Unlocking Your Transferable Skills

Alejandra Munoz
Feb 8
5 min read

Updated: Jun 27

From Hospitality to Engineering

February | 2025

Transitioning from hospitality or other non-professional jobs into an engineering career can seem challenging, but you likely already possess valuable transferable skills.

These skills, developed in customer service, retail, or hospitality jobs, can be leveraged to demonstrate your potential in Industrial, Civil, or Systems Engineering roles.

This blog post will guide you through identifying these transferable skills and showcasing them effectively in your job search.

What Are Transferable Skills?

You have transferable skills, you just need to identify them

Transferable skills are abilities and competencies that can be applied across various industries and job roles.

These include problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, communication, time management, and adaptability—many of which are highly relevant in engineering careers.

Key Transferable Skills from Hospitality and Non-Professional Jobs

Even if you’ve spent the last year in hospitality, customer service, or other non-engineering fields, you’ve developed skills that engineering employers value.

Below are some key examples for each engineering discipline:

1.Industrial Engineering: Process Optimisation & Efficiency

Improving any process or helping an company to overcome a set back could be an opportunity for a transferable skill.

Industrial engineers focus on optimising systems, improving efficiency, and managing workflows. If you’ve worked in hospitality or retail, you’ve likely developed:

Relevant Transferable Skills:

Process Improvement & Workflow Management: In hospitality, you may have streamlined restaurant operations or improved kitchen workflows, which is similar to optimizing manufacturing or logistics processes.
Data Analysis & Problem-Solving: Tracking inventory, analysing sales data, or managing shift schedules in a restaurant setting mirrors the analytical skills required in industrial engineering.
Lean Thinking: If you’ve helped reduce waste or improve service times in a café or hotel, you’ve applied lean methodologies, which are fundamental in industrial engineering.
Team Coordination & Leadership: Managing a restaurant shift or leading a team of servers translates to skills needed in production and logistics management.

Example:

Hospitality Job: Shift Supervisor at a busy restaurant

Transferable Engineering Skill: Process optimization through effective workforce management and resource allocation, similar to how industrial engineers improve production line efficiency.

2. Civil Engineering: Project Coordination & Risk Management

Safety knowledge is applicable across many industries.

Civil engineers manage construction projects, infrastructure planning, and safety protocols. Your experience in hospitality or customer service can align with these requirements in several ways.

Relevant Transferable Skills:

Project Coordination & Scheduling: If you’ve organized events or managed a hotel’s maintenance team, you’ve worked with scheduling, coordination, and budgeting, similar to civil engineering project management.
Regulatory Compliance & Safety Awareness: Ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations in hospitality mirrors a civil engineer’s responsibility for workplace safety.
Client Relations & Negotiation: Handling customer complaints or liaising with suppliers in hospitality relates to managing stakeholders in civil engineering projects.
Problem-Solving & Crisis Management: Dealing with unexpected issues, such as handling overbooked hotels or kitchen emergencies, translates into real-world problem-solving skills required in construction projects.

Example:

Hospitality Job: Event Coordinator at a hotel

Transferable Engineering Skill: Managing large events requires scheduling, budgeting, risk management, and collaboration with multiple stakeholders—just like coordinating a construction project.

“Check the story of our Client Carolina and how she leveraged her hospitality experience"

3. Systems Engineering: Automation & Process Integration

Be curios to continue learning about different technologies.

Systems engineers develop and manage complex systems, integrating various technologies. If you've worked in hospitality or other non-engineering roles, you may already have experience with:

Relevant Transferable Skills:

Technology & Process Integration: Using point-of-sale (POS) systems, customer relationship management (CRM) software, or automating inventory tracking translates into skills needed in systems engineering.
Problem-Solving & Troubleshooting: Fixing software issues with payment systems or troubleshooting customer service problems can be applied to debugging technical issues in systems engineering.
Data Management & Analysis: Handling customer databases, tracking inventory, or analysing business performance data can be transferred to systems optimization and efficiency improvements.
User Experience (UX) & Human-Centered Design: Understanding customer pain points and optimizing service flows in a restaurant is similar to designing user-friendly software interfaces or integrated systems, expected issues, such as handling overbooked hotels or kitchen emergencies, translates into real-world problem-solving skills required in construction projects.

Example:

Hospitality Job: Restaurant Manager implementing a new digital ordering system

Transferable Engineering Skill: Managing technology adoption, training staff on new systems, and troubleshooting issues—similar to implementing automated solutions in a manufacturing or IT environment.

How to Highlight Transferable Skills on Your Resume and in Interviews

Preparation is key to ensure you are succesful on your interviews.

Once you’ve identified your transferable skills, the next step is to effectively communicate them to potential employers. Here’s how:

1. Tailor Your Resume

Use an achievement-based format that highlights results.
Focus on metrics: Instead of "Managed a team of servers," say "Led a team of 10 servers, reducing wait times by 20% through process improvements."
Align your skills with the job description: If an industrial engineering job mentions "workflow optimization," highlight your experience improving restaurant operations.

2. Use the STAR Method in Interviews

Situation: Describe a relevant scenario from your past job.
Task: Explain the challenge you faced.
Action: Detail the steps you took to resolve the issue.
Result: Share the measurable outcome.

Example:

Interview Question: “Tell me about a time you improved efficiency in your workplace.”
STAR Answer: “At my previous hospitality job, I noticed bottlenecks in the kitchen’s workflow during peak hours (Situation).

I proposed and implemented a pre-ordering system for large groups (Task).

I collaborated with the team to streamline food preparation (Action), reducing service times by 25% and improving customer satisfaction ratings by 15% (Result).”

Key Takeaways

Even if your recent experience is in hospitality, retail, customer service, or another non-engineering field, you have valuable transferable skills that can set you apart in Industrial, Civil, Systems, or other engineering disciplines or profession.

The key is to identify these skills, align them with industry requirements, and communicate them effectively in your job applications and interviews.

By highlighting problem-solving, efficiency improvements, teamwork, and adaptability, you can show employers that you’re not just making a career shift—you’re bringing a unique and valuable perspective to the company.

Next Steps:

Take inventory of your past work experiences and identify skills relevant to engineering.
Rewrite your resume to highlight your achievements using metrics.
Practice interview responses using the STAR method.
Consider additional certifications or courses to bridge any technical skill gaps.

By strategically showcasing your transferable skills, you can successfully transition into a professional role, even without direct experience in the field.

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