Top 10 Skills that look good on any CV

How you can improve your recruitment chances

The most important skills to have in any CV are those that are relevant to the sector you are looking for employment in. These skills might still be transferable to other sectors but a lot of them might be strictly relevant to a role – for example, experience driving a forklift is impressive, but that kind of experience will not necessarily improve your chances in an admin role. These sets of skills are referred to as “hard skills”. These, alongside experience, will often trump all else when an employer is looking at your CV. 
However, there are certain “soft skills” that employers would always like to see. These soft skills are great for any CV as they are transferable to any sector and job. Also, perhaps you are not sure what position you want to advertise your qualifications for on your CV, so you want to limit how many hard skills you put in. The difficulty is that most soft skills are based on your personality and can not always be taught. 

If you feel that any of the following 10 skills reflect you, then we highly recommend you put them in your CV:

1. Communication

Speaking politely, concisely, and professionally in all manner of things. This could be over the phone, over email, in person, or even in front of a crowd, however well you can speak, listen, write, and engage with everyone is important. All employers will want this skill in people as not only does it show how well you can get across your ideas, but it might also be the ability to present or negotiate with clients and customers. 

2. Time Management/Organisation

A skill that many people envy even outside of the world of business. Being able to balance many tasks or subtasks without difficulty can show that you would not only be an improvement in efficiency to the team but also that you can be relied upon.

3. Critical Thinking

The ability to analyse and make an informed decision on a problem put in front of you without intervention – it really is as simple as that. It makes you an asset to the team who can put forward ideas to a group, or simply be trusted to produce their own solutions and work alone to some extent.

4. Leadership

Just because the role you are applying for or expecting isn’t in a leadership position doesn’t mean you can’t show you have the skills for the position. For starters, if the job you end up getting has the possibility of advancement, then they would like to know that you have what it takes to be promoted. Additionally, leadership skills also show that you can make decisions yourself without constant supervision and the ability to resolve problems when they arise.

5. Adaptability

If you can prove that you can be put into any situation and still perform it to the best of your ability without stress or crumbling to pressure, you’re bound to increase your employability. Being adaptable doesn’t mean immediately being the best you can be when moved around to a new sector or position that you don’t have experience in etc. but it means being very willing to learn and open to the change in front of you.

6. Customer service/interaction

A skill that many would connect with retail or similar positions is actually something that is relevant in almost every role. Having good customer service shows that you know how to speak to customers when representing your company through certain emotive and professional language where people feel they are well cared for through your competence and kindness.

7. Work ethic

Not coming to work late, completing tasks competently and within a reasonable amount of time, and staying focused on your job are all quite common expectations from any employer. To demonstrate you have this skill shows that you are ready for the work lifestyle. This usually goes hand-in-hand with organisational skills.

8. Creativity

This is not simply an aptitude for artistic talents. Creativity as a soft skill could be paired up with your critical thinking abilities, or your innovations, or the ability to think of your feet. It could be considered a way that you negotiate and haggle. You need to be creative to demonstrate why being creative is a useful skill to your employer and therefore sell yourself.

9. Teamwork

Working well within a team doesn’t come simply down to how you communicate with your team but it is more a demonstration of empathy as a person and your emotional intelligence. How aware are you of certain cultures, religions, disabilities, etc.? Are you able to tell if you are upsetting someone and if so, are you able to fix the problem? If someone provides constructive feedback, will you respond to it positively? These and plenty more examples will rely on your teamwork skills.

10. Patience

It is a virtue after all – however this skill is important to employers because someone calm and collected, alongside many of the skills listed above, will be less likely to make mistakes as they assess a situation calmly. Additionally, you may need patience while hunting for jobs more importantly as squandering an opportunity for new employment by rushing into it and not doing your research is an obvious way to fail some interviews. 

Hopefully, you have looked at this list and have placed some new soft skills into your CV with some examples to go along with them. If you are looking for new employment, you can speak with some of our consultants too and see what we can do to help!