Are you looking for a job but you have no specific competences? Don’t worry!
We know it is not easy to find work opportunities when you are at the beginning of your career path. Notwithstanding, it is possible to write a good curriculum and an amazing cover letter, to impress recruiters, in order to secure an interview and to have a successful response rate.
What skills should I put on my resume if I have no work experience?
It is a common mistake for candidates to believe that they lack in certain skills due to them not having previous work experience. This is a misconception as there are many important skills that arise from the personality of a candidate, from one’s upbringing as well as from one’s life experience.
We are talking about the importance of soft skills: attitude, communication, creative thinking, work ethic, teamwork, decision making, positivity, time management, motivation, flexibility, problem-solving, critical thinking, conflict resolution. So, it is important to highlight your soft skills and build a relationship of trust between the recruiter and yourself. In this way, you can really make a difference and stand out amongst other applicants.
How to identify and explain your soft skills?
To do this you can analyse some occasions within your personal life and you can link them to some soft competences. So, you could think about your behaviour in a particular situation during your life and in this way prove you have the ability:
– to establish positive relations
– to make decisions
– to be a problem-solver
– to work in team
– to be self-organized
– to communicate
and also, to have:
– a sense of responsibility
– the right approach to learning
– self-control
– perseverance
– empathy.
Obviously, it is not necessary to have all of these skills during the first interview, but you may wish to consider which skills seem more in line with your life experiences. In this way, you can give recruiters some clear and concrete examples, in order for them to understand that you can make the difference in the future. If you will do this exercise, you will become more convinced of what you can do and what you want, and thus increase your chances of success during the interview. So, even if you have somewhat little experience, you can still stand a good chance of securing a job!
Has it ever occurred to you to question which skills would suit you best?
There are many soft and technical skills that companies consider fundamental to choose the perfect candidate. While looking for a job, it is very important to keep in mind when you are writing your resume is to recognise your set skills and competencies.
If you search what type of skills are required by various companies online, you will find a lot of words that you might feel are suitable for you but in actual fact, they are not.
Let’s have a look at the proper meaning of the most important soft skills that are usually required:
MANAGE YOURSELF
Result oriented: set goals and constantly improve yourself
Adaptability: be flexible and know how to handle different situations
Self-restraint: control feelings especially when the situation is negative
Optimism: know how to see in a failure an opportunity to grown
Conscientiousness: be responsible on the job and committed to delivery
SOCIAL AWARENESS
Empathy: understand other people’s feelings, especially when you have not shared their experience
Organisational awareness: know how to see strengths within the organisation
Service-orientated: be available to assist others and help them when they need you
RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Conflict management: understand the different points of view during a discussion and to find common ground to resolve conflict
Help develop others: help and mentor colleagues to develop their skills
Influential: having an impact on someone, be persuasive and provide support
Inspiring leadership: know how to guide others and bring out the positive skills of others
Team ethics: be collaborative, respectful and encourage others to work hard
Change management: know when it is the right moment to change even if there are some obstacles
ANALYTICAL THINKING
Systematic management: an approach to management that focuses on the management process rather than on the final outcome.
“Everyone’s experience is everyone’s treasures.” Gérard de Nerval
VacancyCentre (VC) is a well-established recruitment agency in Malta servicing organisations talent resource requirements across a range of technical and specialist disciplines across key service industries within Finance, Compliance & Technology.
If you need assistance about your curriculum, send us your CV or contact us at [email protected]