What do you consider to be your resume strengths? Personal qualities in a resume: examples, personal characteristics, brevity and completeness of information

There are different points of view on what to do with a person's strengths and weaknesses. We all naturally have different inclinations and talents. But the most successful people are those who put a lot of effort into their work. That is, a hardworking person with average abilities will achieve more success than a talented one. Henry Ford believed that this was the main way to achieve success. Finding a person's strengths and weaknesses is closely related to finding purpose () and long-term success.

Some psychologists believe that a person should try to correct his weaknesses. Most successful entrepreneurs believe that emphasis should be placed on a person’s strengths - his talents and natural abilities, and weak qualities should be compensated with the help of a team. That is, with the help of .

But how to find your strengths and weaknesses? Which ones should be developed and which should be left alone?


SWOT analysis can be applied not only to business projects, but also to the study of personal qualities. The elements of SWOT analysis include an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the phenomenon under study.

How to understand your strengths?

The famous Russian psychologist Nikolai Kozlov talks in his books about the fact that people usually like to do what they can do well and vice versa. And to understand your inclinations, you can try to remember your hobbies and what you were interested in as a child. Often children's hobbies in the future develop into a full-time job or even their own business.

To be as involved as possible in your work or business, you need to really like this business. And this will be the key to success. That is why it is so important to develop such a quality in yourself as - in order to feel well your desires, interests, inclinations and emotions. In addition, to find yourself and your strengths, you need to spend a lot of time experimenting. Constantly try new things.

When you try a new business, it takes some time to understand whether it is for you or not. The first pancake is always lumpy. And that's okay.

If you have managed to find your strengths, then, if possible, you should strive to develop them. If you add persistence and consistent effort along with your talents, then you can achieve outstanding results.

We are able to develop any of our talents. This is due to the property of neuroplasticity of the brain. But it is better to direct more efforts where there are already some serious inclinations.

There are character traits that are useful for any person to develop:

Working with personality weaknesses

Objectively, in addition to our strengths, each of us has our own disadvantages. There is no need to be ashamed or hide this. On the contrary, you need to understand yourself properly and know about your shortcomings. By and large, there is no point in directing all your efforts to fight your weaknesses. By developing a quality that we initially lacked, it is difficult to achieve an outstanding level. Although - in some cases this may well be possible.

As a rule, you should simply avoid work that is not compatible with your weak qualities. In some cases it may help work on your weakness and bringing it to the minimum acceptable level.

You should take your weaknesses into account when choosing a job or place of study. And this will promote life balance. We recently wrote material about.

But there are weaknesses that are worth fighting in any case. this is about:

  • and procrastination;
  • and self-flagellation;
  • and other low-tone conditions such as.

There are cases when people in the most difficult situations were able to pull themselves together and do what they want not because of their capabilities, but in spite of them.

Availability is of great importance here will And character. attitude to life and optimism are also companions of success.

The fact is that in order to be productive, and to be in the so-called state, you need to avoid such negative habits and depressed states.

You must clearly understand that we can reconfigure ourselves very flexibly by working with our mood, as well as by training the necessary qualities and getting rid of unnecessary habits. Even people who are terribly afraid of public speaking can, over time, completely get rid of their fears and become excellent speakers. always unpleasant, but it allows us to develop.

Balance between personality strengths and weaknesses

As I already wrote, during interviews and in life in general you shouldn’t be ashamed of your weaknesses. You need to choose a job where your weaknesses will not interfere too much, and where your strengths, on the contrary, will drag your career forward.

At the same interviews, it is better to honestly talk about your weaknesses. Because they will still pop up later. And it is better for the employer to know in advance that you have both advantages and strong personality traits, as well as disadvantages that are specific to you.

A good resume structure will include a list of your professional skills and strengths. Every job site or template has a similar section that you need to fill out.

Why write strengths on your resume?

This is necessary to show the employer that you are suitable for him. Just everything.

If you correctly show your character strengths in your resume, your chances of getting an interview will increase.

What aspects of character should I indicate?

Firstly, based on the job requirements.

Different positions value different qualities. Accounting requires patience and perseverance, management requires activity and leadership skills, and working as a driver requires sobriety. And so on.

Secondly, be sincere to yourself.

If you are calm and reasonable, do not write about leadership qualities. If you are a creative person and find it difficult to work under strict deadlines, do not write about discipline and punctuality.

The most common mistake on a resume

I write resumes for people at different job levels and before starting a job I ask them to send their current resume. I see almost everyone's list of office superman.

  • Responsibility.
  • Commitment.
  • Stress resistance.
  • Discipline.
  • Work for results.
  • Learning ability.
  • Determination.
  • Communication skills.
  • And so on.

I constantly read and edit this meaningless collection of phrases. A good, “selling” resume should not contain unnecessary things. Everything should be expedient.

Fixing the error

In order not to be like everyone else, learn to stand out from the crowd. There are two great options for listing strengths on your resume.

First option- remove all these qualities from your resume. It's very simple.

Second option. Choose one (maximum two!) of your character traits and write a sentence about each of them. Detailed and specific.

An example of indicating strengths in a resume:

  • Communicative (worked in sales, as well as in journalism, interviewed artists).
  • I prefer to work for results - I know how to start and complete things, I make decisions quickly, I am straightforward and active in communication.

Think about what your strongest quality is and what you will especially need in your future job. Find this character trait and describe it in a tasty and detailed way. This will work much better than a banal list of meaningless words.

I bet that sometimes a wave of self-flagellation and introspection “rolls over” you, when you begin to zealously rummage around in your soul and sort out your character “on the shelves” in order to find out what strengths you have and which would be nice to work on.

And it turns out: you are lazy, but you are always ready to help. You are very touchy, but you get along with people easily. Or you never finish the job you start, but you are simply bursting with ideas and your friends. What are considered strengths and what are weaknesses? By what general criteria are these strongest and weakest sides of a person determined?

There is only one criterion: public opinion.

Public opinion

This has been “drilled” into our heads since childhood: a person must be kind, sympathetic, intelligent, moral and all that stuff. From the point of view of public morality, only he can bear the proud title of “man” who fully meets all these requirements.

No one disputes that all these character traits are positive. But how, tell me, then can a kind, “understanding” person make a career in business, who understands the position of all his employees and forgives them for absenteeism, drunkenness at work or rudeness with clients? And if you punish such careless workers, you automatically fall into the category of “snobs” and “bastards.” So think about it now, is responsiveness a strong character trait or a weak one?

A ? It seems that in all respects, it fits the definition of “weak character trait,” but in this case the world would not know what a TV remote control or ordinary ear sticks are, which were invented when a person was tired of getting up from the couch and changing channels and wrap cotton wool around a match.

Everything is very relative. Excessive talkativeness may be a weak character trait when you are a spy and carrying out a task for the Motherland in the territory of a hostile state, but it also becomes a strong character trait for a conversational artist.

Human Strengths

Strong character traits are those that make a person move forward. It could be:

  • Determination;
  • Persistence;
  • Strength of will;
  • Organization;
  • Responsibility;
  • Communication skills, etc.

These qualities may be partially present in the character, or some of them may dominate over the others. But balance is important here: a well-organized person is a strong character trait, but an overly pedantic person will irritate others, and no one will consider such organization a strong trait.

Weaknesses of a person

There are people who, from birth, have the ability to make decisions with lightning speed and not “get hung up” on the past, but they are few. Everyone else has to develop such qualities on their own. “Sculpting yourself” is a titanic work, but if you have already disassembled your character into small nuts and screws, then now you simply need to assemble it again. As a designer, you will need patience, but the resulting figure will be completely different.

Character weaknesses are not those to be ashamed of, but those that need to be developed. And not for society, but for himself personally. Many of these “weak” character traits can easily be corrected on their own within a month. Some require the intervention of a psychoanalyst. And one part is easier to adapt to than to correct.

For example, you are always late. No matter how much you move the clock forward an hour, meetings are still disrupted. Here you need to adapt - make appointments during working hours right in the office or during lunch break in the cafe where you always have lunch. You definitely won't be late there.

Or you are constantly overwhelmed with tasks that become more and more difficult to complete every day. Choose the one that is most important and do it. Then the other most important thing, and until you bring it to its logical conclusion, don’t take on anything else. In a week, you won’t even notice how you got rid of the lion’s share of things that were hanging over your neck like a “sword of Damocles.”

Identify your weaknesses. Write them down in a notepad. It could be:

  • Inability to “keep your mouth shut”;
  • Excessive emotionality;
  • Lack of willpower;
  • Sloppiness;
  • Shyness;
  • Aggressiveness;
  • Inability to refuse, etc.

Choose the most “disgusting” character trait for yourself and start correcting it. It’s impossible to fix everything at once, start with one. If you are ready to tell everyone and everything about your problems or gossip about your neighbors, then at the first word spoken in this direction, pinch yourself on the arm. Just strong enough to feel it. In a few days you will be afraid to open your mouth, just so as not to get another bruise.

Or you are embarrassed to be in public. Sign up for courses, start communicating with children in the yard, after which you can start conversations with their parents, then with neighbors, then with strangers.

Self-education

Since you have already grown up, you have already received a certain upbringing. If you don’t like the way your parents raised you, re-educate yourself. Anyone who sincerely wants to become one can become a successful person.

It’s easier to blame everything on your weaknesses: “I didn’t write the report because I forgot. You know how forgetful I am!” or “Everyone offends me because I am weak and cowardly.” How about doing something to stop being weak and cowardly? Maybe at least take a couple of kickboxing classes, huh?

Without working on your weaknesses and improving your strengths, you will forever remain in the quagmire of life. Maybe, of course, you are one of the people who only need bread, butter, and beer, then you shouldn’t have read this. And if you want to get out of the quagmire, then start working. Right now. Take a pen, a notepad, sit at the table and write:

“I have a lot of strengths. This is…..” and, as a conclusion, “I have a few shortcomings, this is…..”. Have you written? Now correct your laziness towards physical exercise - go for a walk or start doing spring cleaning. Good luck, you will succeed!

Image: gcoldironjr2003(flickr.com)

Topics of the material

When a person reaches a certain age in his life, he begins to think about a working career. For the purpose of earning money, self-improvement, establishment in society, or at least for a future pension. To do this, he needs to introduce himself.

Previously, this form of self-presentation was called autobiography. In modern interpretation, the fashionable word is “resume”. Both an autobiography and a resume are a written statement of one’s biographical data, level of education, clarification of professional skills, review of personal achievements and character traits. The main thing is to keep it short and to the point.

The resume should be written in such a way that the personnel officer becomes interested and invites you for an interview. Therefore, the document reflects in detail biographical facts that are directly related to the position for which the candidate is applying. To receive an invitation to a personal interview, you need to highlight your strengths in your portfolio.

Psychologists distinguish 4 groups of character traits: attitude towards other people; to work; to yourself and to things. Personal qualities are divided into positive and negative. The employer wants to see the applicant as a good, productive employee who knows how to work in a team. Therefore, you need to emphasize your positive sides.

Professional strengths: attitude to work

  • Hard work is the desire and desire to work. Career success depends on this. In your resume, reflect your willingness to spend as much time on the job as it takes to achieve results.
  • Organization is the ability to properly organize your work day, distribute energy and time for the greatest efficiency at work. This side of your character will show that you will spend less time on completing a task and get a better result.
  • Responsibility is an important factor that must be reflected in the resume. In your portfolio, reflect your readiness to take responsibility for the situation at the right time.

Here you can also indicate such qualities as accuracy during work, initiative, conscientiousness, emphasize high learning ability and willingness to grow intellectually and professionally.

Relationships with other people as a character strength

Indicate in the questionnaire that you are sociable and responsive. Ready to communicate and establish connections and contacts with new colleagues. Another important quality today is tolerance, that is, tolerance for differences among people, the ability to perceive the rights and freedoms of other members of the team.

Tolerance is considered one of the human virtues. This behavior helps to avoid conflict situations (they do happen).

Let's not forget about subordination. No one wants to waste time and persuade you to complete a task or behave correctly in a team. There is a task - you need to complete it.

Attitude towards yourself

When preparing your resume, indicate your personal positive traits, such as: determination, perseverance, willpower. All these character traits help a person to highlight the main thing, set a goal and be consistent in achieving it.

Show that you are confident in yourself. This is the quality of a leader that helps to perceive every task, every obstacle, as another step up towards the goal.

A person’s ability to see the positive in any situation, learn from failures and move on is optimism that will help the company’s team in difficult times.

Attitude to things

Neatness and accuracy in handling things is always highly valued. When a person indicates such qualities in a document, it is as if he is telling the employer that he will treat the organization’s property with care, protect and preserve material values.

There are many positive aspects of any person’s character. It is necessary to highlight in the resume those that will help the applicant in the work for the position for which he is applying. Those skills, abilities and qualities that a person especially emphasized may attract the attention of the employer. They will also help you pass the probationary period and secure a position.

Character Weaknesses on a Resume

In addition to a strong personality, any personality also has a weak side. You shouldn’t include it in your resume, but let’s note for ourselves:

In relation to work, the following traits are negative:

  • laziness - lack of desire to work, free pastime unencumbered by responsibilities;
  • dishonesty - carelessness and negligence in performing assigned tasks, and often the inability to set a goal and unwillingness to achieve it;
  • passivity is a person’s indifference to everything that happens. A passive worker does not offer anything new necessary to achieve the goal; he mechanically performs routine work, is inactive and indifferent.

Negative aspects about yourself

Negative qualities that characterize a person in relation to himself are unpleasant to others, unacceptable in the work team and do not allow him to move up the career ladder. Let's name some of them:

  • Conceit is a persistent confidence in one’s exclusivity, unsupported by anything, a desire to prove one’s worth to everyone. Conceit is a type of aggression directed at others in order to suppress the opinions of others.
  • Vanity is the desire to look good in the eyes of others, dependence on outside opinions, the desire to achieve approval in any way. Over time, people around such a person begin to understand that you will not achieve anything from a vain colleague except words.
  • Resentment is a person’s ability to perceive even the smallest insult as a global tragedy, to experience the insult very strongly, making a mountain out of a mountain. A resentful person does not dwell on his own grievance.

Some personality traits are seemingly neutral: neither good nor bad. It’s just that in some professions they are necessary, but in others they are categorically unacceptable.

Ambiguous character traits include, for example:

  • Individualism is the desire to exist independently, being in complete harmony with oneself. For such people, remote work is ideal. Being in comfortable conditions for oneself, so to speak, without leaving one’s cozy corner, a person gains financial independence, the opportunity to self-realize, and develop as a person.
  • Pedantry – extreme precision and accuracy in performing assigned tasks, strict adherence to all requirements and rules. A pedantic person is serious and thorough in carrying out any work. An accountant with this quality is an ideal employee for any organization (all documentation will be in order).
  • Scrupulousness is a character trait that manifests itself in the desire and ability to perform any work carefully, down to the smallest detail. Such an employee will approach any task thoroughly, will be attentive to the smallest details and will show extreme precision. This trait is also useful for accountants or auditors.
  • Modesty, of course, adorns a person. The ability to always remain restrained and calm, to be moderate and to keep oneself within limits is an important personality quality. But it’s hardly suitable for a theater actor.

Sensitivity and empathy are necessary for work in health care, education and social protection, creativity and imagination - in creative professions, strength of character, discipline and exactingness - for work in a leadership position. If a person is going to take the position of a manager, it is necessary to emphasize his leadership qualities, if he is a courier - mobility and endurance.

Representatives of law enforcement agencies, in addition to physical endurance, need qualities such as attentiveness and the ability to quickly analyze the situation and make decisions. In any case, when applying for a vacancy, the applicant must have at least an approximate idea of ​​what kind of work it is, what job responsibilities will be assigned to him, and which of his character traits will help in the job. Therefore, in your resume you need to indicate exactly that side of your personality that will attract the employer, set you apart from the crowd of other applicants, and show that you, and no one else, are worthy of the job.

When compiling your portfolio, be careful not to make spelling mistakes. It is good if a photograph is attached to the document. Examples of correct resume writing can always be found on the Internet. You can also use templates there by adding your personal data. A properly written resume is the first step on the career ladder.

Every person has strengths and weaknesses. You have them. The employer may ask you to talk about them. Why and why does he do this?

In most cases, the employer needs an analysis of the weaknesses and strengths of a potential employee to make sure how ready you are to interact with other people. Find out if you can do this at all. Finally, by analyzing your strengths and weaknesses, you can draw certain conclusions about your personality type.

Knowing that you will have to talk about your strengths and weaknesses in sufficient detail, you should not worry about the fact that you will have to admit to some weaknesses. Talking about strengths should not be taken as inappropriate boasting; it is better to prepare in advance for this topic that arises during a job interview.

First, you yourself must identify your strengths and weaknesses. Try to make a list in which you carefully write down both your strengths and weaknesses.

This approach is the most useful for communicating with your potential employer.

To begin with, you should identify your strengths that will contribute to your success in the organization where you are interviewing.

Strengths and weaknesses of a candidate for a vacancy

As you know, there are almost no perfect people in the world. Therefore, every person has strengths and weaknesses.

Focus on your strengths first. These are the first things your potential employer should know about.

Focus on your strengths and use examples to explain how your strengths will help you perform your job responsibilities.

Your strengths can be divided into sub-items in which certain qualities are concentrated. For example, this is what it might look like:

Acquired and transferable skills as strengths

This paragraph, which describes your strengths, should focus on the skills that a person gains from performing his duties and is also able to transfer them to others. These skills include: people skills, planning skills, communication skills, and so on.


Strengths and weaknesses, how to use acquired skills

Personal qualities

The strengths of any person are his personal qualities. So, a person can be hardworking, reliable, independent, punctual, optimistic and so on. All these positive qualities can help you in fulfilling your official duties.

Knowledge Based Skills

The strengths of an educated person are the skills that he acquired during the learning process. This includes: your special education, additional courses that you have completed (language, computer and others).

Important: during a job interview, it makes sense to talk only about those skills from this point that will really help you in the position you are replacing.

Your strengths. Specific examples

You will need to think a little about what exactly your strengths are. If, when thinking about your strengths, you doubt some qualities, remove them from the list. Also remove from the list those qualities that are not needed for this job.

Here's what you might end up with when you write a list of your strengths:

Self-discipline It is unlikely that this quality requires any special decoding. Your self-discipline means that the employer can be completely confident that you do not need to be further motivated to perform your job duties
Integrity You are able to accept the policies and procedures of a particular company, you will support its values, confidential information will not leak from you to competitors
Communication skills Your skills in both oral and written communication. Examples of this strength could include your presentations, active listening skills, persuasion through business writing, etc.
Problem solving ability If you are able to analyze problems that arise and are able to find the reasons for their occurrence and identify solutions, of course, this quality should definitely be reflected in the list where you describe your strengths
Teamwork We live in a world of corporate culture, where there is no place for loners for a long time. Today, employers value effective team communication skills and the ability to work effectively alongside other people
Initiative If you are able to move one step ahead, if you are not afraid to take responsibility for decisions and results, then add initiative to your strengths
Sustainability This quality includes the ability to concentrate after failures, overcome obstacles on the way to a goal, the ability to respond correctly to criticism and work in a mode of limited material and time resources
Organization Quality includes the ability to multitask, time management skills, the ability to prioritize goals and complete tasks on time.

The list above probably doesn't reflect all of your strengths, but we've just shown you what to strive for.


Advantages and disadvantages. How to talk about them correctly

Weak sides. Full list

All people also have weaknesses. It is important that when you list your weaknesses, you can present them as problems that can be solved and will not affect the quality of your work.

This means that when analyzing your weaknesses, you should immediately look for ways to overcome your weaknesses.

Try to convince the interviewer during a job interview that you are quite capable of turning even your weaknesses into strengths. And you know exactly what and how to do this.

Traditional weaknesses may include qualities such as:

Lack of experience

You show some interest in the job you are applying for, but have the necessary practical experience to do it.

Be prepared to conduct a full analysis of strengths and weaknesses so that lack of experience does not become the main reason for denying you this position. Certificates of completion of courses in the field in which you want to work can be an additional advantage if you do not have the necessary experience.

How to turn weaknesses into strengths

As you list your weaknesses, think about how they can turn into strengths. So, if you are a slightly slow person by nature, then during a job interview you can say that sometimes you lose speed in completing work, focusing on the little things so as not to miss anything.

Weak sides. Sample list

Impatience You always feel like your employees are not doing everything as quickly as you expected.
Absent-mindedness You are easily distracted by external factors right at your workplace. This directly affects your work efficiency
Shyness You are unable to say “no” even when you know for sure that this is not part of your responsibilities and does not promise you the slightest benefit. It is difficult for you to defend your point of view, not because you don’t have one, but because you are shy.
Stubbornness It is difficult for you to adapt to changes, you have difficulty accepting new ideas and practices
Procrastination You always put everything off until the last minute. Then you work in rush mode, and usually have low productivity
Inability to delegate tasks and responsibilities You are afraid to trust others to do a certain job or solve a problem. Failure to fully utilize the skills and resources of other employees
Inability to sympathize When you strive to achieve your goals, you don't change direction. You don't care that other people may have different feelings or needs. You never take this into account
High sensitivity This quality is the exact opposite of the previous weakness. You take everything that happens at your job too seriously
Conflict A person believes that only he does everything right. Other people's opinions do not exist for him. I am ready to defend only my own. Sometimes this is not good for the team, project or product
Lack of some skills No one person has all the necessary skills for the job they are applying for. It is only important to show your readiness for further training

Describe your strengths and weaknesses. How to answer an employer's question?

Be honest in your strengths and weaknesses analysis

If you are interviewing for a job and the employer asks you to provide an analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, be as honest as possible when answering this question. It’s better if you already have a prepared answer, where you can present your strengths and weaknesses in a positive way.

Choose the right qualities

During the job interview process, pay attention to the employer's requirements for the position. Describe your strengths and weaknesses according to these requirements.

When describing your weaknesses, choose those whose presence will not deprive you of your chances of filling a vacant position.


Advantages and disadvantages. Should I talk about them during a job interview?

Don't brag or be ashamed

Every person has strengths and weaknesses. From you, from your employer, from the secretary who sits in the waiting room while you are being interviewed for a job.

When asked about strengths and weaknesses, speak calmly, don't be ashamed to mention your weaknesses, but don't be too arrogant when talking about your strengths. Never say that you have no weaknesses at all, because you do have them.

Take responsibility for your strengths and weaknesses

Often we are proud of our successes, and blame failures either on others or on circumstances. During a job interview and when it comes to whether you have strengths and weaknesses, take responsibility and don’t look for someone to blame.

Don't give too much information

During a job interview, be careful that asking an employer to describe your strengths and weaknesses does not lead you into a verbal jungle where you unwittingly reveal more information that you did not originally intend to voice.

Talk about your job, describing your strengths and weaknesses

When you describe your strengths and weaknesses, talk only about work. Only about how these qualities will contribute to your success in a new place. Only about how your strengths helped you at your previous place of work. Only about how you managed to get rid of several weaknesses and what qualities you plan to improve or change in yourself in the near future.