Job skills are more portable than we think
Research by the Foundation of Youth Australia found that after analysing millions of job advertisements when we do train for one job, we also acquire skills for 13 other jobs within the same job cluster.
This is good news for all of us.
Rather than having just one dream job, perhaps it’s about equipping ourselves for one dream job cluster.
There are seven clusters of work that share common skill sets.
- Generators cluster – Comprises of jobs that require a high level of interpersonal interaction especially in retail, sales, hospitality, and entertainment.
- Artisans cluster – Comprises of jobs that require skills in manual tasks related to construction, production, maintenance or technical customer service.
- Coordinators cluster – Comprises of jobs that involve repetitive administrative and behind-the-scenes process or service tasks.
- Carers cluster – Comprises jobs that seek to improve the mental or physical health or well-being of others including medical, care and personal support services.
- Informers cluster – Comprises of jobs that involve professionals providing information, education, or business services.
- Designers cluster – Comprises of jobs that involve deploying skills and knowledge of science, mathematics, and design to construct or engineer products or buildings.
- Technologists cluster – Comprises of jobs that require skilled understanding and manipulation of digital technology.
Thinking about a job cluster instead of a particular job does open up a lot of opportunities for job seekers.
It will be a mindset shift for many and it will be a logical path for us to consider as we embrace the future of work.
Apart from the common portable and foundational skills, workers need specific technical knowledge to perform each job effectively.
The key difference between jobs in the same cluster is the specific technical knowledge and skill or subject matter expertise that is required to perform that job. The effort to move between jobs in the same job cluster is much less than moving jobs across different job clusters.
As such, the length of time in formal or on-the-job training will entirely depend on the specific technical skills required to be acquired.
As an example, in the career cluster, the portable skills required for a doctor and a nurse are similar.
However, doctors require significantly different sets of technical skills and knowledge to perform their job effectively.
When we do switch jobs for a better one within the same job cluster, we will most likely require some additional technical skills or subject matter expertise training – This is where we undergo a topping up process.
Some ‘new’ jobs will require more skills while others may only require one or two more skills.
This means that workers must strategically develop a portfolio of skills at the earliest possible time so that they can keep their employment door open as long as possible to other jobs within the same job cluster.
By doing so, they remain job-ready and future-ready.