Characteristics of the student’s business qualities and professional skills. Personal qualities in a resume: what to write? Examples and recommendations

Professional skills and personal qualities are a mandatory point when filling out an application or for any vacancy. In this section, you have the opportunity to express yourself by telling a potential employer about all your advantages. Some applicants are sure that the professional skills section is considered key. But they are not entirely right. Recruiters pay the same attention to it as they do to personal qualities. And often their inconsistency with a certain vacancy can cause a candidate to be rejected.

Professional skills and personal qualities: what should be avoided?

When filling out these items, follow one simple rule: be sincere. There is no need to invent something that does not exist. The deception will be revealed, and then the employer

will be extremely disappointed. Don’t write that you can, for example, work with Photoshop, although in fact you’ve only opened it a couple of times. Very often, recruiters give a test task to a candidate they like to determine their level of knowledge, and this is where you risk getting into trouble. There is also no need to write in the “personal qualities” column, for example, that you are a very sociable, sociable person who quickly finds a common language with other people, if this is not true. Another piece of advice: do not write too much or, conversely, too little about yourself in these paragraphs, keep it in moderation.

Professional skills and personal qualities: what should you write?

When listing your professional skills, list only those that are relevant and relevant. For example, if you are writing a resume for a programmer position, then you will not need to indicate that you are good at computers, since this is already implied.

(programmer):

• knowledge of PHP, JavaScript, C++, OOP;
• with MySQL;
• ability to optimize queries and tune databases;
• working with the Zend framework.

Indicate everything you consider necessary. You can also open the requirements for the vacancy (if possible) and add from there everything that applies to you.

The employer is not fully interested in the personal qualities of the candidate. We are talking about what may be required of an employee. For example, there is no need to write that you are a kind and warm-hearted person, since this does not apply to work. Here is a list of what you can include in your resume:

• diligence;
• ambition (if we are talking about leadership positions, vacancies that require a creative and creative approach);
• organization (this refers to both self-organization and the ability to organize the work of a team);
• punctuality;
• responsibility;
• sociability (implies several concepts: the ability to quickly establish contact with other people, sociability, talkativeness);
• initiative (the ability to take the situation into one’s own hands and develop new ideas and proposals);
• good learning ability (the ability to quickly absorb new knowledge);
• stress resistance (ability to work under stressful conditions).

Professional skills and personal qualities are two very important points, so treat them extremely carefully and do not try to deceive a potential employer.

The concept of business qualities is familiar to everyone, so everyone understands well that their presence helps not only to get a good job, but also to move up the career ladder.

If we consider in more detail, a person’s business qualities are the ability of an employee to perform certain tasks that are posed to him by the specifics of his specialty.

What are the business qualities of an employee:

• professional - acquired;
• personal – innate.

Foreign companies have long practiced conducting psychological tests when hiring. This is necessary so that, when choosing from several candidates with suitable business qualities, you can hire the one who has the greatest psychological compatibility with your future team.

Assessment of business qualities

It is possible to determine whether a person is suitable for successful activities in a certain field of work by analyzing his professional qualifications, which include:

• previous experience of successful professional activity in this field;
• qualification;
• some personal qualities - health, communication skills, etc.

The employer may also put forward additional requirements that will be mandatory when you are hired for a new job. This may be a requirement to speak a foreign language or have a driver's license. All large companies currently have at their disposal a lot of methods for checking the business qualities of candidates for a certain position. Assessing an employee’s business qualities before hiring him is just as important as assessing his ability to work during his professional activities in a new workplace.

Business and professional qualities of a leader

The profession of a manager implies the presence of several subordinates, which means that a manager can fully be considered a leader. The business qualities of a manager are, first of all, his skills and abilities to find the most optimal way out of the current situation, the ability to find the simplest and shortest path to achieving the desired goal. The business qualities of a leader-manager are a combination of business and personal qualities.

The best business qualities of a leader

These concepts also apply to business qualities of both men and women.

Negative business qualities

All business qualities are initially positive when hiring candidates, it all depends on how the person will use them. For example, the entrepreneurial spirit of an employee can serve as a kind of cover for him during poor performance of his official duties and hide such a personal quality as dishonesty.

One of the most important components of a successful job search is a well-written resume. This small document is designed to distinguish the applicant from other applicants for the position and interest a potential employer. It is important not only to reliably indicate age, education and work experience, but also personal qualities in your resume. Real life examples show that it is precisely this information that recruiters and managers have been seriously paying attention to recently. You can seek help from specialists or try to do it yourself.

Important nuances

Before choosing which personal qualities to include in your resume, examples and samples, you need to study and familiarize yourself with the basic rules for filling out this section.

• Any information must be reliable and truthful. The deception will sooner or later be revealed anyway, so you shouldn’t fool others or yourself by the nose.
• Personal qualities should be stated briefly and clearly. However, you should not use only hackneyed general phrases that do not convey any specific information to a potential employer.
• This section, like the entire resume as a whole, must be written correctly, without errors and colloquial vocabulary.
• As a rule, you are asked to indicate the five most important personal qualities, so there is no need to overdo it and indicate everything. It is necessary to carefully analyze which character traits or behaviors may be useful for a particular profession or position. For example, an economist does not necessarily need to be creative, but a salesperson will find it very useful to be able to resolve conflict situations.

Groups and Templates

Personal qualities for a resume can be divided into several groups, each of which has its own template phrases.

• Work and job responsibilities. These include: high efficiency and hard work, dedication or focus on results, analytical abilities, determination, responsibility, ability to adapt, discipline.
• Relationships with people. Templates: sociability, friendliness, resistance to stress and non-conflict, ability to persuade, ability to work in a team, fairness, politeness, competent speech.
• Creative thinking and development. Possible options: easy learning, desire for development, desire to improve, creativity, creative approach, resourcefulness.
• Character traits. Typical expressions: perseverance, attentiveness, accuracy, activity, punctuality, decency, cheerfulness.

Personal qualities in a resume: examples of writing for some professions and positions

There are many template phrases that can be used when creating a questionnaire. The employer carefully examines the personal qualities in the resume.

Example of a manager:

• focus on the results of the entire team's work;
• ability to persuade and direct; availability of skills to quickly analyze the situation and make decisions;
• stress resistance;
• increased performance.

Accountant: attention to detail, scrupulousness when working with documents, the ability to easily learn and adapt when changing legal requirements, perseverance, decency.

Lawyer: literacy, ability to find, remember and analyze volumes of information, perseverance when working with documents, ability to quickly make decisions, contact.

Secretary: pleasant and well-groomed appearance, competent speech and good diction, ability to communicate, ability to smooth out conflict situations, efficiency, accuracy.

It is very important to correctly describe personal qualities for professions that involve working with people (managers, salespeople, consultants, etc.). You can use this sample to create a resume.

Personal qualities (example): sociability, ability to easily establish contact, ability to persuade, resistance to stress, non-conflict.

First job

If a resume is being compiled for the first time, and there is nothing to fill out in the column about work activity, then in the section on the specialist’s personal qualities it is better to indicate the following:

• desire to develop and improve;
• fast learner;
• good memory;
• activity;
• creativity and creative approach to work;
• desire to work in a team.

However, we should not forget about the relevance of qualities for a particular place of work.

Nobody is perfect

From the information presented in the previous paragraphs, it is clear how to write personal qualities in a resume. The examples given above will help you understand and fill out this section correctly. But what if the employer asks you to state your shortcomings?

Under no circumstances should this item be ignored or left blank. Because ideal people simply do not exist. A reluctance to point out your weaknesses may put a potential employer on guard. In this matter, it should be remembered that some negative character traits or behavioral characteristics are simply unacceptable for some professions, but for others they have no meaning or, on the contrary, can be very useful.

So, let's look at personal qualities in a resume: examples, weaknesses in a favorable light:

• Excessive scrupulousness or perfectionism. For a party organizer or animator, such a deficiency will most likely greatly interfere with their work. But such an accountant or financier will be just a godsend for a manager.
• Excessive activity. For professions that require perseverance (analysts, accountants, economists, accountants, seamstresses, telephone operators, etc.), this is a big drawback, but for those from whom “moved mountains” are expected (managers, salespeople, journalists, etc.) ), this negative quality is actually simply irreplaceable.
• Inability to deceive or be cunning. For a seller, most likely, such a disadvantage will be significant, but an assistant manager with such a weakness will suit a potential employer.
• Having bad habits. Today, many firms and enterprises refuse to employ people who lead an unhealthy lifestyle, but a person who smokes cigarettes will fit quite harmoniously into the position of sales manager at a tobacco company.
• Appearance. For example, being overweight can be a huge disadvantage for many professions, but for a customer service dispatcher or a telephone operator taking taxi orders, such a disadvantage does not matter at all, since no one will see it.

Resume for interview

When writing your characteristics, you should take into account the likelihood that during the interview the applicant will be asked to confirm what he wrote with specific actions. Therefore, it is worth seriously considering what personal qualities to include in your resume.

Example: a person applying for the position of an analyst wrote about his ability to quickly find any information. During an interview, he may be asked to do this to ensure that he has this skill in practice.

Or another example: an applicant for the position of sales manager, who easily finds an approach to people, may be asked to meet and get the phone number from the first person he meets.

Such checks are now very popular and are used in hiring processes in many large companies.

What may be the business qualities of an employee, a list that should be followed? The list of them is of course large and varied. Currently, it is up to the employer to evaluate the actions of any employee, his level of professionalism, strengths and business qualities. This becomes a perfect task, helping to form an efficient team and significantly increase labor efficiency. But from the side of the employee himself, their list helps not only to create a competent resume sent when looking for a job, but also increases the chances of other potential applicants in the employment process.

The personal qualities of employees can be divided into 2 large categories: personal, which are initially innate and develop during the development stages of the person himself, and professional, which are acquired in the process of work and come with experience. A skillful combination of both, and constant work on oneself, provide a unique opportunity for career growth and good management. Let's look at these categories in more detail.

Professional qualities of the employee

Of course, in its standard understanding, this list can be huge, and the criteria that a manager uses when assessing a particular employee can differ significantly depending on the positions held, the functionality assigned to the employees, and the tasks assigned to them.

But let’s try to collect their frequently occurring positions into a single list.

1. Self confidence. This is an acquired quality that gives a clear awareness of the impeccable performance of one’s functions and a kind of basis for further decision-making.
2. Excellent knowledge of the features and technology of work, ways to improve it. It is developed with incoming experience and thanks to one’s own interest in the relevance of production changes.
3. The ability to choose the right means and real methods for achieving the best results.
4. Creativity. Defining an updated approach to an established production process and the opportunity to look at it from a different, non-standard perspective.
5. Stress resistance. This is the ability to show restraint in one’s own reaction in relation to the situation or actions of employees.
6. Planning your own work process in relation to efficiency and combining it with the work of the entire team.
7. Emotional balance. Lack of a strong reaction to what is happening and regular maintenance of calm in conflict issues. It is developed over time in the stability of emerging situations.
8. The desire to win. Regular desire to achieve the best performance in relation to other employees occupying the same positions in the organization.
9. Distribution of powers and responsibilities. The ability to determine the priority of assigned tasks and delegate some powers to the team with their subsequent control.
10. Clear and tough solutions to operational issues. In the process of well-established work, non-standard situations arise that require timely identification and resolution, and here only actual actions are necessary.
11. Strictness and fairness towards one’s own actions and those of others. Abilities that enable you to evaluate work results.
12. Organization of personnel work. The ability to professionally organize the process of activity so that each employee clearly understands their tasks and strives for their effective implementation.

Personal qualities of employees

These are aspects of human life that are formed individually, developing every year. They affect not only relationships in the family, everyday life and friendly contacts, but also work processes.

1. Skill to work in team. Of course, this is very important when the team, as a whole, is determined to achieve results, to organize its work without conflicts and in a pleasant positive way with the rest of the employees.
2. Justice and honesty. This is the key to the right attitude and the opportunity to demand the same attitude towards yourself.
3. The ability to listen to other people’s opinions, accept advice and recommendations. You need to understand that the decision made may not always be the only true and correct one, and an outside perspective is sometimes able to most effectively assess the situation. It is important to simply accept such help.
4. Adequate perception of criticism from outside. Do not think that the criticizing person is completely negative towards you. Perhaps this is simply a method to show real performance results and improve their level. Such criticism mostly brings positive results.
5. Ability to defend your decisions and interests. In industrial disputes, based on evidence and facts, it is important to correctly convey performance indicators
6. Integrity. This is a quality that helps you defend your own point of view.
7. The ability to keep your word. This position convinces of responsibility and the opportunity to rely on your candidacy, confirming once again that you are a good employee.
8. Showing tact. This is the ability with which it is possible to build better relationships in a team.
9. Determination and perseverance. Such innate qualities allow you to defend your own position and convince management of the correctness of your decisions.

The assessment of the business qualities of employees for the first time occurs when hiring. It is here, during the interview process, that the head of the organization considers your candidacy positionally, mentally applying these qualities in relation to the future functionality of the job. And a little later, by conducting regular certifications, it helps to assess the suitability of abilities for the position held. During the assessment process, a number of other main tasks are solved:

• the most relevant place in the organizational structure is determined for more effective use of the strengths of the future employee;
• if necessary, develops an individual development program for employees;
• ways of possible motivation are determined;
• The satisfaction of personnel from their duties is considered.

On the one hand, such a process helps to actively collect all the necessary information to study the employee’s level of professionalism and the possible organization of his training, and on the other hand, it increases his motivation and develops the basis for future material incentives.

There are several stages of business assessment of personnel:

• collection of preliminary information about the activities and results of an employee’s labor in production;
• drawing up basic questions for an assessment conversation with an employee;
• conducting an interview and evaluating the responses received to the assessment questions asked;
• formation of an expert-level opinion and transfer of data to a special commission;
• making individual decisions on proposals put forward.

What does an employer want to know about a potential employee, in addition to his education, experience and professional skills? Usually this is the attitude towards work, towards other people (employees and clients) and career goals.

Personal qualities for a resume should look like a brief but succinct description of your advantages. It is logical to add negative qualities to a resume only if the employer requires them.

You should write about yourself honestly. The deception will be revealed during the interview and will become a serious disadvantage for the applicant. It is better not to write anything than to attribute non-existent virtues to yourself.

What qualities are best left unstated?

This directly depends on the desired position. The manager and head of the sales organization should indicate the relevant business qualities for the resume. Creativity or love for children has no place here.

Communication skills should not be specified for specialties that require concentration and perseverance. And they should not be mentioned to people of creative professions: designers and artists.

It’s worth writing about attractive appearance and athletic training only if they are required for your future profession.

How to Avoid Patterns

Recruiters are annoyed by typical and hackneyed “responsibilities” with “punctuality”. The applicant is automatically included in the list of identical applicants. In addition, the gaze does not linger on banal phrases. The time a recruiter spends on viewing does not exceed half a minute.

How to get his attention? Simply reveal the meaning of a word as an explanation or replace it. As an example: the expression “I perform my duties in good faith” is better than the standard “responsibility”. “Communication skills” are described in more detail if special courses and business trainings have been completed.

From a psychological point of view, it is more useful to do without the particle “not”. As an example: “non-conflict” - friendly, peace-loving, calm.

It is more effective to describe personal character strengths in a detailed, but laconic manner in a resume; examples of more effective disclosure of personal qualities are given in the tables.

It happens that the employer requires a list of shortcomings. Which negative qualities of a person are suitable for a resume are determined by the intended position.

Writing example

We have summarized the most commonly used personal qualities for resumes in tables.

Character strengths and personal qualities of a person for a resume

Strengths for a resume	Synonymous expressions (which are added or used instead of character traits)
Responsible	I am conscientious about my work
Punctual	I always complete tasks on time
Communicable	I easily find common language with people
	I always find an individual approach to the client
	I try to find an approach to each child (student)
Polite	Doesn't need rephrasing
	I am always polite and remain calm in any conflict situation
Creative	I search for and implement original solutions even for mundane tasks
Trainable	I am constantly engaged in self-improvement, improve my qualifications through courses and trainings, and am ready for further training.
Efficient	Able to work productively while focusing on end goals
Stress-resistant	I maintain composure under any circumstances
Balanced	Most often it is possible to leave it like this
Initiative
Organized
Careful
Disciplined

Negative personality traits and aspects of character presented as strengths

A creative approach to telling a story about yourself helps you find a new job, even if the requirements for the vacancy are specified in formalized formulations. What if this is the first test of real interest?

It must be remembered that it is impossible to create a universal list of characteristics for all companies. It is better to prepare several versions of your resume and prepare to argue what you wrote at the interview.

Special opinion

Ivan Dmitrievskikh

Head of HR Department Belitsoft

Personal qualities by which an employer chooses a future employee are divided into four groups. It is important to decide on each of them, not only in order to pass the preliminary selection by the recruiter, but also to stand out among other resumes on the manager’s desk:

1. Flexibility in communication. It is important for any manager to know how easily you will fit into the team and strengthen the team, and to be sure that the amount of time spent on you during the “breaking in” period will be reduced to a minimum. Personal qualities of this group usually include:

• the ability to find a common language (works better than “communication skills,” which many perceive as an addiction to “just talk”);
• ability to resolve conflict situations;
• a team player or a lone hero (different jobs require different qualities - try to determine for yourself what you are better at);
• leadership skills;
• the ability to find a balance of support and pressure to achieve common goals, etc.

2. Responsibility is a very important quality, which for some reason the younger generation pays little attention to in their resumes:

• attitude towards deadlines;
• how ready are you to put aside your personal life “if there is war tomorrow”;
• attitude to quality (how to do it right - faster or better?);
• attitude to detail - you prefer to collect complete information and check every detail, or you understand that you will never collect 100% of the necessary information and sometimes a decision must be made when it is insufficient;
• attitude towards problems (shoals, fakaps) - “it’s not my fault” or there is an understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships of the problem that has arisen (next time, to prevent this, do this, and to reduce losses, do this);
• Do you have systems thinking?

3. Motivation - internal or external - is based on your internal principles or values, or external factors are needed:

• “to” or “from” - achieving something (bonuses, career, status, experience) or avoiding (punishment, for example);
• understanding the balance of pleasure and necessity - which part of the work in the previous place aroused passion, and which killed with boredom.

4. Your energy - there is nothing worse for an employer than taking on an expensive burnt-out professional:

• why you left your previous job (why you started looking for a job);
• relations with management at the previous place;
• what are you looking for in a new job?
• what hobbies do they have outside of work (usually burned out people don’t have them under the pretext of “no time”).

All these qualities are indicated in a separate professional qualities column or in a cover letter. For example:

“Over the course of five years of work, I rotated through three departments. I easily found a common language with colleagues in each of them. The ability to provide timely support has always helped with this. There were a couple of conflicts, but they were resolved fairly quickly. Unfortunately, six months ago I realized that I had reached the ceiling in my professional growth. And my energy is much more than was needed there. In my new position, I am looking for an opportunity to work with a strong mentor and implement my ideas.”

Irina Verevka

Head of Recruiting at the Center for Human Capital Development

When looking for a job and writing a resume, it is important to understand that the employer is interested in the result. The main question for a recruiter: how can a potential employee make the company better? Therefore, it is preferable to formulate personal qualities for a resume in the format of soft skills, that is, flexible non-specialized skills and competencies. Their presence allows the employee to solve non-standard problems, effectively interact with the team, and manage their own performance.

Formulating personality traits in soft skills format with specific results makes the resume more presentable and professional. It helps the employer understand what a potential employee can achieve.

But when describing personal qualities, the applicant often oversaturates the resume with them. Therefore, before formulating the next point, think about whether it is really necessary? A sense of proportion is very important. Many characteristics give rise to doubts among recruiters and provoke questions. For example, you indicated such a quality as “charisma”. Can you explain how it manifests itself and how to evaluate it?

If the employer still has questions, be prepared to confirm your personal qualities. Prepare several examples that prove your serious attitude to the matter and ability to take responsibility. If in doubt, refuse to indicate a particular trait. If you don't include anything necessary for the job in your resume, the interviewer will ask leading questions.

Kristina Korepina

hr-marketing specialist

The article provides an excellent table for rephrasing hackneyed descriptive adjectives. But I propose to go even further and identify personal qualities through examples from practice. That is: “I come to meetings 5 ​​minutes in advance to have time to get comfortable” - this phrase is about punctuality, about responsibility and about good manners.

Or “I reply to any incoming letter at the post office that the letter is in progress. And this is not an automatic response” - this is about high accounting service, about customer focus.

This kind of storytelling will definitely catch the eye of HR and at the same time reveal you as a creative person!

Personal qualities in your resume should highlight your strengths in a business environment and not be formulaic. At best, they won’t read template characteristics; at worst, they will think that you copied them from another resume or did not consider it necessary to devote time and attention to your own wording (and here the resume will lose several points in the eyes of the employer).

To create a list of personal qualities that will be added to your resume:

• remember your last birthday in the company: what did you wish for? How were you described? what colleagues, subordinates, managers, partners said about you;
• Remember 2-3 difficult work tasks over the past year: what made you succeed at them? What personal qualities helped you? thanks to what qualities you overcame difficulties along the way;
• look at the two resulting lists, mark the ones that intersect, evaluate the remaining ones, create your own list to add to your resume (3-5 points).

Sometimes, if it is difficult to write personal qualities in a resume, it is better not to write them at all. The only thing is that in this case, prepare to be asked about them in an interview, and most likely you will have to talk about them.

Victor Nazarishin

Head of HR SIM-NETWORKS

On the one hand, the personal qualities (soft skills) that will allow a person to be effective in a position are indicated in the professiogram and the position profile, which is created on the basis of the corresponding professiogram. Please read these documents before deciding on your personal list.

On the other hand, when a recruiter publishes a vacancy, he describes the requirements for the personal qualities of the person the company is looking for for this position. Ideally, determine a summary list of personal qualities that correspond to both the professional profile and the employer’s requirements. These personal qualities and their manifestation are of interest to the employer.

Taking into account the fact that the requirements of employers are different and they do not always coincide with the classic vision of a professionogram (expert assessment), it is recommended to describe personal qualities not in a resume, but in a covering letter!

First of all, focus the employer’s attention on those personal qualities that are important in your profession. For example, it is important for a project manager to be able to manage time wisely and be punctual. And if you are applying for a position that involves monotonous, repetitive work, you should declare your perseverance, consistency and love of order.

Well, you should avoid cliches - the standard “communication skills” and “stress resistance” in your resume will, at best, be ignored.

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