Identifying Your Strengths and Skills

Strengths are essential to a CV and show your past experiences and qualities that differentiate your resume from other applicants during the job application process. It also demonstrates whether you are the right fit for the role that you are interested in.

Your skills and strengths are here to help you highlight your abilities and how you have successfully utilised them in your previous roles. This will help potential employers choose you as their preferred candidate. Highlighting your key strengths in your CV is a crucial step in building a competitive and coherent resume.

Strengths may include soft skills like excellent written ability and verbal communication skills but may also include hard skills like negotiation or sales. Everyone has different strengths, so it is important to outline these qualities to show your achievements and abilities to employers. Having an essential set of strengths is a great way to create a coherent CV and also an excellent way to demonstrate expertise, experience and knowledge.

Aligning Strengths with Job Requirements

To align your strengths with the job requirements and organisational values, you need to identify those strengths and your values. Determining your personal strengths and values will help you find a role best suited for you and allow companies to find the best fit for them during the hiring process.

Once you discover your strengths and core values, the next thing to do is examine the organisation’s vision and goals so that you can have a sense of what the future looks like for this organisation and whether you see yourself within that organisation.

When strengths align with the job requirements, employees are more motivated to thrive, work hard and grow professionally. Additionally, companies see more significant success and growth when they hire candidates who can rely on their core strengths and values and are aligned with the company’s values. All things combined positively affect employee job satisfaction and work performance. Our strengths give us an advantage in life, and people who rely upon and use their strengths daily are more likely to have a better working performance, be more engaged at work and have a better quality of life.

Real strengths are not limited to soft and hard skills and work experience. The real strengths come from your character and how it influences your actions and thoughts. Combining these strengths can help you become a unique and powerful individual.

Incorporating Strengths in CV Sections

The best resumes are full of strengths, including your abilities, traits and knowledge that can set you apart. Adding strengths to your resume highlights can help you showcase your expertise and mastery in the field, so hiring managers will easily spot you as the best fit for their open position.

Professional Summary

The professional summary can sometimes be named the “about me” section, which includes a brief statement that usually sits at the very beginning of the CV. It consists of a summary of your background, qualifications and experiences in a way that grabs attention and will drive hiring managers to contact you further. The professional summary is a segment that will provide potential employers with enough evidence of your values, technical skills, personal strengths and abilities and show them how you are different from other candidates.

Skills Section

The skill section in your resume plays a vital role in connecting the dots and creating a concise image of your expertise, relevant competencies, qualifications and various proficiencies aligned with your strengths and the job requirements. The skills section should coincide with the work experience of someone focused, determined and motivated to make a change and drive the organisation forward.

Achievements and Accomplishments

In the achievements and accomplishments segment, you should showcase the relevant projects you excelled at and the elements of your past roles that you enjoyed. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate examples of you using your strengths and adding value to previous organisations and your ability to develop positive relationships.

Showcasing Soft Skills as Strengths

Soft skills are personal abilities and attributes that will help you interact effectively with others. Some of these skills include strong verbal and written communication, problem-solving, creative skills and teamwork. Employers sometimes value them more than hard skills; however, they are not easily measured and presented in a resume.

The key step here is to identify your soft skills and present them in a way that is most relevant to the job you are applying for. You can do this by reviewing the job description, researching the company you are using, learning more about company culture and analysing the industry trends. Also, look for keywords and phrases to help you focus on the soft skills employers seek.

Common Soft Skills to be Included

Data analysis shows that hiring managers focus on up to 10 soft skills in a candidate’s CV, such as:

  • Strong communication skills
  • Drive
  • Problem-solving
  • Flexibility
  • Teamwork
  • Adaptability
  • Creativity
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Integrity
  • Dedication

Some of the other often sought soft skills include:

  • Self-motivation
  • Leadership
  • Work ethic
  • Dependability
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Empathy
  • Time Management
  • Critical Thinking
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Strategic thinking

Balancing Humility and Confidence

Balancing confidence and humility involves confidently highlighting your specific skills, professional strengths, achievements, and accomplishments in a modest way.

You should understand the unique set of skills that you can offer and know that it is a good thing to have something unique. It is great to be confident, as it can help you succeed in the workplace and any job interview. Another thing that can help balance humility and confidence is to be open to feedback and think about how you did in past interviews to consider making changes and making a positive impact in the future.

Olive Recruit is Identifying The Strengths Employers Seek

It is essential as a candidate to understand that your strengths differentiate you from other job candidates. They can help you become a valuable asset because they demonstrate your combination of skills, personal qualities and experiences.

Our team at Olive Recruit can help you during the CV creation process and help you focus on key strengths and skills that will allow your resume to stand out from other candidates. We genuinely value each and every candidate and are dedicated to finding the best fit for you. We aim to create a seamless and effective recurring process and become the staffing solutions partner of choice for companies across the UK.

If you need any information on how we can assist you during the hiring process, please contact us today!