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Transition specialist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
Adam Greer,
Jordan Levy Ph.D.
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical transition specialist skills. We ranked the top skills for transition specialists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.3% of transition specialist resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a transition specialist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 transition specialist skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how transition specialists use patients:
  • Supported patients residing in psychiatric hospital settings to successfully transition into the community.
  • Collaborated with clinicians to ensure patients received recommended products prior to discharge.

2. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how transition specialists use customer service:
  • Contacted railroads customer services for general information regarding train location.
  • Served as a key liaison to internal business partners to coordinate customer service activities.

3. Social Work

Here's how transition specialists use social work:
  • Prepared necessary reports on offender progress to courts, schools, probation and parole, wardens, and social workers.
  • Coordinated services with social workers and service coordinators so individuals in nursing facilities could return to their homes.

4. Rehabilitation

Here's how transition specialists use rehabilitation:
  • Coordinated services at individual school sites between Department of Rehabilitation and Regional Center for students with disabilities.
  • Design to assess, plan, develop and provide Vocational Rehabilitation service to individuals with disabilities.

5. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how transition specialists use community resources:
  • Provided crisis intervention and connected clients with community resources and referrals.
  • Initiated collaboration with community resources including literacy and health education.

6. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how transition specialists use community agencies:
  • Served as editor-in-chief for divisional newsletter, and developed training materials specifically designed to assist schools districts and other community agencies.
  • Navigated through community agencies and college systems, relaying transition process to the student, parents and IEP staff.

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7. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how transition specialists use mental health:
  • Consulted with teachers, mental health professionals, and parents to develop and implement transition goals with regards to obtaining employment.
  • Assessed and identified the client's need to address substance abuse, mental health, and similar behavioral risks.

8. Autism

Here's how transition specialists use autism:
  • Delivered direct services to children with autism by executing individualized plans, completing necessary documentation and communication effectively with team.
  • Provide clinical services to families and children identified with emotional disturbance and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

9. Professional Development

Professional development means to have the essential training certification or education with the purpose of earning and having a successful career. Every job requires a different set of skills. However, new skills may be needed in the future. Professional development, in this regard, helps people to develop and polish the skills and become efficient workers.

Here's how transition specialists use professional development:
  • Coordinated Pre-K district early childhood education professional development for preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, and Kindergarten teachers.
  • Participate in Professional Development conference every year for 3 days.

10. Home Health

Here's how transition specialists use home health:
  • Verify patient insurance and obtain authorization for patient's home health services and durable medical equipment.
  • Assisted participants with acquiring home health aids if needed in the home.

11. Social Services

Here's how transition specialists use social services:
  • Maintain a database of relevant contacts in education, social services, employers, labor unions, and other stakeholder groups.
  • Collaborated with other community agencies and nonprofit organizations to locate available resources for patients in need of social services.

12. PowerPoint

Here's how transition specialists use powerpoint:
  • Prepared and conducted monthly PowerPoint briefings before an audience of 40-60 individuals.
  • Assisted with multiple local job fair efforts Computer literate in most word processing programs as well as PowerPoint.

13. Good Interpersonal

Here's how transition specialists use good interpersonal:
  • Use of good interpersonal communication skills for adequate client cooperation and conflict resolution.
  • Job Responsibilities Use good interpersonal communication skills to gain client cooperation and resolve client conflicts.

14. Data Entry

Data entry means entering data into a company's system with the help of a keyboard. A person responsible for entering data may also be asked to verify the authenticity of the data being entered. A person doing data entry must pay great attention to tiny details.

Here's how transition specialists use data entry:
  • Verify billing and insurance information, Data entry, and Call Drs.
  • Employed Maintain Student Records Assist Student Needs Computer Data entry

15. Competitive Employment

Competitive employment is a job that is performed on a full/ part-time basis in which entities are paid for their work, according to the job. However, the compensation must be at par or above the standard of the minimum wage. The cost of compensated benefits by the employer should be at the same level for similar work performed by abled people.

Here's how transition specialists use competitive employment:
  • Assist consumers in obtaining competitive employment and present department to employers and business community.
  • Provide individualized services that assist students in entering and maintaining integrated competitive employment.
top-skills

What skills help Transition Specialists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on transition specialist resumes?

Adam GreerAdam Greer LinkedIn profile

Career Services Specialist, Auburn University

Clearly, the distance/online working skills will stand out with our HDFS majors. Our students have a strong foundation in learning to work with people, and now they have a new way to work with people and remove barriers that might have previously prevented an in-person meeting.

What transition specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Jordan Levy Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Anthropology, Pacific Lutheran University

Some students enter college having taken a "gap year" between high school and university. Any kind of volunteer or work experience that further develops their interpersonal communication skills is beneficial for the range of discussion and small group work that university-level classes require. Some students do service projects in other countries, which is great because they also gain international experiences that contribute to their overall formation as informed global citizens. These experiences can then tell what kinds of classes they take in university and can remain a source of inspiration for what careers they pursue.

What type of skills will young transition specialists need?

Jamelyn Tobery-Nystrom

Coordinator of M.Ed. Special Education, Frostburg State University

Special education needs are wide and varying, depending on position and state/jurisdiction needs. In general, knowledge and experience in the Autism Spectrum is a high need area. Knowledge and skills in behavioral/mental health are also in demand. Indeed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to adapt instruction online is a new skill area for special education teachers.

What technical skills for a transition specialist stand out to employers?

Dr. Abby Templer Rodrigues Ph.D.Dr. Abby Templer Rodrigues Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Missouri State University

Employers look for oral and written communication skills, the ability to work effectively in diverse teams, analytical and quantitative reasoning, and the ability to adapt to new technologies (Ciabattari et al. 2018). Employers specifically prefer college graduates who have experience applying these skills through internships, service learning, senior projects or collaborative research, field projects, or study abroad (Ciabattari et al. 2018).

References

Ciabattari Teresa, Lowney Kathleen S., Monson Renee A., Senter Mary Scheuer, and Chin
Jeffrey. 2018. "Linking Sociology Majors to Labor Market Success." Teaching Sociology 46 (3): 191-207.
Handwerker, Elizabeth Weber, Peter B. Meyer, and Joseph Piacentini. 2020. "Employment
Recovery in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic." Monthly Labor Review, December, 1-24.
Langin, Katie. 2020. "U.S. faculty job market tanks." Science 370(6514): 272-273.

What soft skills should all transition specialists possess?

Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.

Department Chair: Human Services, Austin Community College

I would refer to this skill set as "essential" and consist of compassion, empathy, teamwork, the ability to listen, a sense of humor, and most importantly, the ability to practice self-care. I include self-care in this list because working in the human service field can be exhausting and emotionally overwhelming. Taking care of ourselves helps to prevent burnout and possibly leaving the profession.

What hard/technical skills are most important for transition specialists?

Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.

Department Chair: Human Services, Austin Community College

a. Must have strong basic computer skills and knowledge of software such as excel spreadsheets, google docs, etc. Most, if not all, agencies use electronic health records and treatment planning, so it is necessary to be competent in this area.
b. A degree and additional certifications will assist you in seeking employment. It will also increase your level of competency and diversify the communities you serve. For example, at Austin Community College, we offer our students a chance to complete a certification in Mental Health First Aid Training. This increases their marketability and skill level.

List of transition specialist skills to add to your resume

Transition specialist skills

The most important skills for a transition specialist resume and required skills for a transition specialist to have include:

  • Patients
  • Customer Service
  • Social Work
  • Rehabilitation
  • Community Resources
  • Community Agencies
  • Mental Health
  • Autism
  • Professional Development
  • Home Health
  • Social Services
  • PowerPoint
  • Good Interpersonal
  • Data Entry
  • Competitive Employment
  • Action Plan
  • Support Services
  • IEP
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Independent Living
  • Substance Abuse
  • Post-Secondary Education
  • Technical Assistance
  • Financial Aid
  • Transition Services
  • Computer System
  • Transition Program
  • Smooth Transition
  • Vocational Training
  • Transition Process
  • Public Schools
  • IAP
  • Social Security
  • at-Risk Youth
  • Vocational Assessments
  • Education Plan
  • Veterans
  • Employability
  • Career Planning
  • Inbound Calls
  • Training Programs
  • Local Employers
  • Medical Appointments
  • School Administration
  • Educational Materials
  • HR
  • Local Businesses

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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