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10 min czytania 22 November 2022

Competencies and skills on a resume – which ones to write in?

Competencies vs. curriculum vitae

A resume, or curriculum vitae, is a document that often determines whether an employer will be interested in us. It should be prepared carefully and legibly. It is worth paying attention to include information in the resume that will make us look competent. Entering your abilities, can increase your chances of getting a new job. Predispositions can be useful, which will describe whether you have an aptitude for the job you are applying for. What skills will most catch an employer’s attention? Check below 👇

Competencies

What are skills?

A skill is an innate or acquired ability to handle something efficiently.

It is a set of competencies that should apply to a job. They show the employer whether a person is suitable for the job.

Let’s be careful about what we put on our resumes. Let’s not stretch our skills, let’s write them according to what we can do. At work later someone will notice anyway that we didn’t tell the truth.


Where to put skills on a resume?

We acquire predispositions for a work over the course of our lives, during our education or while doing a particular job. We can already determine them after reviewing experience or completed courses. We divide them into hard and soft:

Hard competencies

Otherwise known as professional competencies, these are skills we acquire by specializing in a particular industry. We acquire them by learning a particular profession, through knowledge and practice. They are easy to assess and measure. What can we count among them?

  • knowledge of foreign languages,
  • driver’s license,
  • operation of programs (Excel, Photoshop),
  • licenses and certifications (forklift licenses),
  • computer skills,
  • extensive specialized knowledge (law, accounting).
  • soft competencies

Soft competencies

Otherwise known as personal competencies, interpersonal competencies are a type of skills that are our character traits. We use them in interpersonal relations and at work. Compared to hard competencies – which we learn – soft competencies are hard to train. What do we count as soft competencies?

  • patience,
  • The ability to work in a group,
  • resistance to stress,
  • organizational skills, manual skills,
  • high personal culture,
  • communicativeness,
  • speed of learning,
  • creativity,
  • leadership skills,
  • responsibility

Why are soft skills important?

Soft competencies are our abilities to do specific things. Thanks to them, we respond appropriately to different situations and are able to manage our person. When applying for a position, candidates usually have similar education and experience. Soft competencies set us apart. Employers pay significant attention to them because they are difficult to learn. So it is worth including such skills in your resume.


How to develop soft skills?

They are generally more difficult to learn, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be acquired. Frequent, practice, by interacting with people, analyzing one’s behavior will improve our soft skills. It is easy to find training courses on the Internet that help develop such skills, but we can also practice on our own.

It is also worth looking for soft skills tests, which we can later attach to our resume. The employer will then see that our competencies are not contrived, but confirmed by tests.


What skills to enter in a resume?

When creating a curriculum vitae, we happen to wonder what competencies to enter. We suggest that it is best to create a personalized resume. An employer will be convinced if the skills are job-related. What general skills are important to employers?

  • problem-solving skills,
  • self-confidence,
  • resistance to stress,
  • acceptance of criticism,
  • ability to think analytically,
  • persuasion skills,
  • ability to negotiate,
  • versatility.

Competencies and skills are very important and should always be included in a resume. They can help us get our dream job. Employers often check them and evaluate us to see if we are suitable for the position. Both soft skills and hard skills are needed to describe our abilities. Let’s not overlook them! If you don’t know exactly what should be included in a curriculum vitae, check out our blog post: How to write a resume.

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