How to use your transferable skills for a career change in your 50s

People often ask me how they can make the change to something different when their CV is full of corporate leadership experience?

They’ve always worked for large corporates; they’ve been in senior positions for years; they talk in corporate jargon; they’ve delivered large transformation and change projects; they’ve led large teams with big budgets; and they’re in their 50s.

How can they persuade a hiring manager, who is probably a lot younger than they are, that they won’t be bored and / or try to take over their job, that they’ll be able to learn new systems and processes and fit in with a completely different culture, etc, etc, etc?

What are transferable skills?

Transferable skills are skills that can be applied across various jobs and industries, allowing you to adapt to new roles and environments effectively. These skills are often grouped into hard skills and soft skills, although I prefer the terms technical skills and behavioural skills.

Technical skills include things like project management, data analysis, accounting, etc.

Behavioural skills include things like communication, teamwork, adaptability, etc (and there’s nothing ‘soft’ about these skills!)

Your skills are developed through experiences such as work, education, volunteering, or hobbies.

Why are transferable skills important in a career change?

With the rapidly changing nature of work transferable skills have become increasingly important, and employers may prioritise them above technical knowledge and experience because they provide a foundation that supports career flexibility and resilience.

You’ll usually see them stated in job adverts under headings of ‘Essential skills’ or ‘Desirable skills’.

Knowing, and being able to articulate your transferable skills and how you use them to achieve what’s needed, is crucial to demonstrate your value in any role.

Especially when you want to do something different, and / or at a different level of seniority.

How do I identify my transferable skills?

Your transferable ‘hard’ / technical skills are probably the easier ones to identify. Think about WHAT you do, that you can do in another role. They are often connected with technical knowledge and may even be part of your job title. For example:

• HR Recruitment Manager: your transferable skills include managing recruitment for an organisation.

• Head of Marketing: your transferable skills include marketing and leading a marketing department.

Your transferable ‘soft’ / behavioual skills are about HOW you work and we often need to think about these more. Breaking it down into steps can help.

Step 1:

Think about what you enjoy about your work and identify some specific examples. For example: “I really enjoyed leading the change project to implement our new learning strategy.”

Step 2:

Identify more specifically what you did:

“I spoke with Directors, managers and employees in different business functions to understand what they needed. I then presented my findings to the HR Directors to get their views. There were different views and I had to understand the common themes, potential obstacles and the opportunities. Then I had to balance everything against the strategic goals and the L&D budget. Once I had the agreement of HR and Business Directors I had to communicate the change to our employees and field their questions and concerns. Finally I led the project team to implement the change, working across different functions.

Step 3:

Get even more specific, breaking down what you did:

• I asked questions that enabled me to get to the heart of what people needed from a Learning & Development function.

• I listened to what people said so I could understand their feelings about the change, their concerns and the opportunities they could see.

• I made sure I understood the organisations goals and the budget available for the change and the future team.

• I analysed a lot of information and created a concise summary of the key points, aligned against strategic goals, to present to Directors for consideration. I delivered a presentation and a data pack for people with different communication styles / input preferences.

• I led the project team to ensure all parts of the change happened when and how they needed to, to deliver the project on budget, on time and to the desired quality. This involved setting their goals, checking progress, giving feedback, providing development.

• I kept all stakeholders up to date with progress, responding to questions, challenges and feedback throughout.

• I worked with the organisations Internal Communications team to ensure all employees understood the changes and the benefits.

Step 4:

Identify the skills you used to achieve this. Skills from the above example include:

Consulting, Collaboration, Stakeholder engagement, Communication, Problem-solving, Strategic awareness, Leading change, Project management, Leading a team, Analysing information.

Step 5:

Decide which of these skills you want to use in your next role, and how. Leave out anything you don’t want to do! Thinking about how energised you feel when you use your skills can give you valuable insight.

For example: “I really enjoyed consulting with different stakeholder groups to understand their needs, concerns and ideas, but analysing all the information and creating Powerpoint presentations was tedious.”

How do I use my transferable skills to make a career change in my 50s?

Review some job ads for roles that interest you. When you find skills requirements that match your skills think about how you would use that skill in that role. Which examples do you have from your experience that will showcase the skills and how do you need to present your experience to show how you will bring value to the role?

Create Challenge, Action, Result (CAR) statements for each skill:

Challenge: What was the business problem you needed to solve?

Action: What did you do?

Results: Quantify and / or qualify, linking back to the problem.

Always check that your CAR statements are relevant to what’s required for the role. Do you need to change your language, remove corporate leadership jargon, etc?

Creating your CV to showcase your transferable skills

Consider the most useful style of CV – a ‘reverse chronological’ or a ‘skills / functional, style.

The skills / functional style can be really useful if you’re looking to do something quite different, because page 1 will focus on your skills and achievements relevant to the role rather than your career history which will be on page 2.

If using the reverse chronological style, add a Skills section that matches the needs of the role.

Use the exact terms from the job ad - for example Stakeholder management / Stakeholder engagement / Stakeholder relationships. This will enable your CV to get through the Applicant Tracking System screening.

If you’ve got an interview it’s because the hiring manager liked your CV and wants to learn more about you, and your skills and achievements.

• Ensure you can confidently talk about how you've successfully applied these skills in different situations and the results you achieved, keeping your examples relevant – and transferable – to the role.

• Explain how these skills and your experiences will enable you to make an immediate impact in the new role (talk about results!).

• Demonstrate your ability to adapt and learn quickly in new environments.

• Overcome any potential biases by raising them yourself. For example: For the last 5 years I’ve used my communication skills in a leadership role, talking with senior leadership teams. In this new role I’ll be speaking with customers and colleagues, and my skills of active listening and asking relevant questions to clarify their needs, will be equally relevant and valuable.

How to talk about your transferable skills in interviews

Making your escape from a long corporate career can feel daunting. Gaining clarity about your transferable skills and how you use them – and how you want to use them – will enable you to more easily achieve the change you want.

If you’d like some help to identify your transferable skills check out my coaching programmes and see which feels right for you.

Hi, I'm Karen!

Having made my own escape from corporate BS to find my freedom, I now help people like you (and me!) to do the same.

Learn more about me, here.

There is a way to remove or minimize these biases…

And that’s to focus on your transferable skills. Specifically, what are they, how do you want to use them, and how will you apply them in your new role?