Professional development: What's in your transferrable skills rucksack?

Obligatory flat lay photo of backpacking gear.

Since I became old enough to start getting earnest questions about what I wanted to do with my life, I have wished for a mentor to come along, take one look at me and say, 'Ah, yes. You are clearly meant to be a ______.' I had enough ideas to fill in the blank dozens of times over, and while I can still look at lots of careers and think they seem interesting, none have ever sparked me enough to make me commit to pursuing them. I felt like this was unusual. After all, my brother has wanted to be an illustrator since he was old enough to hold a pencil, and that's what he is today. My best friend growing up wanted to be a vet, and sure enough, that's what she's doing. I felt surrounded by people who had a vision of what their lives would be, and worked hard to achieve it.

But that wasn't how it happened for me. Instead, up until this point in my late 30s, I have followed what has interested me at the time. This has been rewarding in its own way; I have never stagnated, and I have been willing to risk stability in favour of exploration. I left the world of libraries and started this blog three years ago not knowing exactly where I was going, but knowing that I wanted to get off of the beaten path in front of me and head into the unknown. 

Yet I've still been pestered with this thought that I have One True Calling that I just need to uncover and then I can devote myself to achieving that vision. I know that I want to do good work, but I felt uncertain about where and what. It was in part this uncertainty that led me to contact a career counsellor earlier this year. This has been an incredibly useful experience, not because it filled in the blank I kept expecting someone to fill in for me, but because it helped me feel much more comfortable not knowing exactly what job title I would have, as long as I am doing work I care about, with people I respect, and using skills I enjoy using. I feel much more at ease not having a 10 Year Plan, and instead have a much better understanding of what I'm good at.

Because I'm me, I likened this skills focus to having a rucksack I could carry around with me, filled with my transferrable skills. When I'm hiking, I don't have to know exactly what situation I'll find myself in, but I know I'll be okay as long as I have tools I can use in multiple different contexts. Every hiker knows the 10 Essentials, including first aid, shelter and means of ignition, and we learn to always bring some piece of gear with us that serves those purposes. By reviewing situations I might find myself in, I can determine if I'm missing any tools from my rucksack, or if I might need to upgrade them. For example, if I usually only carry a rain jacket but I think I'm likely to see heavy rain, I might upgrade my waterproofing to include rain pants as well.

The same is true of skills. I already have a pretty good set of transferrable skills, and after my career counselling I know more clearly which I like using and which I want to use more. I've also looked at multiple different roles that looked interesting and found out that I might need to develop some new skills to complement the ones I already have.

My transferrable skills rucksack

• Vision - Vision is like a map giving you an overview of the entire trail you're planning to take. You know where you want to go, how to get there, and you can see the whole context in which you're working, and vision gives you the option to change direction and take a different path if you want.
• Empathy - If vision is my map, then empathy is my compass that keeps me consistent with my values and tells me where to go.
• Developing others' ideas - I'm going to say that this skill is like a camera. It's taking my own personal lens to what hundreds of people have seen before me, selecting what I think is interesting, and reflecting it back to people. I'm less artistic than I am creative, and my creativity is especially good around looking at what others have done and finding ways that they might make it better by asking good questions or approaching it in a different way.
• Researching and organising information - This has to be a workhorse item, something I use often but don't necessarily love. I'm going to say it's my tent, because sometimes I pack it away and sometimes it encompasses everything I do. It's a means to an end. It's an imperfect metaphor, though, because I have two tents I actually really love.
• Determination and patience - When I think of determination, I think of my feet pounding away at the miles on a trail, so let's say determination is like a great pair of hiking shoes keeping you moving forward and cushioning you against the sharp rocks and roots underfoot. The problem is, one pair of shoes will only get you so far, so remember to stop and repair or replace your shoes every once in a while or they'll get worn out!
• Flexibility - Duct tape is great. You can use it repair gear, prevent blisters or even keep a wound clean when you're in the backcountry, days away from the nearest bar of soap. You probably won't use it often, but it's great to have along for how many uses it has. Flexibility is a lot like that.
• Writing, editing and communicating - I spent some time trying to think of the best gear analogy for this, and I couldn't come up with the right fit. It would have to be something that feels almost as natural to use as breathing, that is never a struggle to use, that sustains me and I never want to be without. Then I found it: writing is like water. I need it to survive, and I crave it when I don't have enough. This is not to say I'm great at it, or even particularly good. It's just to say that I love it and no matter what I do, I will always write. 

So, what's in your transferrable skills rucksack? Are any of the skills you want to use a little rusty, like an out-of-date guidebook or a tent with a hole in it? Then you can work on them. Are you lugging around a skill you love but don't use? Maybe find a way to use it in your current role. What's a skill you have that you feel is underrated? Do you have a different metaphor for your skills?