Transferable Skills: An Interview with Natalie Borneo

I am tickled pink because I have a guest with me today who I have known just about all my life. She's my sister and my friend, Natalie Borneo. Nat is a teacher, a trainer, and a coach. She has a passion for serving and working with women and girls, but I guarantee what she has to say today will benefit anyone. Welcome, Nat!

Natalie: 

Thank you so much. Heather-Dawn, it is a pleasure to be here. This is such a great platform for those who are really aspiring to break into the dental assistant role.

And what a great coaching tool to have a podcast that they can listen to and make notes on and sort of challenge themselves to do some of the things that you share and suggest.

Heather-Dawn: 

Yes, isn't it awesome? We're in a day and age where we can sharpen our skills on the go, whether we're listening in the car, or in the shower, it doesn't matter. So this is an awesome platform.

But tell us a little bit about yourself. I've known you, but there are those out there, believe it or not, who would love to know a little bit more about you.

Natalie: 

Well, I don't know if they like to know that much about me or more about what I have to share.

But what I will say is that I have over 30 years of experience in the risk compliance and insurance industry, where I worked very closely to design and create strategies for clients to help them stay healthy, especially in times of loss.

And when faced with risk, I recently and recently is really four years ago, because we've been in a health crisis situation that has kind of put the world on hold.

But I did make a transition from the corporate realm to the nonprofit one.

And that was a deliberate move for me to focus my values and passion on working and supporting girls, women, and really anyone in need of professional development, especially with regard to navigating the world of work. And I've done some navigating in the world of work.

Heather-Dawn: 

That's a bold move.

To be able to think that you want to do something different is one thing. But stepping out and deciding to do it is a totally different thing.

So kudos to you, Natalie. I suspect that there are many people listening to us today who have some decisions to make that may be similar to the ones that you had to make.

Maybe their industry is not what they want anymore. Maybe there's been a shift in the tide. How can somebody who is on the fence, wondering what they want to do with the skills that they have, be motivated to step out?

Natalie:  

So I think the first and most important thing is to know yourself. You have to really understand what you're looking for. And then take a look at what the things that you bring along with you are.

What does your toolkit look like? Regardless of the type of job, what are the unique strengths, qualities, and experiences that you have that make you a special and unique candidate?

Once you understand who you are, and for me, I enjoy work and I enjoy working in environments where I can see and feel like I'm adding value.

I am very focused on ensuring that people get what they need. Or they understand how they need to approach things to get what they need. And in the line of work that I was in, I did that for a corporate entity.

In the work that I do today, I looked at the fact that I wanted to be in a different environment where I could see the impact, where I could get very involved in a process and help to make an outcome favorable for someone who might not be in a good position.

We may say that person is underserved, or not someone who everyone else champions, but it's something that I wanted to do. So I knew what I wanted to do.

Then I looked at my skills, my experience, and the positive attributes that I had. And coming from a corporate background and going into a nonprofit,

I have to be very aware of the strengths that I could bring into the space. And so, looking at myself, I could talk about my communication skills, right, my written and oral skills, I could talk about my ability to work with different types of people.

So working in a team-based environment was something I could do, and I enjoyed. I like to collaborate.

So, knowing I don't know everything but wanting to also be able to contribute to a process or conversation, I work better in environments where we're collaborative.

Everyone who has expertise in a certain area comes together to brainstorm on the best solution is for a particular project or activity. Leadership: we are all leaders because we're all good at something.

So I knew that I had leadership qualities that I could bring along with me. And then there’s my project management skill, my ability to look at a project or a task, and figure out what all the incremental steps needed to be, and how to build something.

So I definitely knew what my strengths were before deciding to make that decision.

And it's incredible. If you actually take the time to break down the things that you are good at, you will be surprised to see what a robust toolkit you already have.

Heather-Dawn: 

You know, Natalie, I think that is such an important point because of all the things that you listed. Coming from the corporate world, I did not hear any of those skills that were specific to the job you had before.

These sounded like, what I would say, the skills that keep you in the door once you're in the door; the leadership; the understanding that you like working collaboratively; really understanding yourself and the strengths that you bring.

It's extremely important because sometimes we limit ourselves to this box. This is what we are trained to do. Oh, I'm a waiter. Oh, I'm a cashier. Oh, this is what I do. And you name it specifically.

But the reality is that we're so much more than that box that we've put ourselves in.

And what I hear you saying is that there are a lot of skills that you've honed, or gained,

or understood are talents that you can bring into a totally different working environment.

And they can be such value-added skills.

Natalie: 

Yes. And the technical term is transferable skills. These are skills that enable someone to make the job a successful adventure, or, you know, it is the understanding that the person makes the job. The job does not make the person so if you have the aptitude.

Heather-Dawn: 

Natalie, I'm going to interrupt you. Can you say that again, please?

Natalie: 

Sure. I absolutely will.

A lot of times we are intimidated by the title of a job,

but the person makes the job successful.

The job does not make the person. You, as an individual, bring that job description to life based on what you carry with you.

So you will be trained and you will have the training to learn the technical aspects of the job. But if you don't have the right personality and core skills to bring that job to life, then it's a no-go situation.

They can always find another rubber stamper, but they can't find someone who is an amazing communicator.

That is someone who makes clients and other people feel very comfortable coming in the door, someone who can manage schedules or identify where there may be a glitch that others may be overlooking, or someone who recognizes there is bottlenecks and there are problems and issues with the process.

So, you know, when I was in another position, this is how we did it. Maybe I can apply the same concepts.

Or if you had a position in a community organization, volunteer skills are very important because just like in a volunteer position, think about this and a job, you are working with people you've never met before but for the association or the job.

You have nothing else in common except that you come together to get a task or tasks completed. And so you choose to work together, which means everyone is coming in with a different background, different skill sets, different energy, and different understanding.

And what you have to do is bring your best tools to the situation.

And so, coming into a new job, although you have that technical training, it behooves you to sit with yourself just for a minute, and take stock of what your transferable skills are. What are you really good at? What do people say about you?

Even your family comes to you for the holidays because you know how to do a party. You know, they will elect you to be the president or the treasurer or the secretary, because you have a good grasp of details and can bring things together.

You are respected in your alumni association or in your class when you took the course.

So there are many different things about you that people have remarked.

You should have listened to them very carefully because that means they stand out.

And people call that out. And that is what they attach to your name.

When they say Dr. Lawson Meyers, they think about the pain-free, excellent level of dentistry that they experienced. And they can break that down further.

When people say your name, they are also thinking about some of the things that they see as positive about you and their experience with you.

So those transferable skills are things you have to, as we would say, "big up" in the position. If you want to really run through the door, and be successful in that position.

Bring your transferable skills, all of them into the picture, even if it's being the one who's able to bring difficult people together to have a conversation, because one of the very important things on any job is to be able to work productively with others.

And so, if you are just the peacemaker, bring your peacemaking tools to the job, because that will be very helpful in the space where you rely on each other. And you have to have good clear communication to get the job done well and to satisfy the clients.

Heather-Dawn: 

That's such good information. Because when I think of a dental assistant, I think of the word "glue".

The dental assistant is the one who, as I've said before, when I've stepped out of the room, even though the patient has said “Yes, I understand”.

They turned to the dental assistant and said, “What did she say?”

So the ability to break it down and communicate in a way that the patient feels comfortable and can actually hear what's being said is awesome. But also, the dental assistant is the connector to the other members of the team.

You know, if they build trust with the dental assistant, then they'll kind of give you that eye. "Is it okay to talk to her? Is she okay?" "Hi, Janice.

Do you think I should let the doctor do that?" And so those skills are not sterilizing instruments, they're not setting up the basics, but they are so important. So important are those transferable skills.

Natalie: 

Very much so and, you know, I would go one step further. As you said, the dental assistant is the glue. The dental assistant could actually also be the Chief of Staff.

That is that critical person that understands what the dentist needs to accomplish, and what the process is that the patient needs to go through.

But they also need to be the interpreter for the client to say, “It's going to be okay. This is what the doctor is going to do. And it's going to, you know, make you feel so much better.”

So that that Chief of Staff is someone who understands the strategy around the dental procedure, you make everything work.

Heather-Dawn: 

Absolutely. I have never heard it framed that way before. But you're right, that dental assistant is who guides the dentist and the patient in that treatment room.

Yes, pulling it all together and then connecting the clinical area to the business office. You know, as that dental assistant escorts the patient to the front and shares with the front desk what that patient needs.

She, she or he, has already begun to break things down. So when the clinical person has to grab the baton and continue her job is somewhat simplified because of her communication skills and the trust that has been gained with the dental system. Awesome!

Natalie: 

Absolutely, that dental assistant is the report builder.

They're the enforcer, the informer, the relationship manager, everything rolled in one.

It's a great position for someone who really feels like they're ready to step up and take charge of not only learning the technical information, but stepping into the job, and bringing all of those very strong skills in.

And they don't have to be many; they may have three or four really great skills. You just have to leverage those skills and use them to the best of your ability.

Heather-Dawn: 

Natalie, this has been such a rich discussion. You know, if time did not limit me, we could go on and on. I normally give a nice quote at the end or when I'm just getting ready to close my discussion with my audience. Do you have one that you could share with us today?

Natalie: 

It’s so funny, you should ask. Yes, I do. I love quotes myself.

So you know, I did think about this and this is what I want to share.

And this is a quote by J.K Rowling, a writer.

JK says, "We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already."

Heather-Dawn: 

Oh, my word. That is such a fantastic way to end this discussion. Natalie, you have to come back. You have to have a part two or maybe a three or four. But at any rate, I just want to thank you for taking the time to come and share with us today. And I look forward to having you again on another podcast.

Natalie: 

Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.

Heather-Dawn: 

Well, what an eye-opening discussion that was with Natalie Borneo. So many gems about transferable skills, skills that we probably didn't even realize are assets.

You know, when things come easily to us, we don't even think that they are unique to us or that we do them better than other people.

So Nat reminded us that we truly have to know ourselves and understand what we're looking for as we seek a job and that we not define ourselves by labels but look at what we bring to the table and what we offer. And most of all, we need to recognize that we bring that job description to life.

If you want to hear more from Natalie Borneo, or if you want to find or touch base with her, you can find her on LinkedIn. She is the Senior Director of Program Operations for Dress for Success Worldwide.

And we know, having had a discussion with her, why she is so influential to women who are trying to get back into the job market and may not have had the confidence because they haven't been working for a while.

But you know, her super-secret sauce is great for everyone. So, I hope that you got some trinkets today. And this is surely a session that reminds us that we are, indeed, better together.

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This is Episode 5 of my Irreplaceable Dental Assistant podcast.

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