Kit Repair
It's easy to forget that you have a wide range of skills when you focus on a single area for an extended time. Having spent a long time working on research bid development and academic writing, it's nice to do to something different.
I've recently returned to the Harrogate Fencing Club after an extended absence and decided to offer my skills in equipment repairs. Now, I have no formal training in electronics, however basic repairs are pretty standard and electrical continuity testing with a multimeter is straight-forward.
Sometimes, a simple clean and service with re-grease is all that is required, or a simply trimming of body-wire cord and re-wiring solves the problem. Other times, parts need to be purchased and replaced and sometimes, the spring coils in the spools used to retract the connecting cable to the fencer falls out of their casings and rapidly expand with significant force - stand well back!
Fortunately, I've picked up a number of transferable skills over the past 20+ years, skills which don't appear on my CV, but which come under the heading of problem identification and problem solving. I'm not an electronic engineer, I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I'm versatile and tenacious; and I know how to use google.
Everything else is just trimmings.