Whether it's in your resume, cover letter, or interviews, employers are often looking for certain skills. Sometimes, employers will list these skills under "Qualifications" on job apps. More often, however, they expect you to exhibit the following skills.
By exhibit, we don't mean explicitly writing in your resume that you have these skills, but rather hinting at it. We'll show you how!
Skills to Highlight
1
Time Management:
- How to Learn: Prioritize your tasks for the next day before signing off. Put the biggest, ugliest tasks first if you can. Once you tackle those, the rest will come easy and you’ll stay on target.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “manage,” “multi-task,” and “meet deadlines.” If possible, you’ll want to provide more details. For example, “Managed five client accounts and met delivery deadlines.”
2
Teamwork:
- How to Learn: Learn how and why other teams work to more effectively partner with them on projects. You need to display a positive attitude by providing positive feedback or constructive criticism and by showing excitement to take tasks while allowing others to contribute.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “collaborate,” “work with,” and “partner.” For example, “Partnered successfully with team members to…”
3
Creativity:
- How to Learn: Find some simple things you can do to strengthen your creativity – for example, things that exercise the right-half of your brain like art are good for expanding creativity. Sometimes all it takes is a small change in your routine.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “design,” “innovate,” and “create.” For example, “Innovated new strategy that led to a 50% increase in sales.
4
Business Acumen:
- How to Learn: Learn about what your company/organization does, its competitors, and your field of industry. It helps you gain a broader idea of how to boost your company’s goals.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “determine,” “hone skills,” and “decide.” These terms should highlight your ability to make a sound judgement on business matters. For example, “Determined strategy that successfully…”
5
Communication:
- How to Learn: It’s important to be excellent at verbal and written communication skills. Practice writing concisely and effectively, responding politely in tense situations, and speaking in a way that highlights your commitment to service.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “correspond,” “write,” or “engage.” You’ll also want to specify who you spoke with and how it helped you gain skills. For example, “Engaged with diverse applicants.” Although not explicitly mentioned, the skill gained is obviously the ability to speak with culturally-diverse people.
6
Problem Solving:
- How to Learn: You should be able to showcase your logical and analytical skills while solving difficult challenges, especially in technical fields. To improve, practice case study problems and logical games. You should also practice critical thinking – that is, the ability to examine the pros and cons of something accurately.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “solve,” “resolve,” or “improve.” The idea behind this is that there is some specific problem that you’ve fixed. For example, “Resolved gaps in supplier-customer chain.”
7
Leadership:
- How to Learn: Candidates need to show potential to motivate teams and to move up the leadership ladder. Develop skills at delegating tasks, creating timelines, and leading by a good example. You can practice by joining some club in your city/school and trying to get any leadership position. That way, the stakes are relatively low, but you can learn how to be an effective leader.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use action verbs like “lead,” “organize,” and “manage.” For example, “Managed team of ten engineers to solve water shortage.”
8
Confidence:
- How to Learn: In a workplace, you need to create and have the balance of being confident but not arrogant. Practice stating how good you are at something while trying to come across as humble. Also, with the exception of interviews, never brag in conversations.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use adverbs like “adeptly,” “successfully,” and “innovatively.” These adverbs display confidence in your abilities while also coming across as professional.
9
Commitment to Service
- How to Learn: Your future boss wants to know that you’ll be willing to do any project that’s needed and are passionate about the company goals. Research your company’s mission in advance and practice showing enthusiasm in facing any challenge.
- How to Highlight: You’ll want to use adjectives like “passionate,” “determined,” and “service-oriented.” While these adjectives aren’t usually included in a resume, they’re great for a cover letter.
For more useful words to use in your resume, check out the following resource: