Examples of strengths and weaknesses in a resume. Personal qualities, key skills and hobbies for writing a resume

After all, it is after reading it that the first stage of screening candidates for the position follows. This means that the applicant must first of all interest the HR specialist in order to qualify for the first interview.

The resume should be fairly short, no more than 1-2 pages. It is necessary to try to place in this format not only information about professional skills and education received, but also to briefly identify the applicant. When providing personal information, weigh each phrase, because this is how your weak sides in your resume. For example, if you are afraid that you might be rejected because age category, indicate your work experience first, and write your date of birth at the end. and the presence of children in each specific case also affects the evaluation of the resume. If your job involves business travel, be sure to indicate that a family member or nanny is with the children and that you can easily leave them during business trips. This applies to women to a greater extent, especially if the children are small. Better information indicate about children at the very end of the resume so that it is not perceived negatively. The woman has children preschool age for almost any employer, these are your weaknesses in your resume. Try to spend as much time as possible

our strengths - education, professional experience, acquired skills. It may happen that you are asked to fill out a resume form developed by the employer. Surely it will contain a lot of questions about your personal qualities. There is no need to pretend to be someone you are not, because during work it will all come out.

Yours on your resume

If you're required to describe your strengths and weaknesses in your resume, don't be too forthcoming. There is no need to describe character weaknesses. In your resume, be concise and weigh the characteristics. Indeed, depending on the position for which you are applying, the same quality can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. For example, communication skills are not required to work as an analyst; other qualities are more appropriate here - scrupulousness, concentration, etc. Working with visitors requires a worker with a calm, sometimes even phlegmatic character. Leadership inclinations are not needed here at all.

Describing your weaknesses in your resume, such as lack of knowledge foreign language, focus on your desire for development and desire to learn. If you are required to talk about your shortcomings, indicate no more than 2-3 qualities. It is better to avoid vague formulations and do not indicate qualities that are contrary to the requirements for vacant position. Describe the most in simple words, without complex verbiage, your weaknesses in your resume. Example: impulsiveness, straightforwardness, isolation, etc. Don't write scary things potential employer formulations such as restlessness, hot temper, slowness, etc. Don't share your pain, it has nothing to do with your plans to get a job.

Hello, dear blog readers! It doesn’t matter whether you are on its pages for the first time, or are regular visitors - in any case, you are welcome. Today, our topics related to earnings and employment will be supplemented with another interesting problem - how to indicate a person’s strengths and weaknesses in a resume. An example of how NOT to do this is quite simple.

Some applicants, having read Western literature, which calls for being extremely sincere with the employer, do not hesitate to dump all their ins and outs in front of him, and then naively wonder why they were “pushed forward” with the vacancy. Ideally, of course, you shouldn’t do this, but you shouldn’t describe yourself as an impeccable person and worker either - in any case, the truth will become clear as soon as you begin your immediate responsibilities.

From this article you will learn:

When a person writes a resume, he rarely puts himself in the employer’s shoes and in most cases does not understand that texts containing entirely positive characteristics, became pretty boring, and the understanding came that in 90 percent of cases they were not true. This is easy to understand, because the applicant’s task is to make a good impression on potential superiors, and strengths, listed in the text, help to do this in the best possible way.

However, there is a little secret: when you write about weaknesses, it seems to involuntarily set the employer up to the fact that you are a sincere person, so they can do business with you.

Read below about how to find " golden mean“between a resume that only lists the positives and one that will scare off the employer because of the negatives.

Tell the truth

When writing a resume, do not try to exaggerate too much and make something up. Just tell the truth. There are numerous examples of how a beautiful legend, invented when applying for a job, crumbled after a couple of clarifying questions or a check by the company's security service, so it is better to be sincere with the employer. Everything you want to write on your resume must be supported, otherwise it will greatly discredit you. Before, check again whether you have attributed to yourself, carried away by fantasies, the third higher education or experience working in a foreign corporation abroad.

Answer the questions asked

Often, many employers provide a ready-made resume form, offering to answer a question about their negative qualities. Leaving this field empty is, at a minimum, impolite, so write something there that can hardly be called a serious flaw. In doing so, it is best to focus on those personality traits and character traits that you can work on and improve.

For example, write that you are shy - for a person who works in the field of communication this is a critical, but surmountable disadvantage.

By the way, if you are thinking, it is better to use standard “template expressions” in it and do not write anything about your disadvantages! In order to describe them briefly, a small column in the resume is enough.

Don't forget to praise yourself

Each of us has achievements, and in a resume it is very important to highlight exactly what interests the employer. If you know how to make cool presentations or are a master of graphic editors, or speak fluent English, be sure to mention this, especially if the vacancy involves something similar.

Make advantages out of disadvantages

When describing your negative traits, try to present them in such a way that the employer perceives them as positive.

For example:

self-confidence can be presented as leadership qualities;

restless character– as readiness to perform new tasks;

straightforwardness– as the self-confidence necessary to conduct important negotiations.

Do not confuse personal with professional!

When deciding on your employment, do not forget: first of all, employers are interested in your work achievements, and that is what they should focus on. That is, if you still intend to indicate the negative aspects, let them not be personal traits, but something related exclusively to the work process (excessive meticulousness, difficulties with the team due to a dislike for “freeloaders”, inability to deceive, lack of experience work, etc.).

The same goes for your advantages - list only those that are directly related to the job, because it is unlikely that your excellent culinary skills can become a decisive argument in your favor if you apply for the position of purchasing manager.

The main thing is moderation

Try not to write a “sheet” that is not too easy to understand. The best option– indicate 4-5 of your characteristics, which are the main ones. By the way, if your resume successfully passed the first stage, and you were called for a personal interview, you shouldn’t get too carried away there either and lay out all your ins and outs to the personnel officer - answer strictly the questions posed, it’s unlikely that your interlocutor is interested in anything else.

So, we figured out how best to tell about your positive and negative aspects, now all you have to do is try it out in practice. If the material is of interest to you and is useful, share it on in social networks with your friends - let them also know how to make the employment process easier for themselves! Don't forget to subscribe to blog updates so you don't miss new publications. And now I say goodbye to you for a moment.

The recruiter makes the first opinion about the applicant, and, as you know, the second chance to produce good first there will be no impression. Therefore, the point about character weaknesses often confuses the candidate.

Do I need to indicate my shortcomings in a custom resume? There is no definite answer to this question, but for most vacancies this is not necessary and will not be a significant disadvantage when considering your response. However, if such a question is in the questionnaire, then ignoring it would be a big mistake.

If you are filling out a resume on a job search site and there is this item, you should not skip it. You can limit yourself to writing the standard 2-3 characteristics and move on to the next point. But if you really want to make an impression, it's better to be thorough in filling out every item on your resume. If in a dialogue we can paraphrase a phrase, focusing on the behavior of the HR manager, then in a resume every sentence should speak only in your favor.

By including a question about weaknesses in the questionnaire, the employer certainly does not expect your absolute honesty. Rather, he wants to test the candidate’s ability to answer complex questions, not ignore the manager’s instructions, simply his adequacy. After all, if a person has nothing to tell about himself, then is he such a good worker and is it worth wasting time on an interview.

What answers should you avoid?

So, how to answer the tricky question about your shortcomings? First, let's look at what is better not to write:

You should not put a dash or completely ignore this item. For a recruiter, such an act is a signal of the candidate’s inattention, lack of desire to carry out complex or unpleasant instructions from his superiors, and inability to correctly evaluate himself.
Write a list of 10 or more shortcomings. For most companies, it is enough to indicate 2-3 qualities.
Describe those aspects of character that can really interfere with the chosen job. For example, laziness, conflict, unpunctuality, etc. will definitely not brighten your appearance in the eyes of your future boss.
Lie outright. Even if the quality you specified in the point about weaknesses will be perceived positively when evaluating the questionnaire, but in reality you do not possess it, the truth will quickly become clear and there will definitely not be any praise for deception.

Getting a first job is a troublesome and incomprehensible matter. In college, they don’t teach you how to fill out forms, and if they talk about it, it’s in a general sense, without specifics. That’s why young people get stupefied when they need to name a person’s weaknesses. What to write? How, in general, should we approach such points? How are the strengths and weaknesses of a person determined in the context of professional activity? Let's figure it out.

Self-knowledge

Let's start with the fact that a person, one way or another, evaluates his character, inclinations, and abilities. He knows more about this than anyone else. A person’s weaknesses are an obstacle that hinders his realization. We usually consider these to be laziness, absent-mindedness, gluttony, love of sleep, desire to have fun rather than work. But this has an indirect relation to the place of service. And is it worth telling your employer that you like to eat cakes three times a day? This does not particularly affect the performance of work duties.

When you need to talk about yourself, you need to focus on the conditions in which you will have to work. That is, analyze your qualities, identify those that will help you work, and those that will hinder you. Special attention Pay attention to the item “weaknesses of a person.” Say too much and they will refuse to hire you. If you hide what is relevant, you will be fired in a few days. The moment is very subtle. It should be approached in a balanced, thoughtful, careful, but honest manner. Below we will try to fill out this paragraph in practice so as to avoid negative consequences. But first, take a piece of paper and write down what you consider to be your weaknesses. Don't think about work yet. Record everything that comes to mind. We'll sift out the excess later.

How to analyze your abilities

To describe a person’s weaknesses for a questionnaire, it is necessary to carefully understand the character, habits, internal installations. Would you say that only a specialist can do this? You will be wrong! Now you will see everything for yourself. Sit comfortably, armed with a pen, and make lists. Enter in the hotel columns the following:

works well;
likes to perform;
It doesn’t work out at all;
still needs to be mastered;
causes disgust;
it is done, but with a creak, without enthusiasm.

If you approach this process thoroughly, you will get the basis for identifying a person’s weaknesses for the questionnaire. This is, in principle, what specialists do. They extract this information during conversation, observation, and testing. But you know yourself, and therefore things will go faster. And to make your work easier, here is a list of what are considered weaknesses. Focus on this data, but try not to copy it. Use your own brains!

Human weaknesses: examples

The employer needs you to keep things moving and not stand still. A person is given a range of responsibilities that must be strictly fulfilled. His personality traits may interfere with his work. To identify such inconsistencies, a column is filled in that identifies a person’s weaknesses. Believe me, there is nothing shameful in this. We are all different, different from each other. One can command, the other is better at executing. Both individuals will find a place that will bring them satisfaction and profit, and common cause– benefit. Weaknesses can be as follows (for the employee):

lack of inclination to communicate, low sociability;
isolation;
little experience;
excessive emotionality;
lack of specialized education;
poor skills;
conflict;
lenient attitude towards lies.

The list is very approximate in order to guide those who are faced with the problem for the first time. Here you can add, for example, fear public speaking(if they are necessary), inability to count money (as needed), and so on. It should be based on job responsibilities, which you are applying for.

Strengths

By analogy, you can praise yourself in a questionnaire. Indicate all your talents, abilities, skills, experience. Eg:

strength of will;
endurance;
durability;
determination;
calm;
organization;
clarity of mind;
determination;
communication skills;
initiative;
patience;
love of truth;
justice;
thrift;
business abilities;
financial skills;
tolerance;
spirituality;
analytics;
ability to compromise;
artistry;
accuracy;
respectful attitude towards leaders.

The list is also very approximate. It will be easier to correct it if they explain to you what you will need to do at work. Be sure to inquire. And from the responsibilities, highlight the skills that are necessary for their successful implementation.

What is desirable to hide

It is not recommended to lie when filling out the questionnaire. But there are moments that are better not to talk about. For example, you lack willpower. That is, there were no moments in life when it needed to be demonstrated. So you think that it doesn’t exist. Then just don't include this item. There's nothing wrong with that. Believe me, this quality, called positive by society, is questionable for the employer. If a worker is stubborn, having all the inclinations to achieve the goal, it is difficult to deal with him. Such people complain to the courts and can write a statement to the authorities. Why do management need these problems?

When filling out the form, focus more on business characteristics. This is where you have to be extremely sincere. Each item indicated in the questionnaire will be checked in practice. It will be awkward and embarrassing if you are caught in a lie. If you don’t know how to talk to a client, point it out. This is a profitable business - they will teach you. And for honesty you will receive bonuses, albeit intangible ones.

You know, interviews are usually conducted by people who know how to identify a person’s strengths and weaknesses. Examples constantly pass before their eyes. Involuntarily, you will learn to notice the subtleties and nuances of behavior and project them onto characters. When you come across such a form, fill it out and read what you write twice. It is necessary to take a look at your data as if from the outside. You have two lists. Look at the list ratio. It is desirable that there be three times more positive, strong qualities than weak ones. Judge for yourself, who needs a worker who can’t do anything and doesn’t want to? It is foolish to give such an individual a chance to grow. And what do you think?

Not everyone requires you to list your weaknesses on your resume. But if there is such a clause on the form, then putting a dash through would be a mistake. Better look at an example of character weaknesses in your resume.

Before filling out the box in which you need to indicate your shortcomings, think about your answer. Do not miss it under any circumstances, because ideal people do not exist. As a rule, managers want to see how adequately you evaluate yourself. If you don't know what to write, look at the suggested options and choose something that suits you best.

A universal formula: select character traits that are an advantage for performing this particular job, but in ordinary life can really be considered a human flaw.

The following weaknesses can be written:

excessive directness, the habit of telling the truth face to face;
difficulty establishing contact with strangers;
inability to show flexibility in labor matters;
reliability;
increased anxiety;
excessive emotionality, hot temper;
love of formalism;
restlessness;
slowness;
hyperactivity;
fear of air travel.

All of the weaknesses listed in your resume can become strengths if you look at them from a different angle. An example is restlessness. For a sales representative or active sales manager, this can even be a plus. The same goes for reliability. This is a signal to the manager that you may be the person who will do all the overtime work.

All applicants should think about how to write my weaknesses for a resume. For example, future accountant or a design engineer might write:

distrust;
excessive scrupulousness;
increased anxiety;
excessive demands on oneself;
straightforwardness;
pedantry;
modesty;
inability to lie;
difficulties in establishing contact with strangers;
self-esteem;
lack of flexibility in labor matters;
integrity;
inflated sense of responsibility;
lack of diplomacy.

hyperactivity;
self-confidence;
restlessness;
impulsiveness;
the need for external motivation;
distrust, desire to double-check and confirm all information.

Disadvantages for one profession can become advantages for another.

You can also indicate in your resume among your negative qualities:

straightforwardness;
workaholism;
excessive love of communication.

Applicants for the position of manager must prepare before filling out this column. It is better to think in advance about what weaknesses to include in your resume. You can write to them about the following character traits:

excessive emotionality;
pedantry;
love for little things;
thoughts about work and planning occupy most of your free time;
increased demands on others.

A good example would be the following:

inability to respond to rudeness with rudeness;
tendency to make decisions based on one’s own opinion;
distrust of people and love of confirmation of facts.

Some applicants prefer to indicate that they:

overly trusting;
can raise their voice to subordinates;
straightforward, express their opinions without veiled embellishments;
hot-tempered;
always looking for confirmation of words;
have a hypertrophied sense of responsibility;
prone to formalism and pay excessive attention to detail;
irritated by clutter;
slow;
do not like to do something to please others.

Many people are afraid to write about shortcomings, believing that the employer will immediately send their resume to the trash bin. Of course, you shouldn’t be too frank, but you shouldn’t completely skip this section of the questionnaire. In this case, you can write about some neutral qualities that will not affect your work in any way. For a person applying for any vacancy, among the inherent weaknesses one can indicate:

fear of airplanes;
arachnophobia (fear of spiders), vespertiliophobia (fear of bats), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes);
excess weight;
lack of experience;
age (suitable for people over 40 years old);
love of shopping;
love for sweets.

This information does not characterize you in any way, it simply speaks about your fears or small weaknesses.

The following disadvantages can be mentioned:

I don’t always express my thoughts accurately;
I trust people too much;
prone to reflection;
I often analyze past mistakes, focusing too much attention on them;
I spend a lot of time evaluating my actions.

These are negative qualities, but they should not affect the work process.

Regardless of the position for which you are applying, you can write the following weaknesses in your resume:

I get so carried away with work that I forget to take breaks;
I can’t build relationships with colleagues because I don’t like gossip;
I can’t fight back in response to boorish treatment;
I constantly pass all situations through myself;
I let people get too close;
I don’t know how to swear;
I get noticeably worried when I have to lie.

Please note that there are items that are best left unindicated. You should not write, for example, that you:

love to be lazy;
afraid to take responsibility;
don't like making decisions;
unpunctual;
are often distracted;
you only think about your salary;
love office romances.

For example, if you write about your laziness in your resume, you run the risk that the employer will decide that you don’t want to work.