You already have valuable skills. It’s time to recognise them.
Whether you’ve spent time raising a family, caring for others, volunteering, studying, managing a household or navigating life’s challenges, you’ve continued to develop skills that employers genuinely value.
This roadmap will help you identify those transferable skills, understand how they apply in the workplace, and learn how to communicate them with confidence.
Estimated time: Work through at your own pace (around 1–2 weeks)
Before You Begin
A reminder…
One of the most common things we hear from Returners is: “I don’t think I’ve done anything worth putting on my CV.”
The truth is, many of the skills employers are looking for are developed outside formal employment.
Think about everything you’ve managed during your career break:
- Solving problems
- Organising busy schedules
- Supporting others
- Managing finances
- Learning new technology
- Adapting to changing circumstances
- These are all valuable transferable skills.
These are all valuable transferable skills, you haven’t stopped building your experience. You’ve simply been building it in a different way.
✅ Step 1
Start by recognising the skills you already use.
Think about the responsibilities you’ve managed, the problems you’ve solved and the people who rely on you.
👉Identify your transferable skills
Watch back Skill Finder Workshop with Heather Thompson
Skill Finder Workshop with Heather Thompson
A a 60-minute interactive webinar, where you’ll:
- Identify the transferable skills you already have
- Learn how to showcase them in your CV
- Gain confidence in your unique skillset
- Get expert, practical advice to boost your job search
Complete our Transferable Skills Checker and discover strengths you may not have considered before.
✅ Step 2
Turn Your Skills Into Evidence
Knowing your skills is a great start. The next step is being able to show where you’ve used them.
Your examples can come from:
👉previous employment
👉volunteering
👉study
👉caring responsibilities
👉community involvement
👉Family life
Download our Discover My Skills Workbook
✅ Step 3
Learn to Describe Your Skills
Sometimes we know what we’re good at but struggle to put it into professional language.
Use a simple “everyday language → employer language” section.
For example:
Instead of:
“I’m always juggling lots of things.”
Try:
“I’m highly organised and experienced in managing competing priorities.”
Or
Instead of:
“People come to me when something goes wrong.”
Try:
“I’m a strong problem-solver who remains calm under pressure.”
Or
Instead of:
“I organise everything at home.”
Try:
“I have strong planning, coordination and time-management skills.”
The aim isn’t to make your experience sound more impressive than it is. It’s to use language that helps employers understand the value of what you’ve done.
✅ Step 4
Create Your Skills Snapshot
Now bring everything together.
My five strongest skills
Three skills I want to use more in my next role
One skill I’d like to develop or refresh
Keep this list somewhere handy. You’ll use it again when exploring careers, updating your CV and preparing for interviews.
Before You Finish…
Ask yourself:
Can I now name five skills I could confidently bring to an employer?
☐ Yes
☐ Almost
☐ I need a little more time
If you can identify even a few strengths more clearly than you could before, you’ve made progress.
Community Support
Need a little encouragement?
Our Community Care Team is here to help.
Whether you have a question, need help deciding what to do next, or simply want someone to point you in the right direction, we’d love to hear from you.
Contact Community Care on email at communitycare@backtoworkconnect.ie or mobile 089-4057839
Sign up for our weekly Returner Friendly Job Alert HERE
Remember you’re already making progress, the fact that you’re here tells us you’ve already taken one important step.
Keep going.
Have you completed this roadmap?
Great work!
Every step you complete brings you closer to your return-to-work goal.
There is no perfect timeline. Move through these roadmaps at a pace that works for you.
Continue Your Journey
Ready for Your Next Step?
Next Roadmap:
Now that you’ve identified the skills and strengths you bring, the next step is exploring where they could take you.