Highlighting the strengths that you possess in your resume goes a long way in determining whether you are the right fit for the job or the company. However, you cannot randomly list all the strengths that you have or don’t have, as it can make your resume cluttered and too lengthy.
Here, we shall discuss the importance of listing out the right strengths in resumes and share some examples of strengths you can add to your resume.
So, buckle up and let’s begin!
Importance Of Showcasing Strengths In Resume
You may be asking yourself, “Why is it important to mention strengths in resumes”? Well, mentioning strength in a resume or preferably more is important because then the employer/hiring manager/recruiter will be able to understand if you are the right person for the position and their company. Your highlighted strengths will be able to tell them what you will be able to bring to the table. Once they realise that you possess the right skills or capabilities, they will be more willing to contact you for an interview.
List Of Strengths You Can Add To Your Resume (With Examples)
Take a look at the list of strengths and the examples below to know which would be best to showcase in your resume.
Communication skills
Nowadays, almost all employers prefer to hire someone who communicates well over someone who doesn’t. This is because for a team to work well together and jobs are done correctly, communicating effectively with team members and supervisors is the key. For those with good communication skills, be it written or verbal, showcasing it as your strength will get the recruiter’s attention. It will increase your chances of getting called for interviews.
Example: You have successfully helped bring more customers, or if you have written blogs for your company website, you could credit it to your communication skills.
Strong Work Ethics
Mentioning that you have a strong work ethic will let hiring managers know that your hard work will allow you always to perform your best and get the job done right and on time. Who wouldn’t want to hire such a person?
Example: If you are someone who makes sure that you always meet your deadlines and daily targets or always give it your all no matter the task, consider yourself someone with a strong work ethic.
Leadership Skills
You must always include leadership skills as your strength for those applying for management positions. As a manager or team leader, you will be expected to oversee a team; leadership quality is a must-have for someone in that position.
Example: If you have successfully delegated tasks to your team or helped your company increase sales, you can showcase those as examples of your strength in your resume.
Creativity
Many job roles require creative people to think outside the box and conceive new ideas. For instance, a graphic designer or social media specialist must constantly think innovatively to stand out from the crowd.
Example: You can mention the time you were able to beat a competitor because of your trailblazing idea or how your designs have won awards or something along those lines.
Adaptability
Mentioning adaptability in your resume among your strengths will let the hiring managers know that you are a versatile person who can easily adapt to new changes or environments. Many employers prefer to hire someone who they will be able to cross-train, and for that, they need someone flexible.
Example: You can mention how you are always open to learning new things as a strength in your resume.
Punctuality
No employer wants to hire someone who is tardy or always misses their deadline. So, punctuality is a trait every hiring manager looks for in a candidate.
Example: Write down how you are never late to work or meet deadlines in your resume as your strength.
Public Speaking Skills
Public speaking is useful when dealing with a team as you will need to share your opinions and present your ideas during team meetings. It is also important for those in managerial positions to have this skill because they will often have to stand and talk in front of their team or others. Those with this skill can clearly articulate their ideas and thoughts, which is why employers are more likely to hire candidates with this trait.
Example: In your resume, you can highlight how you once stood in front of a crowd to deliver a particular speech.
Truthfulness/Honesty
As the saying goes, “Honesty is the best policy” employers want to hire candidates who can truthfully tell them how their project is progressing without lying and making excuses. Moreover, they want someone they can trust with either minor or significant tasks. So, mentioning honesty as your strength in your resume could be a bonus point for you.
Example: Mention your ability to honestly yet professionally express your ideas and thoughts for the growth of the company as your strength in your resume.
Customer Service Skills
In the business world, you will have to deal with customers and clients almost daily. You will often have to sort customers’ queries or complaints and do them professionally so as not to taint your company’s name or reputation. So, customer service skills are a must, especially for positions where your duties and responsibilities are frequently interacting with customers or clients.
Example: Highlight how you can easily connect and empathise with customers to provide exceptional service in your resume.
Patience
Whether you are a team leader or a team member, there will be times when you will experience setbacks in the progress of your work. How you handle the delay is very important. Acting out irrationally will only portray you as an impatient and unprofessional person. So, patience is a trait employers want to see in their employees.
Example: You can mention how you patiently waited for a delayed assignment and how you motivated or helped the person responsible so that he would be able to complete his task much faster as your strength in your resume.
Dedication Or Commitment
A committed or dedicated employee is likelier to be loyal to his company and work with them for a long time. His dedication to the company also implies that he is a hard-working person. Companies want to hire someone who will be able to commit to their work and the company. So, we advise that you showcase this as your strength in your resume.
Example: If you have worked with your previous company for a long period, mention that as your strength in your resume.
Active Listening Skills
Active listening is a skill that every working professional must try to develop, especially for those who deal with customers and clients or those holding managerial positions such as HR manager or supervisor. When you listen actively when someone is speaking to you, you can understand more than the words coming out of their mouth, and they would also feel like they are being heard. It is an essential skill to have for conflict resolution.
Example: Include a time when you solved a customer’s complaint by actively listening and empathising with them in your resume as an example of your strength.
Self-Motivation
A person who can motivate himself to do a good job is someone productive and easy to manage. Hiring managers look for such a person because they know that he will be able to promptly complete tasks assigned to him. So, it would not hurt to add an example of someone self-motivated to your resume.
Example: You can mention when you had to handle two major projects within a limited time and how you motivated yourself and completed both tasks on time as an example of your strength in your resume.
Reliability Or Trustworthiness
There are times when clients need companies to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. So, employers want to hire someone they can trust and rely on not to share confidential information with any third party. This is a trait that those who hold multiple and bigger responsibilities must have.
Example: If you have ever been in charge of maintaining sensitive files, you can highlight that as your strength.
Open-Mindedness
Open-minded people are open to new ideas or experiences, indicating that they can easily adapt to changes. Hiring managers often look for candidates who will be able to accept new processes or policies, or environments. So, to showcase this strength, if possible.
Example: As your strength in your resume, mention that you’re open to learning new technologies.
Attention To Detail
A detail-oriented person ensures that every little detail of a project is free of error and complete to get a good outcome or result. Many companies like to be careful to ensure that they deliver quality service or products, so they look for candidates who pay close attention to every detail.
Example: In your resume, you can mention that you always triple-check your work to see if you miss out on any detail or make an error to fix it before submitting your assignments.
Flexibility
By being flexible, a candidate means that he is open to changes. This could include flexible working hours or changes in technologies, trends or new ideas. Many professions require candidates to be able to keep up with the latest developments and trends and adapt accordingly. MNCs usually look for candidates who will be able to work rotating shifts. So, flexibility is an important strength in the world of work.
Example: You can showcase how you can readily accept shift timings or your willingness to relocate if necessary in your resume as your strength.
Logical Thinking Skills
Positions that come with a lot of stress require someone who can analyse a situation when a crisis occurs and find the best course of action to fix it. Logical thinking is a skill that recruiters look for in candidates who will have complex job roles. This is a particularly good strength for those in the IT sector.
Example: You can add to your resume that you prefer to process facts to develop practical solutions rather than relying solely on your emotions.
Teamwork Or Team Player
A team must work as a well-oiled machine to complete projects on time and deliver them without any error. If you are applying for a job that involves a team, mentioning that you are a team player will let hiring managers know that you are the right person for the job and that you will fit in well with the company culture.
Example: To showcase that being a team player is your strength in your resume, mention that you collaborated with your team members in your previous company to deliver assignments on time or before the deadline successfully.
People Skills
Also known as interpersonal skill, people skill is a must-have for those working in the hospitality, tourism and sales industries. People with this skill have empathy, understanding and active listening skills. As people skills help maintain good relationships between coworkers and customers or clients, hiring managers would prefer candidates who possess these skills.
Example: As your strength in your resume, you can mention how you can easily communicate and connect with people.
Multitasking
Companies with limited resources or budgets tend to lean towards candidates who can perform many duties and responsibilities. Moreover, for managerial positions, it is important to be able to multitask to build an efficient workflow. So, multitasking is a strength sought-after by employers in their employees.
Example: If you want to add multitasking as your strength to your resume, you can mention how you can work on different projects simultaneously without hampering your workflow or missing deadlines.
Emotional Intelligence
Also known as emotional quotient or EQ, emotional intelligence allows you to understand, manage and utilise your emotions in a healthy way. This ability helps relieve stress, overcome hardships, understand others and resolve conflicts. So, it is a necessary strength in the workplace, so employers often hire candidates with this skill.
Example: You can add that you were able to keep calm whilst trying to inspire and motivate your teammates when crises occur at work.
Time Management Skills
Those who have good time management skills are more likely to be more productive and produce good results as they can manage to set a proper timetable for themselves to be more efficient. Any company would want to go for someone whose time management skill is their strength.
Example: Including how you always make a to-do list for each day to get more high-quality work done in your resume would make for good strength.
Conflict Resolution
When applying for a managerial position or in the Human Resources department, we advise you to mention how you resolve conflicts to demonstrate this skill as your strength. For a work environment to be peaceful and for employees to work efficiently, the leader must know how to deal with misunderstandings and arguments.
Example: To let hiring managers know that conflict resolution is your strength, mention an instance where you successfully resolved a conflict between two colleagues where both came to a mutual understanding.
Professionalism
In the world of work, you are expected to be professional, be it towards your coworkers, customers or clients. Professionalism includes everything from your behaviour and body language to what you wear or say. As hiring managers want someone who can present themselves in the most professional way possible, they also want employees who would be able to represent them.
For example: To highlight professionalism as your strength, mention how you always ensure the clients are satisfied with your service.
Goal Oriented
A goal-oriented or result-driven person is determined to reach their goal or complete their task to get results. This is useful for those whose role entails meeting daily, weekly or monthly targets.
Example: To add goal-oriented or result-driven as your strength in your resume, you can include hitting your sales quota every month.
Problem Solving Skills
People who have good problem-solving skills can easily identify errors or problems, analyse them and brainstorm to find the best solution to fix them. As crises can occur at any time in a workplace, employers would rather choose candidates who can solve problems quicker than those who tend to just dwell on the problem.
Example: To demonstrate problem-solving as your strength, you can mention that you used your analysis skills to figure out how your company could attract older customers, which increased your sales by 20%.
Management Skills
For those applying for a managerial, team lead or supervisor position, you must showcase your management skills as one of your biggest strengths as you will most likely be overseeing or managing a team.
Example: To show that you possess management skills in your resume, mention that you managed a group of 10-15 people in your last organisation or that you had the opportunity to be an acting manager for some time.
Determination
A determined person works hard to complete the tasks given to him. Due to his determination, he also wants to deliver high-quality work. Such a person can influence others around him, thus prompting them to work hard. Moreover, they contribute a great deal towards the success of their team and the company. It is no surprise that employers look for such quality in their candidates.
Example: If you want to showcase determination as your strength in your resume, a good example would be mentioning how you always follow up with your existing and potential clients to increase sales.
Decision-Making Skills
Making decisions doesn’t come easily for everyone in fear of making the wrong ones. Professionals who hold higher positions have to make many decisions, and not all are easy. They should be able to make the right decision considering every detail and option. So, hiring managers often go for those who possess such skills.
Example: If you want to include decision-making skills as your strength in your resume, a good example would be mentioning how you often assigned tasks to your team and the basis of your decisions.
Presentation Skills
Most team members will be expected to present their ideas and opinions in a team meeting. If they do a bad job at it, it can be a waste of other people’s time. To give an effective, engaging, informative, and insightful presentation, one must have good presentation skills. People applying for positions requiring you to communicate in front of people often can add presentation skills as their strength in a resume.
Example: Mentioning how your class presentation was a huge success would show the hiring manager that presentation skills are your strength.
Organisational Skills
Organisational skills allow people to be systematised in their jobs so they can plan their schedules and complete their work in an effective and orderly manner. It allows them to keep track of their work and be one step ahead for the next assignment. As it boosts productivity, employers want their employees to be organised.
Example: To showcase that you have organisational skills in your resume, you can mention how you arrange your tasks according to the priority or how you create separate files for each team of your team member’s daily work.
Project Management
Project management skills allow project managers or other managers to lead their teams to complete assignments at a given time without exceeding the budget allotted for each project. This skill helps the company in saving money and in getting positive results. Those applying for managerial positions must have project management skills.
Example: To showcase your knowledge of product management as your strength in your resume, you can talk about how you successfully delegated tasks to your team and completed the project on time with a limited budget.
Marketing Skills
The world of business requires professionals who have marketing skills to promote products and services to increase sales. Those who possess this skill have good communication and negotiation skills. If you are planning to go into sales or digital marketing, you can showcase an example of your marketing skills in your resume to get the recruiter’s attention.
Example: You can use your experience in managing social media campaigns to create brand awareness and increase your company’s sales to demonstrate your strength.
Persuasion
Team leaders and supervisors must be persuasive as it can influence your team members to get the job done effectively and accurately. Moreover, this ability allows people to easily sell services or products, recruit team members and boost productivity.
Example: Mentioning how you, a salesperson, can always meet your target daily by convincing people to buy your product in your resume will let the hiring manager see that you have strong persuasion skills.
Complex Problem Solving
Solving complex problems is not an ability that all people have. Hence, employers are always on the lookout for employees who can help identify their problems and implement solutions to fix them.
Example: If you want to highlight your complex problem-solving skills as your strength in your resume, you can mention how you used your critical thinking skills to fix your company’s hardware system.
Writing Skills
As more and more companies are moving towards digital transformation, the need for people with good writing skills has increased significantly. Brands need candidates to explain and promote their products and services to consumers. So, demonstrating your writing skills as an example of your strength in your resume can help in getting the recruiter’s attention.
Example: Mentioning that the blog you have written for your previous organisation ranked well on Google in your resume will let hiring managers know that you have good writing skills.
Negotiation Skills
Negotiation skills come in handy when you need to make a compromise with your customer, client or vendor. It will help you negotiate with the other party to reach a logical solution or understanding. Employers look for candidates with good communication and negotiation skills because they can help build strong relationships with their customers, clients or vendors.
