What Exactly Is a Transferable Skills Analysis?
JUNE 10 2026
One of the most common questions I receive is: "What exactly is a Transferable Skills Analysis?" It's a fair question and the term sounds technical, but the concept is actually quite practical.
At its core, a Transferable Skills Analysis (TSA) is a structured process used to identify the skills, knowledge, and abilities a person has developed throughout their life and determine how those skills may transfer to other occupations. Many people assume that when someone can no longer perform their previous job due to injury, illness, disability, or other circumstances, they are starting from scratch - in reality, that is rarely the case.
Most people have developed a wide range of skills through their work experience, education, training, volunteer activities, and everyday life. The challenge is often identifying those skills and understanding how they may apply in a different role.
For example, consider someone who has worked as a retail manager for many years and can no longer tolerate the physical demands of the position. While they may no longer be able to perform all aspects of their previous job, they may still possess valuable transferable skills such as:
Customer service
Conflict resolution
Staff supervision
Scheduling
Training and mentoring
Problem-solving
Documentation
Administrative coordination
Those skills don't disappear simply because the person's job has changed and a TSA helps identify those skills and explore how they may be applied in other occupations.
What Questions Does a TSA Help Answer?
A Transferable Skills Analysis is often used to answer questions such as:
What skills does this person currently possess?
Which occupations require similar skills?
Are there occupations that align with the person's education, training, and work history?
What restrictions, limitations, or barriers need to be considered? What are some possible workplace accommodations and/or modifications that can be put in place?
What vocational options may be realistic and sustainable?
Would additional training or education be required?
The goal is not to find any job - itโs to identify occupations that make sense based on the individual's overall vocational profile.
How Is a TSA Used?
In vocational rehabilitation, a TSA is often one component of a broader assessment process. Depending on the referral question, it may be used to support:
Return-to-work planning
Vocational rehabilitation services
Career transition planning
Employability assessments
Accommodation planning
Disability management services
Labour market exploration
Earning capacity assessments
The specific process may vary depending on the purpose of the referral and the information available.
More Than Matching Skills
One of the biggest misconceptions about a TSA is that it simply matches a list of skills to a list of occupations. In reality, a quality TSA considers much more. A vocational professional may also evaluate factors such as:
Education and training
Work history
Functional abilities
Restrictions and limitations
Labour market information
Wage considerations
Transferability of skills
Occupational requirements
Sustainability of employment
psychosocial and logistical barriers
In other words, the analysis isn't just about what a person has done in the past. It's about what may be realistic moving forward.
Why It Matters
Work is about more than income - For many people, work provides identity, purpose, routine, social connection, and a sense of contribution. When a person experiences a significant injury, illness, disability, or career disruption, it can be difficult to see a path forward. A Transferable Skills Analysis helps create that path by identifying strengths that already exist and exploring how those strengths may be applied in new ways. Rather than focusing solely on what has been lost, a TSA focuses on possibilities. And often, that's where meaningful vocational planning begins.
