BUSINESS ENGLISH  |  LEVEL B1  |  SELF-STUDY
Introducing Yourself: Your Transferable Skills
Unit 1  |  Lesson 1.1  |  Part 2: Useful Language

Welcome back. In Part 1 you read about transferable skills. Now let us look at how to talk about them: first the pattern that makes an introduction work, then the skill words themselves, and finally some grammar to help you use them correctly.

IN THIS PART YOU WILL
  • Learn the role + skill + evidence pattern for introductions
  • See what eight transferable skills look like in real life
  • Form nouns from adjectives (motivated → motivation)
  • Practise everything in the Useful Language Quiz

The introduction pattern

Here is the pattern that makes a professional introduction work. Look at this example:

“I am a project coordinator at a logistics company. I am known for being resourceful. Once, I redesigned a whole delivery schedule when a supplier let us down at the last minute.”

Can you see the three parts? Here they are:

Part In the example
ROLE project coordinator at a logistics company
SKILL resourceful
EVIDENCE redesigned a delivery schedule when a supplier failed

Your turn. Read this introduction and find the three parts for yourself:

“I work as a nurse in a busy hospital. People say I am calm under pressure. Last winter, when we were short of staff for a whole week, I kept my team organised and no one’s care was missed.”

Which skill is this? And here is the interesting question: could this nurse use that same skill in a completely different job? Almost certainly. Staying calm under pressure works in a kitchen, a call centre, or a boardroom.

What do these skills look like in real life?

Read through these examples. Each one shows a transferable skill in action.

You… Because you…
can think outside the box asked your teacher if you could make a short film instead of handing in an essay
have a can-do attitude did a difficult project without complaining
can set goals decided to save money for a holiday a year in the future
use critical thinking carefully checked information you found on the internet to make sure it was true
have a lot of determination took four tries to pass your driving test, but never gave up
are a team player worked with a group of friends to start a weekend cycling club
have integrity found a wallet full of money and returned it to the owner
have good communication skills spoke clearly during a presentation and listened carefully to questions

Which of these skills do you think you have? Can you think of your own example for it?

Making nouns from adjectives

Many skill words change form. The adjective describes a person (she is motivated). The noun names the thing they have (she has motivation). Here is how the change usually works:

THE RULE

adjective + -ity   flexible → flexibility

able → ability   (irregular, worth learning)

verb/adjective + -ion   motivate → motivation

adjective + -ence / -ance   confident → confidence

Once you spot these endings, you will start noticing them everywhere.

NOW PRACTISE
Go to the Useful Language Quiz

Find “Lesson 1.1 — Useful Language Quiz” in your course menu and complete it now. It tests the introduction pattern, the skill words, and your adjective and noun forms. When you finish, come back for Part 3: Speaking Task.

Vocabulary and grammar adapted from Business Partner B1, Unit 1.1.