SKILLTRAN TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
A great source of confusion in the vocational industry is the lack of a standardized definition of "transferable skills". The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a definition that is a national standard. It is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations [20 CFR 404.1568(d)]. SSA slightly revised this definition in the year 2000, but otherwise has set and followed this definition since 1980 as it adjudicates 2-3 million disability claims annually. SkillTRAN is unaware of any other federal definition of transferable skills.
| (d)Skills that can be used in other work (transferability) (1) What we mean by transferable skills. We consider you to have skills that can be used in other jobs when the skilled or semi-skilled work activities you did in past work can be used to meet the requirements of skilled or semi-skilled work activities of other jobs or kinds of work. This depends largely on the similarity of occupationally significant work activities among different jobs. (2) How we determine skills that can be transferred to other jobs. Transferability is most probable and meaningful among jobs in which - (i) The same or a lesser degree of skill is required; (ii) The same or similar tools and machines are used; and (iii) The same or similar raw materials, products, processes, or services are involved. (3) Degrees of transferability. There are degrees of transferability of skills ranging from very close similarities to remote and incidental similarities among jobs. A complete similarity of all three factors is not necessary for transferability. However, when skills are so specialized or have been acquired in such an isolated vocational setting (like many jobs in mining, agriculture, or fishing) that they are not readily usable in other industries, jobs, and work settings, we consider that they are not transferable. |
In the SkillTRAN transferability of skills search, SkillTRAN uses the following worker and occupational characteristic codes:
2(i) Skill level is implied by the SVP (Specific Vocational Preparation) for each WORK field in work history
2(ii) Work activities, tools and machines are key components of WORK fields
2(iii) Raw materials, products, processes, or services are reflected in Materials, Products, Subject Matter and Services (MPSMS) codes.
The SkillTRAN Process for Transferable Skills
The SkillTRAN search of transferable skills uses WORK field codes and MPSMS codes. In addition, the amount of training and/or experience (SVP - Specific Vocational Preparation typically required for each WORK field) is considered in the search. These codes are fully described in the DOL's Revised Handbook for Analyzing Jobs, 1991. SkillTRAN has prepared excerpts of major portions of this publication.
SkillTRAN implements its transferability searches as follows:
Directly Transferable Occupations share at least one of the three digit WORK fields known from each job of the past work history AND have at least one of the same three digit MPSMS codes from any of those jobs done in the past. Directly transferable occupations have primary job duties that are very similar to past work and do not exceed the SVP associated within each relevant WORK field. Little or no learning of job duties is anticipated.
Closely Transferable Occupations are in combination WORK fields (which involve multiple work technologies) AND have at least one of the same three digit MPSMS codes from past work history and do not exceed the SVP associated within each relevant WORK field. Some learning of a few job duties may be anticipated.
Generally Transferable Occupations share at least one of the two digit WORK fields from the past work history AND have at least one of the two digit MPSMS fields from the past and do not exceed the SVP associated within each relevant WORK field. Two digit coding by WORK and MPSMS clusters occupations into generally related groups that may not share the same specific skills as developed in the past. Some learning of essential job duties is likely to be necessary.
Directly Related Occupations share at least one of the three digit WORK fields known from the past work history but could involve any kind of MPSMS and do not exceed the SVP associated within each relevant WORK field. Some moderate to significant on-the-job training can be anticipated. Formal training may be necessary for some occupations.
Generally Related Occupations share at least one of the two digit WORK fields known from the past work history but could involve any kind of MPSMS and do not exceed the SVP associated within each relevant Work field. Significant on-the-job or formal training can be anticipated.
Unskilled Occupations (SVP = 1 or 2) can be learned within 30 days and require no previous occupational experience. There are a total of 3,125 unskilled occupations in the DOT.
PRACTITIONER NOTES:
SkillTRAN uses the maximum level of SVP associated with each WORK field. Per SSA definition Part (a), SkillTRAN does not consider occupations with an SVP < 3 to be transferable. An SVP of 1 or 2 is considered to be an unskilled occupation, which falls outside the SSA definition of transferability. SkillTRAN does commingle WORK and MPSMS fields, often enabling the identification of a more broad range of occupational options. SkillTRAN TSA searches assume that the worker is capable of all Physical Demand factors and tolerating all Environmental Conditions unless otherwise noted. Occupations are not found transferable if the GED-RML level or Aptitude levels are exceeded. Temperament conditions can also be ruled out if indicated by the user.
SkillTRAN recommends beginning with Directly Transferable search options. If few or no occupations are found, SEARCH AGAIN and choose Generally Transferable, then Directly Related, etc. until the search produces enough occupations with which to work. All searches are done in a few seconds. The report will reflect a summary of the results of each search, even if you choose not to include the list of selected titles in the report. After any search, labor market information (long term occupational projections, wages, employment numbers, and other relevant industry data is available from the new web-based server (https://online.skilltran.com/OccuBrowseWeb/start_ob.php).The SkillTRAN OASYS PC, OASYS Web and Transferable Skills Service (TSS) have other types of searches available to further broaden the search for potential occupations. Users can explore other occupations that might share similar or new GOE Interest codes from past work history, Industry Codes, or other code systems. Many new occupations are suggested when using other code systems. However, these different search methods often introduce occupations with entirely new WORK and MPSMS fields. Therefore, while these occupations may indeed be possible to perform with additional training, they are often considered outside of the strict SSA definition of transferability.
The SkillTRAN PREPOST service (Pre-Injury/Post-Injury Analysis) performs 8 TSA searches simultaneously and calculates a Post-Injury Occupational Loss (which is not the same as loss of labor market access). No alternate search strategies are available currently in PREPOST. However, in OASYS Web and PREPOST, it is possible to "Compare the Worker Profile to an Intended Vocational Goal". This feature points out only the differences between the intended occupation's requirements and the worker's post-injury profile. It is useful to determine if an occupational idea is possible, within reasonable variance from the typical requirements, or perhaps could be modified through training or some kind of accommodation. It is also helpful to understand why a particular occupation was filtered out of a search list.
