"Name your strengths and weak sides? - this is a question you will most likely be asked at any interview. Yes, and in the column "Strengths and Weaknesses" is simply absent. But if you have already decided to write about it, then let's “submit everything to at its best". The universal rule is that even your weaknesses in the resume should be attractive to the employer. For clarity, let's look at a few examples.
Weaknesses in the resume (relative to the requirements of a particular vacancy):
- No work experience at all (but there is a specialized education and a willingness to gain experience from “0”)
- No specialized education (but there is work experience and a desire to develop in this profession)
- No knowledge special programs(but there is a desire and willingness to master them as soon as possible)
- There is Small child(but there will be no more decree, grandparents help with the child)
- Insufficient level of foreign language proficiency (but there is a desire and readiness to “pull up” it in the shortest possible time)
It is definitely not worth writing about the weaknesses of the character in the resume.
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Strengths in resume
Strengths in a resume are, in fact, your experience, education, knowledge and skills. It is not necessary to highlight any of this in the resume. It is better to emphasize during the interview that due to experience, education, knowledge, skills and your personal qualities, you are a suitable candidate for the vacancy.
The strengths of the character in the resume can be mentioned. Most often, all these are your personal qualities. Try to get away from the hackneyed "sociability", "punctuality", "responsibility", "diligence", "high efficiency". Describe your qualities in simple phrases. For example, "I can easily find mutual language with strangers”, “I responsibly approach the solution of the tasks assigned to me”, “I always do the work efficiently and on time”.
Irina Davydova
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How to please the future boss if his profile contains an insidious item - weaknesses of character? In a resume, unlike a normal conversation, every word has weight, so it's better to prepare in advance for uncomfortable questions, and weak qualities in you must be presented as very useful for business.
- You can simply not indicate your weak professional qualities in your resume. Concentrate on your skills, experience, education, and you can talk about personal qualities at the interview. However, it is impossible to refuse that item if you fill out a resume in in electronic format. Read also:
- A dash instead of information is another mistake of future employees. If the boss decided to leave this column, it means that he is really interested in this information. And the point is not even in it, but in checking an adequate perception of oneself, the ability to learn and understand the leader. Emptiness can speak of excessively high self-esteem or, on the contrary, self-doubt. Read also:
- Of course, you should not list all the shortcomings in too much detail or engage in self-flagellation. It is enough to remember that any weaknesses in the resume have a downside for the employer. And what may be a problem for one may be an advantage for another. For example, if you are an accountant, your lack of communication will be useful in your work. And if you are a manager, then this is a serious omission.
- Filling in the summary of strengths and weaknesses, try to build on the position you want to occupy. For example, select deficiencies that are not related to your activity. Restlessness for a sales manager is the norm, but for an accountant it is a minus.
- "Turn weaknesses into strengths" is the old approach. It works if you can think creatively. Otherwise, the efforts will be too primitive and they will figure you out. So the trick of "with a heightened sense of responsibility, workaholism and perfectionism" may not be successful.
- Remember that some bosses do not look for faults in you at all. , but only evaluate the adequacy, truthfulness and self-criticism.
- It is better to describe your weaknesses in a resume that can be improved. This should also be reported in the text of the questionnaire. There are some bosses who want to train employees for themselves. In this case, your frankness and willingness to work on yourself will be appreciated adequately.
- Specify not only individual characteristics, but also your properties in teamwork .
- Do not use flowery phrases like "my flaws are extensions of my virtues." This will not surprise, but only show the unwillingness to conduct a dialogue with the employer.
- The optimal number of flaws is 2 or 3 . Don't get carried away!
Weaknesses in the resume - examples:
- Selfishness, pride, scrupulousness, inflexibility in labor matters, the habit of telling the truth directly, inability to establish contact with strangers, increased demands.
- Propensity for formalism, overweight, lack of punctuality, slowness, restlessness, fear of airplanes, impulsiveness.
- Reliability, high anxiety, hyperactivity, incredulity, straightforwardness, need for external motivation.
- Hot temper, isolation, self-confidence, stubbornness.
- Among the weaknesses, you can indicate in your resume that you do not always express your thoughts perfectly or tend to reflect . And if you are asked why this interferes, answer that you would like to spend less time analyzing the problem.
After all, it is after reading it that the first stage of screening out candidates for the position follows. This means that the applicant must first of all interest an HR specialist in order to qualify for the first interview.
The resume should be short enough, no more than 1-2 pages. It is necessary to try to place in this format not only information about professional skills and education received, but also briefly identify the applicant. pointing personal information, weigh each phrase, because this is how your weaknesses are revealed in the resume. For example, if you're worried about being rejected because of your age category, list your work experience first, and write your date of birth at the end. and the presence of children in each case also affects the assessment of the resume. If the work involves business trips, be sure to indicate that one of the family members or a nanny is with the children, that you can leave them without any problems during business trips. This applies to women in more especially if the children are small. Better information indicate about babies at the very end of the resume so that it is not perceived negatively. Having children in a woman preschool age for almost any employer, these are your weaknesses in the resume. Try to spend as much time as possible with
to my strengths - education, professional experience, acquired skills. It may happen that you are asked to fill out a resume form developed by the employer. Surely there will be a lot of questions about your personal qualities. No need to pretend to be someone you are not, because during the work it will all be revealed.
Yours in resume
If you are required to describe your strengths and weaknesses on your resume, don't be too outspoken. No need to describe the weaknesses of the character. In your resume, be concise and weigh the features. Indeed, depending on the position for which you are applying, the same quality can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. For example, the work of an analyst does not require communication skills; other qualities are more appropriate here - scrupulousness, concentration, etc. To work with visitors, an employee with a calm, sometimes even phlegmatic character is required. There is absolutely no need for leadership inclinations here.
Describing your weaknesses on your resume, such as ignorance foreign language, focus on your desire for development and desire to learn. If you are required to talk about your shortcomings, indicate no more than 2-3 qualities. It is better to avoid vague language and do not indicate qualities that go against the requirements for a vacant position. Describe the most in simple terms, without complex verbal turns, their weaknesses in the resume. Example: impulsiveness, straightforwardness, isolation, etc. Do not write statements such as restlessness, irascibility, slowness, etc., that frighten a potential employer. Do not share your pain, it has nothing to do with your plans to get a job.
Hello dear blog readers! It does not matter if you are on its pages for the first time, or are regular visitors - in any case, welcome. Today, our topic related to earnings and employment will be replenished with another interesting problem - how to indicate the strengths and weaknesses of a person in a resume. An example of how NOT to do this is pretty straightforward.
Some applicants who have read Western literature, which calls for being extremely sincere with the employer, do not hesitate to dump all their ins and outs in front of him, and then naively wonder why they were “pushed out” with the vacancy. Ideally, of course, you shouldn’t do this, but you shouldn’t describe yourself as an impeccable person and employee either - in any case, the truth will become clear as soon as you start your immediate duties.
From this article you will learn:
When a person writes a resume, he rarely puts himself in the place of an employer and in most cases does not understand that texts containing entirely positive characteristics are pretty boring, and it is understood that they are not true in 90 percent of cases. This is easy to understand, because the task of the applicant is to produce on potential bosses good impression, a strengths, listed in the text, help to do this in the best possible way.
However, there is a little secret: when you write about weaknesses, it kind of involuntarily sets the employer up for the fact that you are a sincere person, so you can be dealt with.
Below, read about how to find the “golden mean” between a resume that lists only the pros and one that will scare the employer away because of the cons.
speak the truth
When compiling a resume, do not try to overly exaggerate and compose something. Just speak the truth. There are numerous examples of how beautiful legend, invented when applying for a job, fell apart after a couple of clarifying questions or a check by the company's security service, so it's better to be sincere with the employer. Everything that you want to write in your resume must be confirmed, otherwise, it will greatly discredit you. Before you, check again if you have attributed to yourself, carried away by fantasies, the third higher education or work experience in a foreign corporation abroad.
Answer the questions
Often, many employers provide a ready-made resume form, offering to answer a question about their negative qualities. Leaving this field blank is at least impolite, so write something there that can hardly be called a serious flaw. At the same time, it is best to focus on those personality traits and character traits that you can work on by improving them.
For example, write that you are shy - for a person who works in the field of communications, this is a critical, but surmountable shortcoming.
By the way, if you think it's better to use the standard "template expressions" in it and do not write anything about your cons! In order to describe them briefly, a small column in the resume is enough.
Don't forget to praise yourself
Each of us has achievements, and in the resume it is very important to highlight exactly what the employer is interested in. If you're good at making great presentations, or good at graphic editors, or fluent in English, be sure to mention it, especially if the job offers something similar.
Turn imperfections into virtues
When describing your negative traits, try to present them in such a way that the employer perceives them as positive.
For example:
self-confidence can be applied as leadership qualities;
restless character- as readiness to perform new tasks;
straightness– as the self-confidence necessary for conducting important negotiations.
Don't confuse the personal with the professional!
When deciding the issue with your employment, do not forget: first of all, employers are interested in your work achievements, and it is on them that you should focus. That is, if you still set out to point out the negative sides, let them not be personal traits, but something related exclusively to the work process (excessive meticulousness, difficulties with the team due to dislike for “freeloaders”, inability to deceive, lack of experience work, etc.).
It's the same with the merits - list only those that are directly related to work, because it is unlikely that your excellent culinary skills can become a decisive argument in your favor if you get a job as a purchasing manager.
The key is moderation.
Try not to write a "sheet" that is not too easy to read. The best option- indicate 4-5 of your characteristics, which are the main ones. By the way, if your resume successfully passed the first stage, and you were called for a personal interview, you shouldn’t get too carried away there either and lay out all your ins and outs in front of the personnel officer - answer strictly the questions posed, hardly your interlocutor is interested in anything else.
So, we figured out how best to tell in a resume about your positive and negative sides, now you just have to try it out in practice. If the material is of interest to you and is useful, share it in social networks with your friends - let them also know how to make the process of finding a job easier for themselves! Do not forget to subscribe to blog updates so as not to miss the release of new publications. And now I say goodbye to you for a while.