Identify your transferable skills

Examples of pulling out the skills from tasks:

Let’s assume for instance that you have a background in film production and you are making a transition and targeting a job in the aviation industry, the language of your resume will have to be made relevant to the aviation expert. 

Task:  watched multiple actors while shooting a scene and retained countless details of their movements, prompting dialogue and cueing off-camera performers while maintaining the uninterrupted flow of the scene.

The above description might leave the reader wondering if you sent him your resume by mistake.  He will certainly be asking himself why a film technician is contacting him or responding to his posting. That is because the description of the task bears no direct meaning to this potential employer, and he really has to read between the lines in order to pull out the inherent skills required to accomplish these demanding tasks.  On the other hand, if the facts were presented in a relevant language, the reaction may be very different.

Skills:  extreme focus, sharp eye for details, superior mental agility, composure under pressure. 

This is pertinent information.  It’s a relevant presentation of the facts.  These are skills and attributes that this aviation professional may be looking for in his employees.  The focus is now on what inherent abilities you utilized to successfully accomplish your tasks, rather than the task itself.

Because we have been conditioned to structure a resume in a standard format that focuses on where you worked and what you did, you may have to practice a new way of thinking.  To turn your tasks into skills, you will have to make an exercise of asking yourself the following question:  for each task that you perform in your job, what are the inherent skills that make you successful at it?  If your resume allows the room to include both the task and the skill, that’s fine, but most resumes are already tight with content.  If you think your tasks won’t resonate with the employer, simply rethink the wording and focus on the skills.