Through experience and an abundance or employer feedback, we have decided to give you an insight into what qualities employers really look for in a candidate. Although they may seem obvious, some may surprise you.  Below, we outline 5 main qualities employers desire, followed by some recommendations on how to demonstrate these key qualities.

1. Communication skills.

As Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Whether you’re leading a team, managing clients, or training a new member, the ability to communicate clearly and concisely is essential. We’re not just talking about how you speak to one another but managing your whole communication portfolio (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc), if your succeed doing this, your ideas and creativeness will be noticed, automatically making you a more successful person.

2. Pro-activeness.

Employers tend to judge candidates based on their experience alone. After all, the whole idea of your CV is to list your experiences. However, they also want to see qualities such as pro-activeness, demonstrating this strength can often set you head and shoulders above the rest, as many forget to include these details. A good way to demonstrate your pro-activeness on your CV is to back-up any example of where you went above and beyond in a previous job. Don’t just list a number of things you’ve done, explain why you did them. Whether it was securing new business for your organisation as a result of something you did, correcting an issue, identifying opportunities to change the company for the better, started a campaign or club, or even just aiding a colleague. These all show that you did something on your own back for the good of the company – Who wouldn’t want that quality in their workforce?

3. Problem-solving.

Holding the ability to problem solve is a skill to be proud of. Many see a problem and immediately swerve it or reach for help. To an employer, someone that can not only identify an issue but pro-actively resolve it or even better – avoid it happening again is a god send. You will always come across problems in your life and career – it’s a fact, how you deal with it makes all the difference. This is something you can demonstrate better in a job interview as opposed to writing on your CV. Employers will often use competency based questions, designed to throw you off. Instead of answering the questions directly, think about giving an example of a similar scenario and how you dealt with that. Don’t forget to mention how you dealt with the problem, what results your actions had and how you avoided it happening again.

4. Curiosity.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” So said French philosopher Voltaire. Daring to ask a new question goes a long way toward finding the right solution. What’s more, a high level of curiosity – the hallmark of an inquiring mind – is typically indicative of other good qualities, such as inventiveness, resourcefulness, and fearlessness. It also tends to ward off boredom and apathy – sentiments that will put off any employer.

5. Risk-taking.

Although this may surprise you, being open to risk (and thus failure) is a key trait that employers admire. We can only truly learn and develop when we push ourselves outside of our comfort zones. Chances are you will only regret the things you didn’t do, so ask the questions you are afraid to ask, provide examples of when you took a risk and it paid off, you can even mention ones that didn’t pay off and what you learned from it. Truth is, if we didn’t take risks and changed the way we do things, nothing would ever change, and we would never accomplish anything. One of my most favourite books depicts this message really well. “Who moved my Cheese”? By Spencer Johnson.

For similar post related to this topic, Read:

“10 Ways to Impress Your Future Boss in a Job Interview” http://www.veryimportantpersonnel.co.uk/how-to-impress-your-future-boss-in-a-job-interview/

Not sure what to include in your CV ? Not sure what it should/shouldn’t say? We have compiled a brief description of what employers will want to see upon opening your CV, as well as a few pointers on what not to include and common pitfalls to help you avoid  disappointment when job hunting.

Contact details

The most important thing on your CV is your contact details, after all – you could have the most impressive CV but if your details are missing, how is anybody going to contact you? Be wary of using inappropriate email address’, Simon@thuglife.com may be a fun email address to use in your personal life, but what message are you giving to your employer? Be sure to include your Address and telephone numbers.

Profile

This is the earliest opportunity on your CV to show you have exactly what they’re looking for. It will normally be the first thing they read so make it gripping. Try to avoid using the “I” “I am” “I have” etc. We know who the CV is about, instead get straight the point. For example:

Don’t write, “I am an experienced Administrator and I have excellent communication skills”.

Instead write, “An experienced Administrator with excellent communication skills”.

Also try to include your key skills and experience you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for.

Employment History

From experience, employers like to see your most recent job at the top of your list, followed by your previous and so on.

The information you include should be as informative as possible, not just a summary of the job description.

Highlight activities you were involved in, things you maybe did that aren’t necessarily in your job description, such as training other colleagues, or assisting other departments.

Include achievements, such as how you met or exceeded any targets that you were set and how you added value to the company. This could include additional income you helped to generate, costs you reduced, improvements etc. Wherever possible, try to quantify your achievements. For example, say your marketing idea generated a 10% increase in market share, or you saved the department £5,000 by switching stationery suppliers. No matter what role you worked in, you should find a way to demonstrate your positive impact on your team, organisation or customers.

Avoiding Negative information

To ensure that you are only seen in a good light and to make sure your future employer gets the right impression of you from your CV, then avoid the following common pitfalls:  Absence of important information. Many candidates make assumptions about what’s important to the employer and so fail to provide the relevant information in their CV. Being too generic. Many candidates write a broad CV because they want to keep their options open. But unless it’s clear who you are and what you do, then recruiters won’t know what to do with you.

Errors. Many CVs have errors in them and are often rejected on that basis alone. Your CV must be impeccably presented if you want to demonstrate your professionalism and attention to detail. Always ask someone else to check it over for you.

Negative information. Your CV should include only positive information. Never criticise a previous employer or refer to difficulties or disappointments unless you were able to turn them around.

Poor language. The use of jargon, clumsy expression or slang can sabotage the chances of even the most capable of candidates. Your communication skills are being judged by your use of language in your CV. Don’t waffle, be precise and use positive action words such as “initiated this” or “created that” to reinforce the message that you’re an upbeat, “can-do” type of candidate.

For similar articles, also check out http://www.veryimportantpersonnel.co.uk/cover-letter-and-cv-2/