Skills and Values to Consider Putting on Your Resume

It's not uncommon for job seekers to create bland, generic resumes that don't convey their strengths, skills or values. Making this mistake can quickly land your resume in the shred pile, especially if the recruiter has hundreds of applicants to review. Your goal is to stand out among other applicants, and you can do this by making sure your resume highlights specific skills and values that nearly every employer seeks.

Problem-Solving Skills

Recruiters want to know that you have the ability to analyze a situation, determine if there is a problem and how severe it is, and then come up with a working solution. Problem solving and resourcefulness are highly desirable skills in any workplace, so you should show recruiters you're a confident worker who can make decisions and work through challenging situations without needing constant supervision. When describing your job duties and experiences, make sure they highlight your abilities as a problem solver.

Leadership Skills

If you're someone who can easily motivate employees and has experience leading teams and conducting meetings, include this information in your resume to easily set yourself apart from other candidates. Leaders are known for taking initiative in the workplace, and they often have great communication skills that allow them to quickly build a rapport with colleagues and clients. Share your experience as a leader with recruiters to help them visualize you delivering presentations, facilitating group discussions and performing other leadership tasks around the office.

Planning and Organization Skills

Demonstrate your great planning and organization skills to employers by briefly highlighting some of the procedures you follow when planning your workday. Great planners are organized and have the ability to accomplish the goals they set for themselves despite personal and workplace challenges. Your resume should include details about your ability to set goals, design plans and implement projects within a specific time frame.

Loyalty

As you describe your job experiences in your resume, make sure they highlight you loyalty and dedication as an employee. Describe how you helped a company bounce back from a financial crisis or helped a failing organization increase its bottom line — this lets recruiters know that you won't quickly head for the door if the organization experiences a rough patch.

It's also a good idea to make sure your resume clearly indicates the dates of your employment and the amount of time you've been affiliated with industry-related organizations, as this also demonstrates your ability to be loyal.

Your resume should highlight much more than your education, work experience and technical skills. Including a specific set of skills and values not only helps you to stand out among other applicants, but it also allows recruiters to visualize you working for the organization.

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