Skills in resume

Besides your theoretical knowledge, employers also value your skills. Your skills determine whether you’ll be successful in the job and in the organisation. Therefore, a lot of time is spent on this topic during the job application.

It’s up to you to determine what skills you possess. You may have acquired skills during your study, within your fraternity, job or projects. Subsequently you make sure you can come up with a concrete example in your pitch, letter or conversation, to prove you possess this skill. For example, how you brought a solution to a problem:

“In my job as a helpdesk agent, I have to deal with large and small problems, e.g. incorrect data in an annual review. I always try to solve matters in a way the customer immediately has a feeling of being helped, e.g. by quickly adjusting data. That is my first goal. I then make time to further analyse the problem with those involved by automatically having the data checked by the customer, so we can find a structural solution.”

When they ask about your problem solving skills in a job interview, be prepared for questions like:

  • Describe a problem that you encountered at work. How did you deal with it?
  • Has there ever been a problem prevented, because you detected it in time?  What kind of a problem was it?
  • Did a problem ever occur that you didn’t anticipate? How did you react to it?

Feel free to make an appointment with one of the Career Officers if you want to learn more or sign up for the workshop ‘The Art of Job Application’.