Skills to include tend to be split over three types; transferable, job related and adaptive skills. In this article, we’ll talk you through the skills you should include in your cv in 2019 and more importantly, how they can help you land your next job.
Transferable skills
These skills are often ones you’ll have picked up through previous employment, volunteering or life experiences. These occurrences form a core skill set which you can transfer to a new position or a change in career.
Below are a few examples so you get the feel for them and how recruiters will see them as an asset.
Time management
Through previous employment, it’s good to demonstrate how you can manage time and work effectively. Think of times when you’ve demonstrated this ability and identify it on your CV.
Give practical examples where possible. This will therefore become a transferable skill, which could be useful in the position you are applying for.
Attention to detail
This is great to include if you’re lacking in other ‘hard’ skills. Consider the key requirements and whether there’s any transferable skills you can highlight instead.
Attention to detail is something that’s needed in most professions, so make sure you include examples of this in your CV in 2019.
Leadership
Applying for a Team Manager position can be daunting if you have no experience. Look where possible to demonstrate a skill that relates to the position. Leadership is a good example.
Look back through your life/work experiences and see where you have demonstrated this. You may have been a captain for a football team, which highlights your ability to drive a team forward. Think about adding this in your hobbies section.
Job related skills
These skills relate to specific abilities or experiences that you need for the job you’re applying for. The best way to work out which skills you need from this type is to check the job description carefully.
Recruiters will often list a specific list of skills they’re looking for. You can then match your CV to these directly, detailing bullet points to produce the best fit. Below, we give a couple of examples to set you in the right direction.
Driving
This might sound obvious but if you’re applying to be a lorry driver, then it’s a good idea to bullet point your experience relating to driving. Mention in your employment history what vehicle types and classes you’ve driven – then relate this directly to the job description where possible.
Teaching
Say you’re applying for a teaching position and need five years previous experience to land the position. You should highlight your teaching skills over this period, where you worked and how you practised them. Try to include specific examples where possible.
Adaptive skills
These normally relate to characteristics and personality traits that you’ve acquired through life and demonstrated in previous employment positions.
These skills can help you stand out from other candidates, giving a recruiter an idea about your personality and how you’d fit in their company. Below we have some examples to think consider.
Loyalty
You may have worked within your current company for 20 years, having held a number of different positions. Use this as a positive to demonstrate your loyalty. A recruiter will likely see you as someone who will commit to them and won’t leave in a few months.
Team work
If you’re applying for a position where you need to work in a team, then this one is an obvious one to mention.
To make it more impressive, it’s always good to try and give specific examples. Perhaps you worked on a project where you were one piece of a larger team, however by working together you helped to achieve an overall objective.
Get these skills on your CV in 2019
Hopefully you now have an idea about the skills you should include in your CV in 2019. The key though is not to simply list as many of these as possible, but focus the key ones that relate to the position you’re applying for.
Bring them to life when talking about your experience and give specific examples to make it easier for a recruiter to see your fit for the job.
If you get this right then you’ll boost your CV in 2019 and will have the edge over other applicants. Good luck in your job search!
About the author: Your CV Consultant was founded by Chris Pennington who has had a successful 15 year career in Financial Solutions Management and as a Personal Insolvency Specialist. Within this time he has built up a wealth of experience in CV Assessment, Recruitment, Interviewing Candidates, and Career Coaching.
