How to fill in the "personal qualities" column in a resume

A well-written resume is the first step on the way to the desired position. It often includes not only work experience and professional skills, but also tries to emphasize personal qualities that will help you stand out among other candidates. What to write about yourself in the column "personal qualities" to attract the attention of the employer, tell "Izvestia".

Why specify personal qualities in the resume

Often when writing a resume, job seekers are focused on describing in detail what they did in their previous jobs. When it comes to the "personal qualities" column, they leave it blank or limit themselves to general phrases: responsible, punctual, easy to learn, creative and so on.

These meaningless phrases are unlikely to interest a potential employer. Looking through dozens of similar resumes, he is more likely to pay attention to the candidate who listed his strong qualities, corresponding to the vacancy, backing them up with specific examples.

This is especially important in a highly competitive labor market. After all, every organization needs workers who are not just good at what they do, but who can successfully integrate into the team, cope with a variety of tasks and quickly adapt to changes in the work environment.

What personal qualities to include on a resume

Every person has certain personal and business qualities that apply in a particular field. It is not worth listing everything on a resume, especially not relevant to the vacancy.

Before you need to study the requirements in detail and understand what kind of employee is required by the company. It is also not bad to visit the website or official groups in social networks to get more information.

The main task of the applicant is to make a convincing resume, telling about those qualities that have been successfully applied in the past and can be useful in the future. For example, for technical professions, analytical thinking, the ability to work with large amounts of data, diligence and attention to detail are important.

In a customer-oriented business, communication skills come first. The applicant should have a good speech, be non-conflictive, disciplined, understand the needs of customers and quickly solve the issues that arise.

Creativity, the ability to generate new ideas and bring them to life, is valued in creative professions. In addition, the ability to work irregular hours, including holidays and weekends, is important.

Leadership skills are important for managerial positions. These include teamwork skills, the ability to resolve conflicts and make non-standard decisions.

Often employers themselves specify what qualities they want to see in a candidate. This makes the task much easier. You can list them in the resume, if, of course, they have them, supporting the story with a few examples from your own experience. It is also good to use testimonials and references, which will confirm the presence of the necessary skills.

What personal qualities not to indicate in the resume

In addition to the main characteristics that are emphasized in the resume, there are also "undesirable" for certain industries. For example, the quality "sociability" should not be specified for specialties that require concentration, as an overly sociable employee will distract others from work.

Where you need to be able to solve complex problems and defend your position, such qualities as softness and modesty will not be suitable. And some employers will consider for the lack of straightforwardness and excessive ambitiousness.

In addition, the resume does not need to tell about their shortcomings, non-standard hobbies and bad habits. But if, for example, it is important for the candidate to be able to go out for a short smoke break, it is necessary to discuss this issue even before employment.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the highest-paid vacancies in January.