Ever had a job that didn’t seem related to your career goals? Think again. Whether you’ve worked in retail, volunteered at a local nonprofit, or led a club on campus, you’ve built skills that travel—meaning they’re valuable across many industries and roles.

The Skills That Travel activity helps you reflect on what you’ve done, recognize your transferable skills, and reframe them for future opportunities.

Here’s how it works:

1. Reflect: Think back on a few past experiences. What did you do? What skills did you use or build?
2. Translate: Ask yourself where else those skills could be useful. For example, teamwork on a group project also applies to collaborative work in a marketing agency.
3. Reframe: Rewrite a few of your experience bullets so they’re ready for a new industry. Instead of “Handled customer complaints,” try “Resolved client issues to maintain satisfaction in high-pressure environments.”

This activity is a powerful reminder that all experience counts—especially when you know how to talk about it.

So whether you’re pivoting majors or prepping for an interview in a new field, give this a try. Your story is more flexible than you think.