gives attention to details.” If one of your transferable skills is ”conducting research” then ”gives attention to details” describes the manner or style with which you do the transferable skill called conducting research. If you want to know what your traits are, popular tests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator measure that sort of thing.8

If you have access to the Internet, there are clues, at least, about your traits or ”type”: Working Out Your Myers-Briggs Type /high-level.html A helpful site about Myers types What Is Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type?

/type_inventory.htmlAnother article about personality types; also, there's a Myers-Briggs Applications page, with links to test resources Myers-Briggs Foundation home page /cgi-win/JTypes2.asp Free test, loosely based on the Myers-Briggs Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Online /MBTI.html On this site you can find the official Myers-Briggs test, $60 The Keirsey Temperament Sorter keirsey.com Free test, similar to the Myers-Briggs ”I WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE MY SKILLS IF THEY CAME UP AND SHOOK HANDS WITH ME”

Now that you know what transferable skills technically are, the problem that awaits you now, is figuring out your own. If you are one of the few lucky people who already know what your transferable skills are, blessed are you. Write them down, and put them in the order of preference, for you, on the Flower Diagram.

If, however, you don't know what your skills are (and 95% of all workers don't), then you will need some help. Fortunately, there is an exercise to help.

It involves the following steps: 1. Write a Story (The First of Seven) Yes, I know, I know. You can't do this exercise because you don't like to write. Writers are a very rare breed. That's what thousands of job-hunters have told me, over the years. And for years I kind of believed them-until ”texting” came along. Let's face it: we human beings are ”a writing people,” and we only need a topic we have a real pa.s.sion for, or interest in, for the writing genie to spring forth from within each of us, pen or keyboard in hand.

So, call the Seven Stories you're about to write your personal offline blog, if you prefer. But start writing. Please.

Here is a specific example: A number of years ago, I wanted to be able to take a summer trip with my wife and four children. I had a very limited budget, and could not afford to put my family up in motels. I decided to rig our station wagon as a camper.

First I went to the library to get some books on campers. I read those books. Next I designed a plan of what I had to build, so that I could outfit the inside of the station wagon, as well as topside. Then I went and purchased the necessary wood. On weekends, over a period of six weeks, I first constructed, in my driveway, the sh.e.l.l for the ”second story” on my station wagon. Then I cut doors, windows, and placed a six-drawer bureau within that sh.e.l.l. I mounted it on top of the wagon, and pinioned it in place by driving two-by-fours under the station wagon's rack on top. I then outfitted the inside of the station wagon, back in the wheel-well, with a table and a bench on either side, that I made.

The result was a complete homemade camper, which I put together when we were about to start our trip, and then disa.s.sembled after we got back home. When we went on our summer trip, we were able to be on the road for four weeks, yet stayed within our budget, since we didn't have to stay at motels. I estimate I saved $1,900 on motel bills, during that summer's vacation.

Ideally, each story you write should have the following parts, as ill.u.s.trated above: 1. Your goal: what you wanted to accomplish: ”I wanted to be able to take a summer trip with my wife and four children.”

2. Some kind of hurdle, obstacle, or constraint that you faced (self-imposed or otherwise): ”I had a very limited budget, and could not afford to put my family up in motels.”

3. A description of what you did, step by step (how you set about to ultimately achieve your goal, above, in spite of this hurdle or constraint): ”I decided to rig our station wagon as a camper. First I went to the library to get some books on campers. I read those books. Next I designed a plan of what I had to build, so that I could outfit the inside of the station wagon, as well as topside. Then I went and purchased the necessary wood. On weekends, over a period of six weeks, I ...” etc., etc.

4. A description of the outcome or result: ”When we went on our summer trip, we were able to be on the road for four weeks, yet stayed within our budget, since we didn't have to stay at motels.”

5. Any measurable/quantifiable statement of that outcome, that you can think of: ”I estimate I saved $1,900 on motel bills, during that summer's vacation.”

Now write your story, using the sample as a guide.

Don't pick a story where you achieved something big. At least to begin with, write a story about a time when you had fun!

Do not try to be too brief. This isn't Twitter.

If you absolutely can't think of any experiences you've had where you enjoyed yourself, and accomplished something, then try this: describe the seven most enjoyable jobs that you've had; or seven roles you've had so far in your life, such as: wife, mother, cook, homemaker, volunteer in the community, citizen, dressmaker, student, etc. Tell us something you did or accomplished, in each role.

2. a.n.a.lyze Your Story, to See What Transferable Skills You Used On the next page, write the t.i.tle of your first story above the number 1. Then work your way down the column below that number 1, asking yourself in each case: ”Did I use this skill in this story?”

If the answer is ”Yes,” color the little square in, with a red pen or whatever you choose.

Work your way through the entire Parachute Skills Grid that way, with your first story.

Voila! You are done with Story #1. However, ”one swallow doth not a summer make,” so the fact that you used certain skills in this first story doesn't tell you much. What you are looking for is patterns-transferable skills that keep reappearing in story after story. They keep reappearing because they are your favorites (a.s.suming you chose stories where you were really enjoying yourself).

To download a printable PDF of this image, please visit rhlink.com/para14016 To download a printable PDF of this image, please visit rhlink.com/para14016 To download a printable PDF of this image, please visit rhlink.com/para14016 3. Write Six Other Stories, and a.n.a.lyze Them for Transferable Skills Now, write Story #2, from any period in your life, a.n.a.lyze it using the grid, etc., etc. And keep this process up, until you have written, and a.n.a.lyzed, seven stories.

If you are finding it difficult to come up with seven stories, it may help you to know how others chose one or more of their stories:9 ”As I look back, I realize I chose a story that: Is somehow abnormal or inconsistent with the rest of my life Reveals my skills in a public way Is in a field (such as leisure, learning, etc.) far removed from my work I remembered through or because of its outcome Represented a challenge/gave me pride because it was something: I previously could not do My friends could not do I was not supposed to be able to do Only my father/mother could do, I thought Only authorized/trained/experts were supposed to be able to do Somebody told me I could not do My peers did not do/could not do The best/brilliant/famous could or could not do I did not have the right degree/training to do People of the opposite s.e.x usually do I would like to do again: In a similar/different setting With similar/different people For free for a change/for money for a change Excited me because: I never did it before It was forbidden I took a physical risk I was taking a financial risk No one had ever done it before It demanded a long and persistent (physical/mental) effort It made me even with someone I loved doing it because: I kind of like this sort of thing The people involved were extremely nice It did not cost me anything It will support/justify the professional goals I have already chosen”

4. Patterns and Priorities When you've finished this whole inventory, for all seven of your accomplishments/achievements/jobs/roles or whatever, you want to look for PATTERNS and PRIORITIES.

a. For Patterns, because it isn't a matter of whether you used a skill once only, but rather whether you used it again and again. ”Once” proves nothing; ”again and again” is very convincing.

b. For Priorities (that is, which skills are most important to you), because the job you eventually choose may not be able to use all of your skills. You need to know what you are willing to trade off, and what you are not. This requires that you know which skills, or family of skills, are most important to you.