One Item That Is Often Absent in Resumes but Extremely Important: Soft Skills
PsychologyOne Item That Is Often Absent in Resumes but Extremely Important: Soft Skills Share: Psychology One Item That Is Often Absent in Resumes but Extremely Important: Soft Skills Craig J Todd I'm a UK-based professional writer with a burning desire for helping others. Full Bio Resumes are your first (and often only) chance to
impress a prospective employer. They may have received hundreds of applications for the role you’re going for. If your resume is stacked-full of professional qualifications and work experience – then you may be surprised to find that your application doesn’t stand out. If you’re failing to reach the interview stage, then you should definitely look at
adding a selection of ‘soft skills’ to your resume. Soft Skills: The Difference Between a Weak and Strong Resume In case you’re unfamiliar with the term soft skills, I’ll give you a few examples: Conflict resolution. Creativity. Decisiveness. Responsibility. Time management. As you can see from the above, soft skills are intangible and non-technical. In other words, they are skills that you’re unlikely to have a certificate for.
Now, just to be clear, it is of course important to list any relevant professional qualifications and experience on your resume. However, to help your resume catch the attention of a prospective employer, you should ensure that your soft skills jump off the page(s). As an example for you, imagine that you are applying for a job as an accountant. It’s probable that the majority of applicants will have accountancy qualifications and relevant work experience. What they may not have (on their resume
at least), is demonstrable soft skills. If your resume clearly shows that you are a great team player and have first-rate communication skills, then you’ll have an excellent chance of being selected for an interview. How to Boost Your Resume by Adding Soft Skills Let’s get straight to it. Soft skills are in high demand by employers. The reasons are obvious. They want employees who: Know how to solve problems. Are easy to work
with. Are adaptable (as opposed to stuck in their ways). Before updating your resume, take some time to think about what soft skills you have. For example, are you good at working under pressure? How about observational skills – are you able to spot trends? My suggestion is to come up with 5-10 soft skills that you genuinely have a talent for.
To help you out, here’s a list of common soft skills that you may be able to add to your resume: Communication. Conflict resolution. Critical observation. Decisiveness. Flexibility. Leadership. Problem solving. Self-motivation. Team work. Time management. To help discover which soft skills you excel at, you may want to ask a friend or colleague to give their honest opinion/perspective on you. The next step is to come up with examples for each soft skill. It’s no use just saying that you are a good problem solver (for instance),
you need to show why this is the case. You can do this by using real examples from your experience. It could be something along the lines of… “In my previous role, I was often presented with issues and problems that no one else in the company could help
with. However, I discovered that with persistence, I was able to resolve these problems – sometimes very quickly.” If you’ve done all the above, then you’re ready to add the soft skills to your resume. The best way to do this, is to: Show, don’t tell. This means that you should embed your soft skills within examples taken from your academic, personal and professional experiences. Let the examples clearly illustrate your soft skills. In terms
of placement, soft skills should be spread across all sections of your resume. You don’t want to overdo it of course. As with most things in life, it’s about finding the right balance. By adding soft skills to your resume, you’ll likely secure an interview – and maybe the job too. About Lifehack Lifehack is about helping you improve your life
through efficient and comprehensive learning. By leveraging the vast amount of knowledge available to us, we explore and present a wide variety of content catered to encouraging individual growth and solving problems. Learn more about our mission Advertising Advertising Advertising What’s Popular now? Poor Sleep Quality Comes from All the Things You Do Since Morning Warren Buffett Says Most People End up Being Average Because They Don't Keep This List Keep A "Friend Bank" So You Can Maintain
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Lifehack Newsletter to end negativity and get things done fast. Scroll down for the next article Why Pursuing Happiness Will Make You End up Being Unhappy Psychology Why Pursuing Happiness Will Make You End up Being Unhappy Leon Ho Leon Ho is the Founder and CEO of Lifehack, which he started in 2005 as a way to share his personal productivity hacks to make life easier. Full Bio Happiness is like your favorite food. Let’s assume you love cookie dough ice cream and whenever you eat it you’re happy. But if you have a freezer stocked with it, someone gifting you with another one won’t
necessarily make you happier. Contrarily, if your freezer stopped running and you had to go without it for weeks, you would be elated if someone showed up with a brand new carton for you. It’s a feeling we have all felt (hopefully), but it’s certainly not a permanent state of mind. Here’s the thing, only by experiencing sadness do we understand what it is to be happy. Assuming others are always happy is the biggest
misunderstanding of happiness. The funny thing is, most people see those who have seemingly perfect lives and assume they are happy all the time. Blame it on all the fairy tales we were read at bedtime as children, but it seems somewhere along the line we forgot that there are not actually princesses who find a prince and live happily-ever-after while peasants and witches stew in their unhappiness nearby. In reality, there is always
something missing, something lacking, or something unpleasant. No one has a perfect life. I think you hear it a lot growing up, that you shouldn’t judge those around you because you don’t know what their life is like behind closed doors. But as we grow and mature we tend to forget. Happiness, at it’s very definition, is a state of contentment. Notice the word, ‘state.’ It’s not a “lifelong, permanent experience,” it’s a state.
Temporary and/or fleeting. When we feel sad, we’re only focusing on a small fluctuating curve. This is usually enforced by our well-meaning friends who say things like, “this is a blessing in disguise,” or “this will soon be a memory; this too shall pass.” They’re right, and we usually know they’re right, but in the moment it can be difficult to see past our
negativity. Do you remember your very first breakup? It felt like the world would never be okay again, didn’t it? But weeks, months and eventually years passed and so many other relationships came and went. Of course you moved on, but in that intense sad moment of time, you were unable to see that there was a future. What we don’t see is the extended version of this curve. In keeping with the breakup example, the extended version of the curve would be your eventual life-partner or your realization that you
were completely happy as a single person. But at the time, there was no future, only darkness and loneliness. What we fail to see is how important Sadness is to Joy. Remember earlier when I said we only know what happiness is because we’ve experienced sadness? If you can really think about what that means, it’s pretty powerful. It takes the darkness to make us grateful for the light. Stop trying to be happy. Just be. It’s natural to want to be happy as often as possible. So what can we do? First, throw away the belief that a perfect life means happiness. Personally, I would be miserable if
everything was perfect. It’s from experiencing the pains of lifelong challenges that drives us to care for others when they are experiencing the same trials. If life was perfect, you wouldn’t be able to empathize. If life was perfect, you wouldn’t grow. To be truly happy, stop chasing permanent happiness. It sounds like a paradox. What I mean is, accept that
there will be ups and downs throughout time. Gracefully understand that happiness is a fluctuation of positive and negative events. Instead of focusing on the unpleasant moment right now, flash back your memory to when you had or didn’t have something.
I like to think about my career for this example. When I didn’t have a career I was happy with and passionate about, I was upset. I felt like everyone was figuring out their lives but me. But when I found my purpose and started Lifehack, I was so happy, even before I realized I would be successful! Remember that gratitude is the key because we
only appreciate a moment when we can compare it with moments of disappointments. Happiness and sadness exist together What it all comes down to is this: your life will be filled with beautiful, happy, incredible, wow-inducing moments. Happy tears and joyous shouts and funny stories. But your life will also be filled with rainy, mucky storms that don’t ever seem to pass when you’re going through them. But whether your face is
warmed by the sunshine, or your heart is dampened by the rain, know that it’s all part of that beautiful ebb and flow of life. Relish in the happy moments and power through the sad ones. Know you aren’t alone in experiencing either, and don’t be afraid to admit when you are hurting. Pretending to be happy won’t make you happy. But being unconditionally honest with yourself about how you feel and why … that’s how you learn
to love your life — good times and bad, and that’s how to be happy. References Featured photo credit: InsideOut via facebook.com About Lifehack Lifehack is about helping you improve your life through efficient and comprehensive learning. By leveraging the vast amount of knowledge available to us, we explore and present a wide variety of content catered to encouraging individual growth and solving problems. Learn
more about our mission Advertising Advertising What’s Popular now? Poor Sleep Quality Comes from All the Things You Do Since Morning Warren Buffett Says Most People End up Being Average Because They Don't Keep This List Keep A "Friend Bank" So You Can Maintain The Right Kind Of Friendship! We're Taking in Too Much
Information and It's Making Us Dumber See How You Don't Have To Start Your Weight Loss Journey Sweaty! Recommended for You 50 Soft Skills for Lifelong Happiness and Success 100 Inspirational Quotes That Will Make You Love Life Again Shortcut to Happiness 15 Things To Stop Doing If You Want To Be Truly Happy Learn More About Psychology 50 Soft Skills for Lifelong Happiness and Success What Is Love and What Is
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