Weaknesses to write. Acquired and transferred skills as strengths

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 proper presentation own capabilities. However, many serious ones require filling in an insidious item - weak sides character.

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

Weaknesses in the resume should be mirror image your 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 negative character traits to the employer, 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?

1. 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.
2. 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, you need special approach, because the leader sees only what is written.
3. 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 . In 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 to a mature person than to educate an unbalanced person.

Show willingness to work on yourself

Having presented to the general court their negative qualities, 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.

"IN 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 a 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

It so happened that some employers, when surveying, and sometimes in the job description, ask you to indicate your shortcomings and weaknesses in your resume. Thus, they want to simplify the selection of personnel, weed out unnecessary candidates, etc. In a word, HR managers solve their problems in a way that suits them.

Let's get to the point

Enough long time I help people write resumes and look for work and I want to say that the topic of shortcomings in a resume rarely pops up. But if it pops up, I tell everyone the same thing.

Weaknesses in the resume do not need to be indicated. Not at all. Under no circumstances. Even if it is written in a vacancy or a special questionnaire that you describe your shortcomings, it is still not. No no and one more time no. Never write bad things about yourself!

There are several reasons for this.

• Pointing out the weaknesses of the character in the resume increases the likelihood that your resume will be thrown into the trash. Someone will definitely understand your words “wrong” and decide that such a candidate is not needed. Let them first invite you to an interview, and there you will answer the questions of the employer and tell about yourself in all details.
• Second moment - don't judge yourself. You may be biased and most likely you will. Many people are demanding of themselves and self-critical, they make an elephant out of a fly and scold themselves out of the blue. Let others judge you. Let the employer look at you, talk to you and draw your own conclusions. For him, your minuses can be pluses (and vice versa).

  For example, shyness can be highly valued. She can be seen as a calm disposition and accommodating. Similarly, an active and energetic person can be called an upstart and a troublemaker.

• If you indicate weaknesses and shortcomings in your resume, this show your low self-esteem. Low self-esteem = low salary. Therefore, you do not need to be extremely honest in your resume, show yourself from the best side.

If you still need to write something?

If you have a questionnaire or a form on the site where there is a special column “your shortcomings”, write a neutral phrase.

Examples of indicating weaknesses in a resume:

- "Ready to answer your questions in person"
“I prefer to talk about it in person.”
- Just put a dash

No disadvantages - only advantages

I want to say a few words about reverse side medals. If it is not necessary to indicate the weaknesses in the resume, then the strengths are necessary. This is really important. Focus on your strengths, strengths and skills. This will help the employer make the “right” choice.

Strengths and weaknesses of a person

The strengths and weaknesses of the personality are closely related and should not contradict each other. Each person has their own disadvantages and advantages. As a rule, we are used to talking about strengths, but we are often silent about weaknesses.

An independent, purposeful and self-critical person always recognizes that there are many weaknesses in his character. And there is nothing wrong with that. We are all humans. But every purposeful person can turn his shortcomings into virtues by painstaking work above oneself.

So, what are human strengths and how to find them? To do this, first of all, pay attention to your talents and skills. Here you will find your strengths. When you find your strengths, work on them, develop them. This will allow you to fully open up.

If you cannot independently determine your strengths for the questionnaire, ask your acquaintances and friends for help. Thanks to their opinion, you can discover advantages in yourself that you didn’t know about before. And in some ways your opinion will converge with the opinion of your friends.

In addition to the strengths in the resume, there is often a question about your weaknesses. You shouldn't be ashamed of them. If you claim that you have no negative character traits, this will become a sign of an unformed personality for the recruiter. Which in the future is unlikely to help you get the desired position.

Table 1 - Strengths and weaknesses

Exceptions to the rules

When applying for a job, indicate in your resume those strengths that will help you get the desired position. After all, some of your strengths for some position may turn out to be shortcomings that the applicant should not have.

Here are the most common examples. For a device to the position of a manager, you should not talk about the ability to sing. This is unlikely to help you get a job. But if you tell the recruiting manager that you cook well, this will indicate your discipline, creativity, perseverance and accuracy. After all, to prepare a new dish, you need to spend a lot of time and effort on the choice of products and on the direct cooking process. In addition, a good cook is always creative in creating a new masterpiece, but always follows exactly in accordance with the culinary recipe.

Below we will give a few examples of what qualities you need to specify when applying for a particular position.

Table 2 - Strengths and weaknesses by specialty: examples

The table shows that not all positive aspects should be indicated in the resume, since some are simply not needed to get the desired position or can “harm”. For the employment questionnaire, we recommend that you select such weaknesses that will help characterize you as a responsible and worthy person to occupy this position. The negative qualities of your character should help you fulfill the functions assigned to you.

What else should be paid attention to in the questionnaire or resume

• Be sure to indicate on your resume that you always set goals for yourself and achieve them, that is, you are a goal-oriented person. At the same time, be persistent and always follow a pre-planned plan.
• It is also worth pointing out that in the event of unforeseen circumstances, you can find a way out of this situation - you have a creative mind.
• Another important component of any successful applicant is self confidence. This will characterize you as a confident person who is not afraid to take a step forward. You are not inclined to panic due to unforeseen circumstances, you are calm and confident in your abilities.
• It is also very important the ability to communicate with people. Let it be customers, colleagues, subordinates, suppliers. You just need to be able to find with them " mutual language”, accept their point of view and correctly present their opinion.
• One more positive trait nature, which must be indicated in the employment application form, is responsibility. No matter what position you apply for, you must always be responsible for your actions. Otherwise, you will become a burden on the company, which will eventually lead to you being fired.

Also, when applying for a new position, indicate that you are well trained. Can you give examples from past work or university practice. When you come to new company, the first time you will need to study: learn about the company, about the features of its activities and learn how to fulfill your direct duties.

Exercises to identify strengths and weaknesses

Sometimes it is very difficult to determine your personal qualities on your own. Especially if you are nervous or writing a resume for the first time. To eliminate worries and unpleasant moments, make a list of your qualities before the interview. And how to do this, we will help you. So:

1. Analyze your character. To do this, remember what you are good at and what is bad. And also what qualities are needed to perform these tasks. Write everything down so you don't forget.
2. If you cannot independently assess your qualities, ask your loved ones and acquaintances whom you trust about it. They will help you find your strengths and point out your weaknesses.
3. Assess your surroundings. Determine what positive and negative character traits your acquaintances have. Compare with yourself what you have and what you don't have. Write it down.
4. Next, evaluate the qualities that you indicated. You need to select what from this list is your strengths and what is your weaknesses. Let's say that at the university you could not make a presentation in front of an audience. Means your weak side is the fear of the public. But you made this report, which means that you are an assiduous, attentive, responsible and hardworking person.
5. Next, from the selected qualities, you need to choose your personal and professional qualities.
6. Determine what qualities a candidate for your job should have. Write them down.
7. Now make a selection from your personal and professional qualities in accordance with the qualities that the applicant for the desired position should possess. Write it down.
8. After the work done, identify your shortcomings and how you can deal with them.

Useful articles:

Not everyone requires your resume to show your weaknesses. But if there is such an item in the form, then putting a dash will be a mistake. It is better to look at an example of the weaknesses of the character in the resume.

What to write

Please consider your answer before completing the deficiencies box. Don't skip it by any means. ideal people does not exist. As a rule, managers want to see how adequately you evaluate yourself. If you do not know what to write, look at the suggested options and choose something that suits you best.

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

You can write the following weaknesses:

• excessive directness, the habit of telling the truth in the eye;
• difficulty in establishing contact with strangers;
• inability to be flexible in labor matters;
• reliability;
• increased anxiety;
• excessive emotionality, irascibility;
• love for formalism;
• restlessness;
• slowness;
• hyperactivity;
• fear of air travel.

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

Linking weaknesses to the characteristics of professions

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

• incredulity;
• excessive scrupulousness;
• increased anxiety;
• excessive demands on oneself;
• straightness;
• pedantry;
• modesty;
• inability to lie;
• difficulty establishing contact with strangers;
• pride;
• lack of flexibility in labor matters;
• adherence to principles;
• overestimated sense of responsibility;
• lack of diplomacy.

• hyperactivity;
• self-confidence;
• restlessness;
• impulsiveness;
• the need for external motivation;
• incredulity, 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:

• straightness;
• workaholism;
• excessive love for communication.

Applicants for the position of manager need to prepare before filling out the specified column. It is better to think in advance what weaknesses to indicate in the resume. They can write about such character traits:

• excessive emotionality;
• pedantry;
• love for little things;
• thoughts about work, planning take up most of the free time;
• increased demands on others.

A good example is the following:

• inability to respond with rudeness to rudeness;
• the tendency to make decisions based on one's own opinion;
• mistrust of people and a love of confirmation of facts.

Some applicants choose to indicate that they:

• overly trusting;
• can raise their voice to subordinates;
• straightforward, express their opinion without veiled embellishments;
• quick-tempered;
• always looking for confirmation of words;
• have a hypertrophied sense of responsibility;
• prone to formalism and pay too much attention to detail;
• irritated by disorder;
• slow;
• do not like to do things for the sake of others.

For all occasions

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

• 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 for shopping
• sweet love.

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

The following shortcomings can be stated:

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

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

Regardless of the position for which you are applying, you can write such 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 a boorish appeal;
• I constantly pass all situations through myself;
• let people get too close;
• I can't swear;
• I noticeably worry when I have to lie.

Important nuances

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

• like to be lazy;
• afraid to take responsibility;
• do not like to make decisions;
• not punctual;
• are often distracted;
• think only about salary;
• love office romances.

For example, by writing about your laziness in your resume, you risk: the employer will decide that you do not want to work.

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

Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

When applying for a job, your profile becomes the only link with your employer. It is difficult to get a good job without the right presentation of one's 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 your 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 negative character traits to the employer, 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 everyday life, but from the point of view of the chosen profession, they turn into undeniable 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?

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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

Each field of activity requires an individual approach.. In 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 to a mature person than to educate 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.

“In 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 a 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 you will treat production processes 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 - they will be credited to the number of employees who weigh what has been 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