We often refer to ‘transferable skills’ when when we’re talking about recruitment and professional pathways but I wonder if we reflect on our own expertise and consider the ways in which we use this in our non-professional life.
In the past 12 months I have become involved in Friends of North Bruny (FONB) which facilitates cooperation between the communities on our half of the Island, local State and Commonwealth Government departments and others with a focus on lifestyle and amenities and safeguarding our environmental and heritage values. Like many things in my life my engagement was the result of a conversation at the end of season, footy tipping competition barbeque (don’t ask).
A lifetime of working for local government lays just below the surface of this consultant and I find myself volunteering to develop surveys, write reports and apply for grants. An ongoing project has involved talking with the community and working with council around the reactivation of a recreation area in the centre of our village. I give thanks to the gods who ensured that I was trained and constantly refreshed in the disciplines of community consultation. I also contemplate on how lucky I was to work for councils that encouraged cross-divisional initiatives giving me a broader understanding of the local government environment. The photo at the top of this post illustrates that important component of community consultation – always have a sausage sizzle.
It must be said that prior knowledge can also act as a warning bell. When one respondent to our survey suggested a swimming pool memories of managing an aquatic centre one summer came flooding back! Swimming pool? Not on my watch, besides the beach is 100 metres away :-). What was the transferable skill from that time? Forget being alert, move straight to alarm.
Jan Richards Consulting 