My skills and accomplishments How to properly describe professional qualities in a resume. Professional skills and personal qualities: what to write

  • 25.05.2020

A resume is one of the most important steps in a job application. It is according to this document that HR managers conduct an initial sorting of candidates, make a first impression and subsequently invite them for an interview. A resume should be written in such a way that a potential employer has a complete picture of your knowledge, experience and skills. At the same time, no need to reload the image good worker redundant information.

Finding a balance is difficult, especially when you want to stand out from the crowd of candidates. Even the most creative approach requires a logical design. A well-written resume has every chance to “hook” the employer. Not the last role in this is played by filling in the skills of the candidate.

What are key, special and additional skills?

key skills characterize what kind of employee you will be in general. This section often includes the “standard set of the seeker” – determination, stress resistance, self-discipline, learning ability… These phrases have long turned into a meaningless formality. Each applicant wants to show himself with better side, turning the resume into a description of a superman.

Skills must be selected and prescribed for a specific vacancy. Decide which characteristic is critical to work in the position. It is advisable to choose no more than three main qualities. For example, working as an animator requires a high level of communication skills. It does not hurt to specify this skill as a key skill. When you apply for a bank branch manager position, prepare to handle difficult situations. Accordingly, it will be important for the employer to know that you are stress-resistant.

When describing key skills, do not limit yourself to one word. About each make up a sentence that will complement the image. For example, the standard analytical warehouse mind" can be turned into "the ability to find the best way out of difficult situations and effective management time." However, do not get carried away with long descriptions: they can be included in .

Skills and abilities in the resume - what to write?

The easiest option is to rephrase the requirements that the employer provided in the job description. Thus, you don’t have to think about what skill potential bosses consider the main one: everything is already indicated for you. You just have to think about the presentation.

Three groups of skills can be distinguished: managerial, communication and research. Depending on the type of vacancy, in the resume must dominate one of them. These qualities are often additionally verified using. Let's consider each group in more detail.

managerial

The applicant is going to work with entrusted subordinates. He knows which specialists suit him, knows how to organize the work of the department and personally leads the team to the goal. The requirements for such a candidate are always especially strict, and the attention from recruiters is increased.

The main skills to be mentioned are:

  • High-quality organization of the work process. can lead short example how you dealt with this task in the previous place;
  • Independent decision-making and full responsibility for them. Managers are expected to make smart decisions, not constant consultations with senior management. The ability to admit mistakes reinforces the honesty and responsibility of the employee;
  • Negotiation skills are essential for any leader. This concept can include both the settlement of conflict situations at work and external transactions with partners.

A good bonus to additional skills will be the experience of motivating subordinates. Team building is a popular means of strengthening relationships between employees. If you have had experience in holding such events or have successfully implemented a reward system, briefly describe it.

Communication

They are needed in a very wide range of positions - from a sales assistant to a teacher. The right approach to the client is the key to successful cooperation. And an employee who knows how to win people over is also good at smoothing out conflicts.

Good core skills are:

  • Sales experience, if the vacancy involves similar work;
  • Competent oral and written (if necessary) business correspondence) speech. A given voice is a great advantage;
  • Skills of concentration and holding a person's attention for a long time;
  • Knowledge of foreign languages ​​if the company cooperates with foreign clients.

Remember that the skill of communication is manifested not only in friendliness and active communication. It is also important to listen and understand the client, to show tact and patience in the dialogue. All this can be specified in additional skills.

Advice: phrases like “I know how to find an approach to difficult clients” are better to specify. Recall the most remarkable such case and briefly describe it for the employer.

Research

Many employers value employee autonomy. If you encounter a problem that is not directly related to your boss, try to solve it yourself before asking for advice.

Research skills demonstrate to the employer that the applicant knows where to look for data, and based on the information received, he himself is able to draw conclusions and come to right decision. Such skills are most often needed by workers in technical specialties.

Include:

  • High-quality processing of large volumes of new information;
  • Defining and solving problems of paramount importance;
  • Knowledge of professional resources. For example, programmers can list where they most often go for information;
  • Work in different directions. Such multitasking sometimes implies the specifics of the position.

If you have a well-developed imagination, put yourself in the place of the employer. From which applicant would you like to receive ? What qualities should he show first of all? Write down the answers, analyze and compare with the requirements. This will be a good help when creating a resume.

Summing up

The skills section is designed to reveal the applicant as a professional. Skills are divided into key, special and additional. In the first paragraph, there should be no more than three of them, and in the rest - no more than five. Choose only the essentials. Adjust to a specific vacancy and to the specifics of the enterprise.

Do not write too formulaically and dryly, but do not go into unnecessary details. If there is something to support the achievement, give an example in one short sentence. If necessary, check with the requirements for similar vacancies. Be sure to rephrase and include in your resume each condition of the job you are applying for.

From the text block in the questionnaire, dedicated to labor skills, it largely depends on whether the applicant will be invited for an interview. Competent filling of these positions will give the applicant an advantage in comparison with other candidates. The description of your professional skills in the resume should be given the most attention.

The block on professionalism is intended to list all the acquired knowledge and skills of the applicant. Each specific position has its own list of necessary technical qualities, according to which people are selected for an interview. How carefully you have studied the requirements for the vacancy, provided information about yourself, can decide whether you will get the desired job.

When answering the questions of the questionnaire, it is necessary to comply with the criteria declared for this position and indicate your most significant experience in a similar position.

The baggage of skills, abilities and abilities you have should be presented as effectively and informatively as possible. For example, specify the exact sales experience, that is, specify important facts. It's great when you manage to strike a balance between lack of information and verbal redundancy. The best feature of a great resume is its conciseness and capacity. It cannot be said that there are universal questions in the questionnaires that clearly demonstrate the competence of the applicant. Indeed, for different fields of activity, their specific sets of professional qualities will be attractive and suitable. But you can cite some positions that are available in almost all questionnaires. Here they are:

  • knowledge of PC and computer programs (be sure to specify which ones!);
  • level of knowledge of foreign languages ​​(specifics are also needed);
  • the ability to work with documents (sounds generalized, so it’s better to clarify which ones).

Labor skills are all that the candidate can do and that he most actively used in the previous position. The better the presentation of this block, the higher the chances of getting into the company.

Examples for various specialties

Consider the desired labor and individual qualities applicants in more detail - taking into account the characteristics of individual professions.

Accountant

Priority for him seniority, a mathematical mindset, a clear understanding of all the nuances of his work in the field of activity in which a person gets a job. Also important is an excellent memory, the ability to follow current changes in the field of tax legislation, and stress resistance. The list of qualities looks like this:

  • practical experience, work experience in the specialty;
  • responsibility, honesty;
  • analytical mindset;
  • good concentration of attention, scrupulousness in relation to trifles, perseverance;
  • ability to use modern computer programs (minimum - 1C, ideally - continuous professional development);
  • knowledge of tax accounting in theory and practice;
  • skills in preparing declarations, statements and other documents.

And also many other things that an accountant needs in a particular company or organization. The specificity of the assigned competencies is determined precisely by this.

Lawyer

This specialization implies the possession of the following qualities:

  • knowledge of the current legislation, ability to work with legal documents and electronic databases;
  • clear logic, structured thinking, high intelligence;
  • purposefulness, confidence, eloquence, talent to convince, will;
  • ability to draft contracts and other documents;
  • experience of representation in courts;
  • skills of legal support of organizations;
  • knowledge of different foreign languages.

Shop assistant

For effective and efficient work in the field of trade, the following skills and talents will be useful:

  • competent speech, politeness;
  • the ability to build a constructive dialogue with the client;
  • eloquence, the ability to convince;
  • knowledge of applied trading programs;
  • skills for successful conflict resolution;
  • merchandising, acceptance, write-off of goods;
  • rich, versatile experience in the field of trade;
  • documentary support of sales, the ability to keep records.

caregiver

One of the most humane professions in the world will require the job applicant to:

  • specialized education;
  • consent to regular medical examinations;
  • the proper level of knowledge of pedagogy and developmental psychology;
  • experience of working with children;
  • calmness, endurance, kindness and the ability to get along with kids and their parents;
  • diligence, attention, responsibility.

The advantage will be additional education and useful hobbies in areas (medicine, dancing, languages, drawing, art therapy, etc.).

Administrator

The microclimate in the company depends on it. For example, how a conversation with a client or business partner will go. The administrator meets guests, helps, ensures a comfortable stay in the organization. Applicants for this position would like:

  • pleasant appearance, polite and competent speech;
  • punctuality, commitment, stress resistance;
  • the ability to organize the work process in a quality manner;
  • ability to work with a cash register;
  • a good level of knowledge of foreign languages;
  • ability to manage personnel;
  • knowledge of computer programs such as MS-Office;
  • skills in handling office equipment;
  • experience in a similar position.

teacher

This responsible and difficult field of activity requires candidates to possess the following qualities:

  • profile education, desire to work in this area;
  • motivation for the result and responsibility for the process;
  • the ability to organize training so that it is both effective and interesting;
  • teaching experience;
  • possession of modern information technology learning;
  • attentiveness, calmness, endurance, benevolence;
  • inner maturity and ability to get along with children and teenagers.

Knowledge of languages ​​is welcome.

Engineer

In addition to work experience in the specialty, the applicant must:

  • high level of professionalism;
  • awareness in the field of modern technologies;
  • prudence, calmness, attentiveness;
  • experience with clients;
  • logic, technical mindset, mathematical ability;
  • knowledge normative documents, GOSTs in the area in which the applicant is employed;
  • possession of special, narrow-profile vocabulary;
  • ability to follow closely terms of reference by customer.

AT different companies a set of desired skills, abilities and knowledge is added to this list, determined by the field of activity of the company.

Bank employee

The profession involves constant interaction with people and finances. For an employee in this area, it is important:

  • accumulated work experience in a similar position;
  • responsibility, care, perseverance;
  • knowledge of features technological process banking;
  • Ability to work with financial programs, computer skills at a high level;
  • communication skills, endurance, competent speech;
  • the skill of building a comfortable psychological interaction with different clients.

Economist

In addition to specialized education, the employer will need the following features:

  • analytical mindset, ability to predict and competently build financial flows, logistics;
  • skill economic analysis the work of the enterprise;
  • high level of knowledge of specialized computer programs;
  • sharp mind, healthy ambition, mathematical ability;
  • the ability to see and find profitable opportunities, focus on results;
  • bank account management and documentation all operations;
  • contracting experience.

Knowledge of foreign languages ​​is desirable.

Programmer

The company will be interested in a specialist with the following qualities:

  • work experience in the same or a similar field of activity in which the company that opened the vacancy operates;
  • brilliant knowledge of special software that allows writing modern and high-quality information products;
  • knowledge of languages ​​and technical vocabulary;
  • personal portfolio, including ready-made, successfully operating programs
  • other specialized skills, for example, a tester, help creator, webmaster, designer, etc.

The main condition in answering the questionnaire about work experience and skills is specificity. Provide complete data, specify how long you have been engaged certain activities what progress has been made. But do not overload readers with information too much.

Desired additional skills

Sometimes in the questionnaire there is an item that you would like to master in life. Here you can write about your expectations from the vacancy and aspirations. It is recommended to indicate exactly what professional skills you would like to acquire. For example, these are:

  1. Improvement in foreign languages.
  2. Oral and business communication skills.
  3. Passage of individual professional trainings, courses, seminars. Training.
  4. Career growth in your chosen field.
  5. Mastering several new applied computer programs.

Each job provides a person with a meaningful and rewarding experience. Among the competencies that you want to master in the future, indicate what you are really interested in, but did not manage to learn. In reputable companies, management listens to the opinion of employees even at the stage of hiring.

What to write on a resume for a student

If there is still no or very little work experience for the desired vacancy, refer to the knowledge that you received in the process of training, passing organizational practices and internships. Everything that you know and understand should be told and shown to the employer so vividly that he wants to call the author of the resume for an interview and offer a job in the company. The main thing is not to embellish the text excessively, this, firstly, will be noticeable, and secondly, it will still become clear immediately, during the trial period.

As a conclusion

In the section on professional experience, it is necessary to demonstrate in detail and convincingly to the employer all actively used knowledge and previous experience. Describe what you already know clearly and vividly. This is necessary for a more successful selection among other candidates. If you follow the recommendations outlined in this article, the chances of getting the desired position will increase significantly.

Much attention should be paid to the “skills” column, because it tells what exactly you can expect from the applicant. Education or work experience are very important sections, but they will not tell you what exactly a potential employee can do. Social surveys among recruiters have shown that most HR specialists pay close attention to this column.

Naturally, each applicant strives to ensure that his resume sells it as profitably as possible, is as interesting as possible and does not turn out to be rejected by employers. This means that it is important that the recruiter is interested. In this regard, a completely logical question arises - what skills to indicate in the resume.

At its core, the “key skills” column is a listing of facts about the applicant that are related to his professional activity, a description of what he can do and what experience he has. It's best if the skills are listed as a list rather than grouped together in a single paragraph or sentence.

What can be written in the column "skills"

To figure out what skills you can put on your resume so that they put you in a favorable light, you first need to understand what key professional skills are in general. There are practically no average options - each profession requires skills in a particular field of activity. But in the case when general formulations are suitable for the applicant, then you can write something like this:

  • skills business communication;
  • the ability to carefully plan their actions, work in an organized manner and make timely decisions;
  • ability to analyze and solve problems;
  • organizational abilities.

Despite the presence of such formulations, it is still better to select skills individually, based on the qualities of your personality and the specifics of the profession. An important role is played by the requirements for candidates. In most cases, already at the stage of considering the vacancy announcement, it becomes clear what skills the employer needs an employee with.

If the applicant is able to "read between the lines", then the best option will be editing your resume for each individual case. Sometimes even such a technique is appropriate, in which the applicant simply rephrases the requirements from the vacancy announcement - in this case, the employer understands that this particular person can suit him. But it is important not to rewrite the wording verbatim, but to change them, adapting them to your personal qualities.

Leadership Skills

A special understanding of what key skills are required if you are applying for leadership position. As a rule, applicants' resumes of this kind are treated with increased attention, candidates are considered more closely. This means that the skills listed on the resume can make all the difference. Listing what skills would be advantageous in this case? Here are some options:

  • ability to resolve conflicts;
  • ability to plan and organize the work of several people;
  • manifestation of responsibility for the decisions made;
  • analytical thinking;
  • effective management of not only the workforce, but also time;
  • the ability to negotiate;
  • communication skills, the ability to inspire professional confidence in people.

All applicants want to show themselves in the best light, for which they “praise” personal data as brightly and profitably as possible.

This is the correct approach in general, because ordinary, "grayish" résumé doesn't stand a chance even for viewing, especially when dozens and hundreds of candidates apply for a vacancy.

As for the specifics, you need to carefully look at the description of personal skills, since it is the skills in the resume that instantly attract the attention of recruiters and search robots.

Above you saw a sample resume that describes general and professional skills.

Resume skills: what is it for job seekers?

To understand the importance of skills, you should take the side of employers or recruiters as their representatives.

A long time ago, HRs stopped selecting candidates by education or place of previous work.

Now even in our country there are noticeable changes in the economic situation, when some professions are no longer needed, but dozens of others appear. Therefore, it is so important to know how to properly write a resume for today and fill out the “Skills” section.

In this regard, skills for resumes become necessary, which help to find an applicant who may not have experience in newly created positions, but who has important or rare abilities.

Young people, middle-aged citizens and even pre-retirement age must adopt new rules if they want to have advantages in the labor market. Description of skills for resume, of course, will not replace your skills, but it will help you at least reach the interview stage.

What skills exist?

- this, for example, the ability to work with a computer, knowledge of foreign languages ​​or the ability to resolve conflict situations.

Even from a short list, it is clear that key skills can be very different in a resume, and recruiters themselves divide them into "hard" and "soft" or professional and general.

General (soft) skills are divided into two groups: adaptive (personal) and transferable (transferable).

And so, when compiling a list of skills, it is useful to understand the conditional classification, and most importantly, the difference between them.

What are special skills on a resume?

Based on the information above, all skills are divided into three categories:

  1. Transferable skills (transferable);
  2. Working skills (professional);
  3. Adaptive skills (personal qualities).

Determining which category an ability belongs to is simple:

  • Transfer skills- are used in different workplaces;
  • Professional skills- suitable only for one position;
  • Adaptive Skills- personal abilities that help in any team.

If using examples, then the transfer skill is the knowledge of Word, because you can type and edit texts in a variety of jobs. A professional skill is the ability to shoot 3D videos. Adaptive abilities - the ability to convince other people or work in difficult psychological conditions.

Work skills in the resume should be short, one or two words. No vague descriptions, just what you really know how to do. If you want to describe achievements, there is a corresponding section in the work experience for this.

Even the most experienced and smart applicant will be left out if he does not indicate the right skills, so you need not only to know what professional skills are in a resume, but to be able to use them correctly in your document.

Let's take a closer look at each group of skills.

General Skills

General (soft) skills, as we already know, are divided into two categories: personal and transfer.

Personal skills can be called social skills, ability to communicate, work in a team, etc. Unlike professional skills, personal skills can be used by a variety of professionals, so personal skills are often used by job seekers without work experience on their resumes.

Here is a short list:

  • ability to make decisions;
  • teamwork;
  • communication, etc.

To understand the importance of personal skills, you need to understand that they are more difficult to master, although at first glance it does not seem so.

If a person does not know how to use a certain computer program, after more or less time, he will learn it, but if a person, for example, is unsociable in nature, he will not be able to become the soul of the team.

FROM transfer skills everything is much simpler - for example, you have mastered touch typing skills, and this skill will be useful to you in almost all related professions. And the employer, looking at resumes with the same professional skills, will make a choice in your favor.

Most employers look for job skills on their resumes, such as leadership or teamwork, with less preference for technical skills.

For example: Several applicants with the same knowledge of computers, networks, peripheral equipment, software and other technical details applied for the vacancy of an IT support employee. As statistics show, preference will be given to the candidate who indicates the correct transfer and personal skills.

Yes, at the interview it may turn out that this applicant does not correspond to the information that he indicated, or he will simply be passed over by a more purposeful applicant, but other “colleagues” simply did not get to the interview because of a poorly written resume.

On a resume, the skills below are an example, and job seekers who don't give them the credit they deserve miss out on many opportunities.

Professional skills

Computer skills on a resume are a great example of "hard" or professional ability, but there are other specialized skills besides knowledge of software packages.

It makes no sense to describe all the available skills, you just need to carefully read the job description and list in the resume the main skills that directly or indirectly coincide with the wishes of the employer.

It is logical that any technical knowledge is important for an engineer, but when a position requires specialists with the ability, for example, to read drawings and specifications, one should not describe abilities in mathematics or chemistry.

Skills in working with specialized programs in a resume will be appropriate for, but useless for a sales manager, unless, of course, the applicant writes about his ability to work with the program that is mentioned in the vacancy.

So, for a layout designer of newspapers and brochures, it will be useful to list the skills of working in highly specialized programs, but general things that are absolutely not related to the profession should not be written.

It is important to be able to prove your skills at the interview, both professional and personal.

How to choose the right skills for your resume

Compiling a list of skills is the most difficult step, it is not for nothing that there are many queries on the Web such as “resume what to write in skills?”.

This is understandable, because it is easy to fill in the columns with education, address and even work experience - take a labor, diploma and write. Facts and only facts. Skills are not so straightforward, so HR professionals recommend using certain techniques.

To get the brain working in the right direction, you can start by compiling a complete list of skills and abilities. Next, you should choose general and professional skills, dividing them into groups.

Also, experts recommend making a separate file with a resume or just a list of skills, where you can add information at any time. The wider the list, the easier it will be to take 5-10 skills from it and put it in the next resume. You should not enter all your skills into a resume sample, select them wisely so as not to send a long “footcloth” of skills to recruiters.

Employer representatives are now considering in the first place:

  • Work experience and achievements;
  • Education.

In other words, they first look at skills, work experience, and then they already study hobbies, place of study, etc.

Increasingly, submitted resumes are filtered by robots - special programs that will only let resumes with the necessary key skills through.


Match the skills to your resume with our

Examples of professional skills

Manager Skills

  • conclusion of contracts
  • communication skills
  • fulfillment of the sales plan
  • Negotiation
  • cold calls

Accountant Skills

  • expense reports

Sales Skills

  • display of goods
  • work at the checkout
  • price tag control
  • customer consultation
  • product expiration date tracking

Lawyer Skills

  • representation in courts
  • filing claims
  • drawing up contracts
  • Consultant+
  • Confident PC user

Administrator Skills

  • grammatically correct speech
  • personnel Management
  • receiving incoming calls
  • reporting
  • ms office

Skills for a resume should not just be copied from other sources, but it is quite possible to use examples to understand the essence.

The main thing is to remember that when writing a resume, you need to mention exactly your skills and exactly those that are suitable for the job.

They are also a very important section that HR specialists pay attention to. Here you can mark your additional professional skills and experience, which are your advantage over other applicants. Neither experience nor education will tell a potential employer about your skills. And it is very important, in combination with your achievements and professional knowledge, to create an understandable, clear and beautiful picture for the employer. And among the variety of options presented, you need to understand what skills to write. Let's take a closer look.

First of all, it is worth indicating those skills that are relevant to the desired position and do not run counter to the necessary competencies.

Examples of common key skills on a resume:

    Analytical thinking

    Ability to plan

    Developed oral and interpersonal communication

    Organization skills

    Ability to prioritize

    Accuracy and attentiveness

Such skills are especially suitable for applicants without work experience, such as students or university graduates. When describing your skills, you should indicate everything that, one way or another, is related to the future position. These can be victories at olympiads, competitions or organization of student events. More and more employers are demanding knowledge foreign language and computer proficiency. So don't forget about that either. If you have already chosen the company where you are going to send your resume, you can use the requirements in the vacancy as a template to complete the information about yourself.

Where should the skills section be placed?

Typically, the "Key Skills" section is placed after the "Work Experience" section, summarizing your competencies, explaining what knowledge and other useful competencies you have.

However, there is another option for building your resume by listing key skills immediately after personal details and the desired position. And then in the “work experience” column, explain exactly where and when you received these skills.

Professional skills in a resume - an example for university graduates without work experience

Vacancy: Marketing Analyst

Key skills:

Knowledge in sociology and marketing analysis;
Experience in conducting sociological research during the study period;
Diploma on the topic "Research marketing activities firms";
Excellent command of Russian and English;
Experience in writing articles for the university website;
Experience as a sales consultant, which contributed to the development of communication skills;
Fluency in PC, knowledge of Word, Excel, Power Point programs at the advanced user level.

Key skills in resume examples for different professions

First of all, when writing a resume for a specific vacancy, you need to carefully read the requirements of the employer. Often, this is where you can find clues about what to indicate in the key skills section.

Below, we will give examples of various areas of employment and what is most often indicated in well-written resumes.

    experience in commercial transactions;

    business communication and negotiation skills;

    work experience at exhibitions, presentation of products;

    maintenance and expansion of the client base;

    drafting and conclusion of contracts;

    conducting primary accounting;

    control of shipment and delivery of goods;

    Experienced PC user, knowledge of 1C, Word, Excel;

For the post of head of the sales department, you should also add:

    Experience in replacing the head of the department;

    Training;

    Coordination of the work of subordinates;

    Employee motivation.

Key skills in a resume example for a position

Usually programmers indicate knowledge of certain technologies, programming languages:

    knowledge of technologies and languages: J2SE‚ J2EE, JPA, JAXB architecture, Hibernate;

    programming languages: Java, С++, PHP‚ JavaScript, Phyton; XML‚HTML; SQL, JPQL

    management software: SVN, Maven, Archiva, CruiseControl;

    Unix OS administration: Linux Fedora/Ubuntu/Slackware/OpenSUSE‚ FreeBSD;

    databases: MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL

Key skills in a resume example for a position

    analytical thinking;

    planning;

    accuracy and attention to detail;

    organization;

    the ability to solve problems effectively;

    knowledge: taxes, GAAP reporting, ACCA Dip IFR certificate, auditor's certificate;

    software skills: 1C, BEST, SUN, CMS, Consultant, Garant, MS Office;

For the position of chief accountant, it is also worth adding:

    more than 5 years of experience in the position of chief accountant;

    Successful experience in accounting management (up to 10 people);

    English language colloquial.