How to indicate strengths and weaknesses in the questionnaire. Weaknesses in a resume: examples of transformation into virtues

On the way to professional self-realization, every person, immediately after training, is primarily puzzled by finding a decent job. Unfortunately, in our reality, this is not at all easy to do, especially if you are a young specialist with no work experience. Each of you knows perfectly well how important it is to provide a potential employer with a competent, worthy resume during a job search.

At first glance, it may seem that writing a few words about yourself is not a big deal and does not require special knowledge. But with this approach, do not be surprised if you get a refusal from the next employer. The more solid the company where you are going to find a job, the more important a successful resume cannot be made completely universal. As a rule, it describes in detail their strengths as an individual and as a professional. But no less important is the ability to correctly pay attention to your weaknesses in the resume.

Man is a multifaceted creature, and this is his integrity, not without reason Abraham Lincoln said that a person without flaws, as a rule, has few virtues. Do not be afraid to talk about your shortcomings, which in certain circumstances can become your main trump card.

If you need to write a resume in a free form, then focus on your strengths as a person and specialist. But how to correctly describe your negative ones in order to still get the coveted job?

First general rule resume writing - increased attention to the style of presenting information. You must write clearly and understandably, because at the interview there is an opportunity to get out and convey necessary information different ways, focusing on the reaction of the listener, and what is written is perceived unambiguously.

The main mistake that you should never make is ignoring the section of your resume where you need to enter your weaknesses. Many believe that admitting one's own shortcomings can get in the way of success.

However, this is a wrong opinion - the employer will automatically make a negative impression of you as a person with inadequate self-esteem.

Ideal people do not exist, the employer will appreciate your honesty if you briefly describe your negative qualities, guided by some important points.

Absence of a standard

It cannot be unequivocally said that a particular quality is positive or negative. In different fields of activity, the same quality can become both weak and strong point worker. You can give a simple example: if you are applying for a job in a team, then your bright qualities of a leader can only get in the way. But if you are applying for the position of a manager, then this quality is definitely your strength.

Be honest

Asking the employer to indicate your negative qualities as a person and specialist for a resume does not have the direct purpose of learning about your weaknesses. This is done in order to find out how self-critical you are, how aware you are of your imperfection and the integrity of your personality.

Only an adult mature person can adequately assess their strengths and weaknesses. A mature person in the eyes of the employer is a priori perceived as a more valuable candidate.

Point out the weaknesses that can be developed

It is very important to tell the truth about your negative qualities, but pay attention to the fact that you are working on yourself, and not just resigned to the presence of negativity, from the “Yes, I am!” series.

An example of such qualities: shyness or impulsiveness. You can say that these qualities manifest themselves situationally, but you are constantly working on yourself, in the first case expanding your social circle, and in the second case, trying to control your emotions.

Your weaknesses as a person can become strengths on your resume.

An example is this: you do not know how to say “no” and in your personal life this quality prevents you from being guided own desires. But in the professional field, such a quality can make you an indispensable worker who is always ready to carry out important assignments. This quality is especially valuable for specialists who work under management.

Present your strengths as weaknesses

This is an old trick that should be used very carefully. You can safely consider your workaholism, striving for perfectionism and increased responsibility as your trump card in professional activity, but think twice before writing about it, because the employer may suspect you of insincerity.

A few tips in the video:

What specific weaknesses of your personality can become a trump card in the professional field?

However, in some cases it is best to be yourself!

Everyone sooner or later faces the need to clearly identify all their strengths. Most often this happens at the time of writing a resume. The employer wants to see a list before the interview - the strengths of the person. In order for this question not to take you by surprise, you should analyze yours in detail.

Talent

It is on talent that all strong character traits are based. Each person knows perfectly well what he can do best.
It takes effort to develop talent. Few can achieve perfection, but everyone can hone their skills.

In order for talent not to go to waste, it is best to associate your profession with it. Life will be much more interesting if work is fun. For this, it is simply necessary that it suits a person in character, temperament, and meets his interests.

Work on yourself

The strengths and weaknesses of a person are closely intertwined with each other. No one can boast that he is perfect and has no weaknesses. A self-sufficient person always admits that he has flaws. There is nothing wrong. After all, human shortcomings are traits that, with volitional influence, make it possible to develop further, not to stand still. If you engage in self-development, then over time, a person can turn all the weaknesses into strengths.

It is not always easy to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a person. Their people are not inclined to hide, they know perfectly well what they can do best. However, sometimes people overestimate themselves, do not always correctly assess their capabilities.

If with positive traits character is more or less clear, then with the shortcomings everything is more complicated. Few people are able to honestly admit to themselves that they are excessively lazy, constantly late, or cannot bring the work they have started to its logical end.

Weak sides human, what are they? In most cases, people are characterized by laziness, excessive softness of character, shyness, problems with observing the daily routine, indiscipline.

Many human shortcomings are easily corrected on their own, while others cannot be dealt with without the help of a psychologist. Some human flaws cannot be removed. Under them, experts advise to adjust their own way of life so that they do not cause inconvenience.

Objective assessment

What are my strengths? On the one hand, the question is not difficult, but many cannot accurately characterize themselves. Assessing your capabilities is important. If self-improvement is also important to you, you should not neglect it.

By making a list of your strengths, you can understand what you lack for career development, and therefore begin the journey to address gaps in knowledge and capabilities.

Strengths: list

The combination of strengths gives a strong-willed character. There are qualities by which one can judge the strength of the human personality.

To be successful in your career and life, you need to have:

sociability;
Confidence;
professionalism;
Purposefulness;
analytical thinking;
Patience;
Learnability;
diligence;
Responsibility.

Developing your strengths

Professionalism

One of the strengths of a person is the ability to improve in a chosen area. Experts recommend every month to read at least one book in their specialty.

Analytical thinking, learning

These personality strengths full degree depend on the level of intelligence. It, in turn, is determined by the genetic data and the training that has been received.

Discipline

To increase the level of discipline, you need to learn how to motivate yourself.

industriousness

Few people can boast of having this quality from birth. A person starts work not because he is tired of idleness, but only because there is such a thing as “necessary”. Each action performed brings a sense of satisfaction, which works as a great motivator.

Patience

You can't get everything you want right away. It takes time to reach the goal. The ability to wait is a valuable character trait.

Confidence, focus

These strengths come with acquired experience and skills. The more knowledge you have, the easier it is to follow the chosen path.

These human strengths can be supplemented by the following:

Courage;
Honesty;
Responsiveness;
Reliability;

People who possess all these qualities can control their actions and desires, manage their lives.

Exercises to determine your personal capabilities

Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. To do this, you need to remember what actions cause you the most. positive emotions. Write them down in a notebook, starting with the most significant and ending with those that are the least pleasant.
The next step will be a reassessment of values. Rethink your life beliefs to understand which ones are strengths and which are weaknesses.
Remember the people whose opinion is valuable to you. Why do you respect them? What traits do they have? Do you have these virtues?
Remember when you last time were happy? What happened at that moment? Why were you happy?
After studying your answers, try to find similarities in them. Those features that will be repeated in most of the answers are your ideals, what you are striving for.
Determine if your beliefs match your real life.
Learn what is good and what is bad in the area where you live and work.
Determine if it is environment optimal for the development of your personality.
Conduct a survey in which you ask people who know you what are inherent in you.
Having received answers from loved ones, you should find in them all the common points. Make a list of the character traits they find in you most of of people.
Make a self-portrait. As a result, you will get a deep characterization of personal qualities.
Make a list of things you need to do to improve your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

Self improvement

Human shortcomings can be overcome only through constant development. It is impossible to ignore not only shortcomings, but also strengths of character, as well as talents. They require improvement, because even the most outstanding abilities, without daily training, weaken over time.

Each person knows what he can do best. Therefore, only rare individuals do not pay attention to them, do not engage in self-development.

Merits rarely cause problems. After all, there is great amount methods of self-development. And if desired, everyone can improve their abilities, make them brighter and more outstanding.

The situation is different with disadvantages. Everyone tends to underestimate them. If you do not see the problem, then you can get along well with it, but life will lose something important from this. You can stubbornly ignore your weaknesses, put up with them, but in order to develop as a person and as a professional, hard hard work will be required.

Which section of your resume do you think is the most important?

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When applying for a job, your profile becomes the only link with your employer. Get Good work difficult without the correct presentation of their own capabilities. However, many serious ones require filling in an insidious item - weaknesses of character.

In a summary, every word written is important. Do not fill out this line in haste!

Weaknesses on your resume should be a mirror image of yours. strengths.
How to turn weaknesses into strengths on a resume
But you should not be too zealous in listing your shortcomings. Yes, and reproach yourself for your weaknesses of personality is not necessary. Remember what is good for one, not for another. For example, for someone you are wasteful, someone will consider you generous; some will see greed in you, others will say economical.
Present your employer negative traits character, wrapping them in a beautiful wrapper. For example, for an accountant, unsociableness is even useful in work, but a manager with this quality will have a hard time.
Expert opinion
Natalia Molchanova
HR manager
Find 2-3 traits of your character that will be considered a minus in ordinary life, but from the point of view of the chosen profession, they turn into indisputable advantages.
What weaknesses to indicate in the resume
This is where you need to think carefully. Sometimes writing a few words about yourself is much more difficult than you thought. After all, work in a reputable company is at stake, and the well-being of the whole family may depend on your ability to display weaknesses in the questionnaire.
Of course, there is no guarantee that the next employer will take you to their team. There is no doubt that the future boss will not only not put it aside, but will show his interest and will certainly want to meet. So what kind of trump cards will we save to beat the competition?
Be truthful
The habit of exaggerating will come in handy here. If the employer does not require dwelling on negative qualities, then you do not need to write anything. Then focus on your strengths as a specialist, mentioning your strengths. If the resume needs to be written in a free form, then focus on your positive aspects as a person and a specialist in the field.
But what shortcomings to indicate in the resume to become the first contender for the long-awaited position?
Firstly, as we have already said, so that the employer does not get the impression of you as a person with a painfully high self-esteem, in no case do we ignore the paragraph on shortcomings.
Secondly, do not deviate from the style of writing a resume. When talking with an interlocutor live, it is much easier to convey information to the listener: you can use gestures, facial expressions, and focus on his reaction. In the case of a resume, a special approach is needed, because the manager sees only what is written.
Thirdly, the boss will not fail to note the honesty of the resume, where you briefly report your shortcomings, based on some important points.

Don't chase the standard
When considering a resume, each employer looks at the situation from his own angle. Sometimes the same character trait can be regarded in two ways. For some, it will turn out to be the positive side of the coin, and some may be blacklisted, having such character traits.
Expert opinion
Natalia Molchanova
HR manager
For every field of activity individual approach . At teamwork leadership qualities will only interfere with the team, and for a manager, the ability to make his own decisions will be quite useful.
Be intellectually mature
It is important that you are aware of your imperfection and do not take criticism with hostility. After all, only an intellectually formed person can calmly and fairly conduct a personal assessment of his positive and negative sides.
It is undeniably easier for an employer to give preference mature personality than to engage in the education of an unbalanced person.
Show willingness to work on yourself
Having presented your negative qualities to the general court, be sure to indicate that you are actively fighting the shortcoming you indicated. You can't let an employer think you're comfortable living with this negativity.
It could be shyness or impulsiveness. You can point to their manifestation in accordance with the situation, and make it clear that you are waging a stubborn struggle with the presence of these disadvantages: expanding your connections and striving to control your ardor.
Consider a simple example in a resume, where the weaknesses of the applicant turned into a positive side from a professional point of view.
"AT Everyday life you are unable to refuse people, and because of this you do not have your own personal life. However, the boss may find this quality more than beneficial for him. Having hired a trouble-free employee, the manager expects that he will always be able to rely on such an employee, no matter what issues the assignment concerns. This feature can become simply invaluable for personnel who work under someone's direct supervision.

Present your strengths as weaknesses
Psychology is very interesting science. Of course, it is not worth filling the field for shortcomings with the phrases “increased responsibility” or “workaholism”. The leader will immediately convict you of dishonesty.
To take a highly paid position and with it the future boss you need:
credulity - you will be perceived as a person capable of concluding agreements exclusively with trusted partners;
self-confidence - they will see you as a leader who is inclined to move forward;
hyperactivity - they will bet on the speed of completing tasks commensurate with other employees;
slowness - they will find in your person a scrupulous worker who can see mistakes and notice important nuances;
increased anxiety - they will note a responsible approach to work and their duties;
straightforwardness – they will consider you a master of negotiation, who will confidently insist on the conditions and requirements of the company;
exactingness - they will think: if an employee is demanding of himself, then production processes you will be treated with no less responsibility;
pedantry - they will determine the ability to bring undertakings to the ideal through repeated checks;
restlessness - they will see you as an employee who is ready to perform new tasks and assignments, regardless of external factors;
modesty - will be credited to the number of employees who weigh what is said, which helps to prevent conflict situations and unnecessary misunderstandings.

For a summary of a future accountant, as an example of weaknesses, you can be guided by:
suspicion;
excessive pedantry;
increased anxiety;
straightness;
scrupulousness;
modesty;
inability to lie;
pride;
lack of complicity in working moments;
scrupulousness;
overestimated sense of responsibility;
inability to negotiate.

But for specialties that require direct communication with a wide audience, this list of qualities is extremely unsuitable.

For a manager, for example, you can indicate in your resume:
restlessness;
hyperactivity;
exactingness;
impudence;
stubbornness;
self-confidence;
straightness;
impulsiveness.

Why does the manager want to know about your shortcomings
If the future boss decided to include the “weak sides of character” column in the resume, then it cannot be ignored.

Stay yourself, believe in yourself and you will succeed, and finally the video

The device for the first place of work is troublesome and incomprehensible. On the student bench, they don’t teach you how to fill out questionnaires, and if they talk about it, then in a general sense, without specifics. Therefore, young people enter into a stupor when it is required to name the weaknesses of a person. What to write? How, in general, to 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, abilities. He knows more about it than anyone else. The weaknesses of a person are an obstacle that hinders his realization. As such, we usually consider laziness, absent-mindedness, gluttony, love to sleep, the desire to have fun, and not to work. But this has an indirect relation to the place of service. And is it worth it to tell the employer that you like to eat cakes three times a day? This is for execution job duties doesn't really affect it.

When you need to tell about yourself, you need to focus on the conditions in which you have to work. That is, to analyze your qualities, to identify those that will help you work, and those that will interfere. Pay special attention to the “weak sides of a person” item. Talk too much - you will be denied employment. Hide the actual - fired in a few days. The moment is very subtle. It should be approached carefully, thoughtfully, carefully, but honestly. Below we will try to fill in this paragraph in practice in order 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 just yet. Record everything that comes to mind. We'll weed out the excess later.

How to analyze your abilities

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

doing well;
like to perform;
does not work at all;
still needs to be mastered;
causes disgust;
done, but with a creak, without enthusiasm.

If you approach this process thoroughly, you will get a basis in order to identify the weaknesses of a person for the questionnaire. So, in principle, experts do. They pull out the specified information in the process of conversation, observation, testing. But you know yourself, so things will go faster. And to make your job easier, here is a list of what are considered weaknesses. Focus on these data, but try not to copy them. Use your own brains!

Weaknesses of a person: examples

The employer needs you to keep things moving, not standing still. A person is assigned a range of duties that must be strictly fulfilled. His personality traits can interfere with work. In order to identify such inconsistencies, a column is filled in that determines the weaknesses of a person. Believe me, there is nothing to be ashamed of. We are all different, different from each other. One can command, the other is better at performing. Either individual will find a place for himself that will bring satisfaction and profit to him, and benefit to the common cause. Weaknesses can be as follows (for an employee):

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

The list is very approximate to guide the one who first encountered the problem. Here you can add, for example, fear public speaking(if necessary), inability to count money (as needed), and so on. You should proceed from the job responsibilities for which you are applying.

Strengths

By analogy, you can praise yourself in the questionnaire. Indicate all your talents, abilities, skills, experience. For example:

strength of will;
endurance;
resistance;
purposefulness;
calm;
organization;
mental clarity;
determination;
sociability;
initiative;
patience;
truthfulness;
justice;
thrift;
business ability;
financial skills;
tolerance;
spirituality;
analytics;
the ability to compromise;
artistry;
accuracy;
respect for 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 ask. And from the duties, highlight the skills that are necessary for their successful implementation.

What do you want to hide

Lying while filling out the questionnaire is not recommended. But there are some moments that are better left unsaid. For example, you lack willpower. That is, there were no moments in life when it needed to be demonstrated. So you think it doesn't exist. Then just leave this item out. There is nothing wrong with this. Believe me, this quality, called positive by the society, is doubtful for the employer. If a worker rests, having all the inclinations to achieve the goal, it is difficult to cope with him. Such people complain to the courts, and they can write a statement to the authorities. Why these problems to the heads?

When filling out the questionnaire, 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 embarrassing and embarrassing if caught in a lie. If you don't know how to talk to a client, say so. This is a profitable business - they will teach. And for honesty you will receive bonuses, even if they are intangible.

You know, interviews are usually conducted by people who can identify the strengths and weaknesses of a person. Examples constantly pass before their eyes. Involuntarily, you will learn to notice the subtleties and nuances of behavior, project them onto characters. When faced with such a questionnaire, fill it out and read it twice. It is necessary to take a look at your data as if from the outside. You have two lists. Look at the ratio of the lists. It is desirable that there be three times more positive, strong qualities than weak ones. Judge for yourself, who needs a worker who can do nothing, who does not want to? It is foolish to give such an individual a chance for growth. And what do you think?

You can be an incredibly cool specialist and even a guru in some narrow field, but what's the point if the personal qualities for the resume were chosen incorrectly or completely forgotten about? It would seem: they should look at work experience, and the business qualities of an employee for a resume are already secondary. In fact, how you present yourself in the “personal qualities” column can become life-changing.

Before proceeding to the consideration of the qualities that the employer needs, a little advice: forget in the templates in the form of the words "purposefulness", "quick learner", "work for the result". This is great, but so old. Even if you want to write such qualities, let them not be the only ones on the honorary list. From the scarcity and stereotyped presentation, your characterization, as a future employee, will definitely not benefit.

Let's start with general advice professional HR professionals. In order not to waste their precious time on an interview not “Toy” or not “Togo”, they will definitely pay attention not only to work experience, but also to personal qualities. And here is what the HRs themselves advise:

You can really appreciate yourself as a specialist, but you don’t need to indicate more than 5 personal qualities
The qualities of an employee for a resume are indicated based on the position. We will write about this in more detail. But, for starters: an employee of a grocery warehouse will not need charisma when performing his direct job duties.
You can humor, but only if you do not pretend to leadership position. You can most often find out about the preferences of the employer in the job description.

The positive qualities of a person for a resume must match official duties. That is why we have prepared a list of positions and personal characteristics for them.

Examples of business qualities for employees by specialty

Example #1: accountant. A lot depends on this person. Sometimes, even the life of the company depends on him and his ability to properly manage money.

Strong professional qualities of an accountant, which are important to indicate: stress resistance, perseverance, learning ability, loyalty, responsibility, non-conflict. And not just because we put stress resistance in the first place. Carrying out cash transactions of a company with a turnover of a million - why not a cause for stress? If the turnover is smaller, the nerves are safer and the sleep is stronger.

Example #2: Sales manager. The more you can sell, the better. The more new customers it attracts, the more confident the company will develop. Yes, the life of the company largely depends on the sales manager. True, not always the representatives of this position are rewarded with decent wages. But we will only talk about the good, and only about professional sales managers, for whom it is important to indicate the following qualities of an employee for a resume:

Communication skills, stress resistance, presentable appearance, well-delivered speech, learning, responsibility. In the case of the sales manager, we put communication skills in the first place. True, after all, what kind of sales can there be if the manager does not know how to start a conversation, and even more so, “lead” a conversation with a potential client to the result necessary for the company?

Example #3: Secretary. For some reason, there is a stereotyped opinion that the secretary is an exceptionally attractive appearance. And she, including, but on the shoulders of the secretary, depending on the needs of the company, lies a lot of complex routine tasks.

Personal qualities in a resume for a secretary: grammatically correct speech, attractive appearance, diligence, responsibility, perseverance, ability to work in a team, non-conflict. And here is the destruction of the pattern: the primacy of "literate speech."

Secretaries must be able to win over every visitor, whether it is an applicant for some position in the company or a potential business partner. The secretary is the first to create a general impression of the company. Have you met secretaries who could not say two words? If you met, you understand exactly why competent speech is so important.

Here we “walked” through one of the most common vacancies that appear daily on the Internet in the amount of several tens and even hundreds.

And why not pay special attention to IT-specialists?

The professional skills of IT specialists are especially valuable today. Many companies need unrealistically cool specialists who can catch up and overtake competitors, while increasing the company's income by several times.

Here is what IT professionals most often write about themselves in their resumes:

Analytic mind
industriousness
Teamwork skills
Ability to work with a large amount of information

Diligence, as it seems to us, is approximately the same pattern as “commitment” with “the ability to work for results. It is not diligence that potential employers want to see in the column of personal qualities of their future IT specialist. Do you want to know what they want to see?

And here's what:

Independence
Initiative
Stress tolerance
Energy
A responsibility
Teamwork skills
Attentiveness
Mobility
Creativity

Here's a to-do list.

Business qualities for an IT specialist resume, as you can see, absolutely do not matter. In the first positions: independence and initiative.

True, what employer wants to get an IT specialist into their team, who will have to be constantly monitored or adjusted and reminded of something? Moreover, the IT-sphere is one of the few where narrow specialization does not allow the management to influence the result in any way.

So it turns out that an IT specialist should be independent, enterprising (where without it), creative, etc. Stress resistance is a plus for the karma not only of the IT specialist, but of the entire company. Without stressful situations this work is rarely costly, and deadlines cannot be missed, it is undesirable to demonstrate one's emotions and lose a client - like the collapse of one's own and corporate reputation.

And here is a list of qualities that IT professionals rarely indicate in their resumes:

Charm
Bravery
Eloquence
forethought
Strength of character
Skepticism

It seems to us that most of this list is very important. personal characteristics for resume. Especially if you want to get into the creative team. Why not indicate courage and charm? In dealing with customers and employees, these qualities will not be superfluous. True, everything should be in moderation.

Universal positive qualities for any resume

And finally, about the universal qualities that HR specialists recommend indicating in their resume without reference to the position and its requirements:

Fast learner
Honesty
Initiative
Stress tolerance
No bad habits

This one turned out to be small, but universal set. You can take note of it, but do not forget to indicate the personal qualities that the future employer expects from you.

And writing the right one is very simple: put yourself in the place of this employer. Think about what kind of specialist you would like to see in your team? The right qualities of an employee for a resume are not templates. Do you want to be paid attention to you? Then pay special attention to the column "personal qualities", and the position will be yours, we are sure.