Whether you’re putting your resume together after an unexpected job loss, exploring a new career or graduating from college, you may be wondering how to develop your resume.
First, read this to avoid common mistakes. Next, you need to put together a list of job skills.
Keep reading to learn 6 job skills employers look for on your resume.
Chief Among Job Skills is Problem-Solving
The bottom line is that an employer is looking for someone to solve a problem — to optimize operational effectiveness, boost its sales, grow new business, repair its image, or manage others to do those things. Otherwise, there would be no job vacancy.
Regardless of your other skills, you will need to orient yourself with the potential employer’s problems.
Organizations value employees who can get things done consistently and on time. If you can handle projects without excuse-laden delay or complaints, this is a great skill to showcase.
Show you can solve problems rather than needing to be rescued from them, and you’re off to a good start!
Organization and Planning
These job skills tend to go hand-in-hand.
Provide examples of a time when you took a voluminous amount of information from multiple sources and seamlessly processed it so that everyone was well-prepared, deadlines were met, and you looked like a genius.
Willingness/Ability to Learn
You don’t want your potential employer to think that you’re not willing to broaden your knowledge base because there’s always new things to learn.
There is a difference between someone who tolerates learning and someone who tackles new projects with fervor. Be in the latter category.
Teamwork
Even if you work from a home office, you won’t be an island.
Teamwork can be broken down into subsets such as dependability, accountability, and communication. The descriptions below are translated into a benefit for your potential employer to help you prepare for your interview.
Being dependable means that you consistently and timely follow through on deliverables.
Accountability means that someone doesn’t have to wince when they ask you to correct something. You eagerly accept an opportunity to improve yourself because you realize it’s not about you.
Good communication means that you ask questions early on and e-mail or speak in a clear, direct way to avoid time-consuming volleying due to misunderstandings.
Multi-Cultural Awareness
Today, employers are looking for professional sensitivity. Your ability to flourish in a multi-cultural environment is critical.
Being a member of a diverse workforce is more than just helping your employer avoid an audience before the EEOC. It’s about your ability to respect the views, ideas, and backgrounds of others.
The Skill That Your Ideal Employer is Looking For
The first five skills are the primary skills that translate across industries. Much of your resume will have universal application and may at most require tweaking.
But leaving a “place-holder” in your resume allows you to showcase something industry-specific or respond to a job description and “ideal candidate” criteria.
If you need some help getting your resume started, click here for samples. If you are overwhelmed by this process, find out whether a resume-writing service is a good option for you today!