Transferable Skills: Research And Organization

I was chatting with a friend the other day and we got to talking about skills. Specifically, how to parlay the skills you’ve acquired into something that’s useful for building a freelance writing career. Transferable skills have been a career development buzzword for some time now, and that’s exactly what you need as a freelance writer. They turn up in the oddest places, too. Here are a couple of examples of transferable skills that can help you in your writing career.

Research

Way back when I did a BA — in modern languages as it happens. I don’t use them much unless I travel, but I did learn something from that process that helps me every day — how to research. Researching is not just about finding information, but about sifting it and triangulating it. (Triangulation is a fancy way of saying you should check things from multiple sources so you can make sure there’s a common core of information that’s likely to be right.) Good research is also about checking that your sources are reliable. I’m more likely to trust health information from the Department of Health than from someone who’s trying to sell me something. Although I research more on the web than in books, the skills I learned then have stood me in good stead now.

Organization

If you’re planning a writing career, then organization is key, and the skills you need are not specific to writing. In any job you have done, you will have had a list of tasks to complete and a way of keeping track of them. That’s a good starting point when it comes to managing your writing business. If you’re managing your own business, you need to know when work comes in, who it’s for, when it’s due out and what pay you will receive. Subbing work out makes it even more complex, as I’ve discovered in the past. Think about whether you have used any organizational systems that will help you streamline your writing career. If you think of any, let me know, as I’m always open to new ideas.

What skills do you use in your writing career that you learned in other places?

(Photo: somadjinn)