Career Pathways Using Portable & Transferable Skills ECAP reviewed post-secondary educational processes and systems in Utah. One of the dominate ideas to emerge as a good fit was career pathways using portable and transferrable skills. Potential career pathways are typically depicted in the form of a career ladder. This pictorial device is designed to assist individuals in visualizing job options and a career progression pathway. Until recently, the prevailing career metaphor has been the ladder. The emerging model is the career lattice. Rather than the straight forward trajectory, career
1. Attract individuals to an industry by showing
nal framework that integrates lateral experiences,
2. Focus workforce development efforts.
pathways using a lattice model may follow a diago-
adjacent skill acquisitions, and peer networking
to move employees to a variety of positions for which they have become qualified as a result of
building or adding to their professional skill sets. Portable and transferable skills, which are often
documented by certification or Continuing Educa-
tion Units (CEUs), help to meet the challenges of an ever-changing and evolving economy and its accompanying workforce needs. Workforce education focused on energy has served Utah workers by
providing the opportunity to add skills and knowledge to existing portfolios, thus positioning work-
ers to be able to advance and/or adjust to changes in their current employment situations. This is a value-add just as powerful as the capacity to train and place unemployed individuals.
According to the Occupational Information Net-
work (O*NET) which is being developed under the sponsorship of the United States Department of
Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), career ladders and lattices may be used in a variety of ways. For example:
potential career progression beyond entry points.
3. Show candidates how different jobs interconnect within careers in an industry.
4. Inform industry workforce about the training,
education, and developmental experiences that would enable them to accomplish their career objectives.
This has been the strategy behind the use of career
ladders, lattices, and pathways in the ECAP proj-
ect. Central to this strategy is the identification of core portable and transferable skills that may be applied to either traditional or renewable fields. These skills provide flexibility and mobility within employment as well as educational options.
One example is the energy core content that was identified and brought together under the State
Energy Sector Partnership (SESP). The foundational or core knowledge identified by a statewide
team was then packaged and delivered in a basic workforce training certificate. The content included basic electricity, math for industry, safety standards, handling of hazardous materials, report and
Utah Energy Cluster Acceleration Strategy
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