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Skills to Put on a Resume And Impress Your Employer

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Skills to Put on a Resume And Impress Your Employer

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In this world of cut-throat competition, the person who markets himself intelligently is the one who eventually gets chosen. You’ll need to equip yourself with some unique skills that would do the trick to impress potential employers. Every single time you sit down to type your resume, how you wish you could read the minds of potential employers! Figuring out what they are exactly looking for can be mind-boggling. So, does that mean you write a complete essay going gaga about your achievements and skills? No. Employers have to go through hundreds of resumes every day, and they read the same ‘excellent communication skills and ‘team orientation’ in almost all the applications they receive.

If your resume is nothing but a copy of an Internet sample, it will be glossed over. Therefore, instead of writing a mini-autobiography, putting in a few job-oriented skills would be a better option. Though the skills you put in will vary according to the job you are applying for and should be relevant to the current requirements for a particular job, here are a few basic ones to help you out. Most companies look out for these skills when looking to hire a candidate they believe will be a true asset. With these skills highlighted on your resume, your chances of getting the job will get a huge boost.

~ A cover letter is one of the several ways in which you can make your resume stand out.
~ Writing a good cover letter takes some practice, and one can benefit from the shared experiences of job seekers who have written cover letters for their resumes.
~ It is a document explaining your education, work experience, and skills relevant to the position being applied for.
~ A cover letter enables the employer to understand you as a professional even before looking at your actual qualifications.
~ The letter should be brief and specific regarding the position, your relevant education, work experience, a short listing of your skills, and why you think the job is suitable for you.
~ This is the first document that an employer will see, and it increases your chances of being accepted if made professionally.

~ Your analytical skills deal with your ability to visualize a problem and develop a logical solution for the same.
~ An analytically skilled individual can figure out the organization’s problems and come up with different ideas to solve them.
~ Conceptual skills help an individual see the organization as a whole, enabling him to come up with ideas for the smooth functioning of the company.
~ Include instances where you have used this ability, either from educational or work experiences.

~ Organizational and planning skills include goal-setting, i.e., to plan a given task and finish it in the given time.
~ Organizational skills benefit you, both professionally and personally.
~ If your work is well-planned, there will be fewer errors, which will, in turn, save your time and energy.
~ Fewer errors automatically result in increased productivity. This is one skill that employers highly value.

Employer

~ These are the skills we use to communicate and interact with people around us in our day-to-day lives.
~ Effective interpersonal skills not only help us to get work done faster but also to develop a friendly environment at work.
~ They also help you work effectively as a team and encourage your fellow team members.
These are also helpful in solving a dispute.
~ Leadership is also a part of interpersonal skills. Encouraging and motivating people to work as a team will definitely make them develop faith in you.
~ An individual with good interpersonal skills will have good listening skills and proper body language.

~ An individual who lacks enthusiasm towards his work is the last thing that employers want. To be able to encourage others, you should be self-motivated. It helps give your best to work and will, in turn, motivate the others around you.
~ Employers always look for an adaptable employee and is open to new and creative ideas of working. An individual with adaptability and multitasking skills is always respected.
~ A sense of responsibility ensures your employees that you value your work and that they can rely on you.
~ Being punctual in the office develops a feeling of respect and trust towards you. You are regarded as a reliable person if you are punctual.
~ Employers always look for an individual who can come up with new and creative ideas for the company’s betterment.
~ A dynamic, energetic person and has a positive attitude towards life is a source of inspiration to other employees.
~ An employee should always be ready to learn new things, no matter what age or background they come from. With rapid technological developments, there is always scope for change. If you possess this skill, you will always be appreciated wherever you go.

~ Technical skills are a must when applying for any job. They depend a lot on your field.
~ To begin with, one must be very well-trained in operating the Microsoft Office Suite.
~ Other computer skills vary with your qualifications and the job profile.
~ A database management job will require you to have relevant experience or knowledge of software like MS Access or Excel.
~ For a design job, you need to be acquainted with Adobe Photoshop and other such software.
~ Basic knowledge of using the Internet is another prerequisite.

What Not to Do

Do Not Lie

Why? It’s simple, really. Liars are caught sooner rather than later. It’s unprofessional to inflate achievements and show experience for work you have never been remotely near to. Plus, it isn’t difficult for an employer to run a quick background check on you in a world overflowing with social media and search engines. Or they can hire companies to do it, in which case, you may be left unemployed and blacklisted.

Outdated Info

Try and pull whatever irrelevant information your resume may have been burdened with over the years. Employers are interested in skill sets that are readily applicable to their business models. They will not be interested in volunteer work or old college projects that you may have undertaken. Keep what recent certifications you have obtained, any tech-related skills, and whatever is applicable for the position. Filter out the rest.

No Photos Please

Employers are not (usually) interested in the way you look. It’s your skills that matter to them. So leave your smiling mugshot off the resume unless, of course, you are trying for a modeling assignment.

Talking About Your Dog

No human resource manager wants to know how well you have trained Spotty. They require the talents you have and how useful you can be to the company. All other tidbits about your family life and the warmth of the small town where your formative years were spent are just irrelevant to them. Focus on what professional impression you wish to make. You must show instances of how you have displayed each skill so that the employer believes you. Even if you do not have experience, explain how you have demonstrated that skill in other areas of your life in brief if you have documentation for your past experiences, even better. Try to be as precise as possible in drafting your resume, for it is the ambassador of your skills and talents.

Calvin M. Barker

Typical tv scholar. Problem solver. Writer. Extreme bacon fan. Twitter maven. Music evangelist. Spent a year consulting about salsa in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Spoke at an international conference about lecturing about junk food in New York, NY. Earned praise for promoting robotic shrimp in Phoenix, AZ. Spent 2002-2007 working on catfish in Naples, FL. Spent several months developing yogurt in Orlando, FL. Spent high school summers managing dandruff in Africa.

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