Bookcareers.com , the careers consultancy for the book industry, has helped numerous people move into publishing from other industries and transfer from sector to sector within publishing. Bookcareers is 16 years old this month (you can watch their birthday video here http://bit.ly/1MmuKnc). Its founder Suzanne Collier celebrates by identifying 16 transferrable skills for BookMachine readers, ahead of tomorrow’s event.

If you are looking to make a shift in your career, the key is to focus on your transferable skills. These are skills that are key to any industry, and not unique to book publishing. Here is a quick run through of a few:

1. Copy-editing/Sub editing – to edit, rewrite and rephrase text.
2. Copywriting – to write fresh text from scratch, often with a marketing angle
3. Business Analytics – to understand and analyse statistics and data from a variety of sources; to monitor return on investment (ROI)
4. Digital – To understand and use digital processes, apps, mobile data; be ahead of what is happening in technology and eager to try new things
5. IT skills – the software that you use; the ability to learn new software quickly
6. Customer Service- to offer an exceptional level of service to customers, whoever they may be, and no matter what the constraints involved
7. Negotiation – to be a top negotiator, be it on contract clauses, co-partnership agreements, costs, terms, discounts, with colleagues or businesses and suppliers
8. Social Media – to build and engage an audience through a variety of social media platforms
9. Sales – Business to Business (B2B) – to sell things, whatever the product to other businesses, no matter what their different buying processes; Sales – Business to Consumer (B2C) – to sell things, whatever the product, direct to members of the public
10. Leadership – to lead a team or organisation, devises strategy and ideas, gives direction, motivates.
11. Management – to manage a team or organisation – a manager takes the leadership ideas and organises them and the staff into actions, systems and plans (NB if you don’t know the difference between leading and management then look them up – they are different things, and not everyone with good leadership skills has good management skills and vice versa)
12. Project Management – to manage projects, often using tried and tested project management systems such as Agile, Prince2
13. Communication – No 13, unlucky for some, but a key skill that gives access to so many other skills and abilities. Do you communicate effectively?
14. Marketing – to devise a marketing campaigns to specific audiences
15. Publicity – to publicise an event, product or service, to deal with areas of the media, have good media contacts
16. Time management and organising skills – to make effective use of your time and be able to organise yourself or others efficiently

If you need help identifying your transferable skills or transitioning your careers, the contact Suzanne Collier at bookcareers.com @suzannecollier @bookcareers Email: online@bookcareers.com