CREATE A RESUME ON YOUR PHONE
Many employers, in addition to your positive qualities, want to be aware of your negative ones. Character weaknesses are an insidious point on a resume, but thanks to them, the boss can learn more about you and understand how suitable you are for the company.
A resume is the link between the applicant and the employer. A well-written questionnaire is the key to further success. Create your resume carefully, truthfully and carefully, only then will it bring you the desired result.
Expert opinion
Nikolay Borozdin
Director of a recruitment agency
The main goals of this column are to make it clear how self-critical the potential candidate is, how correctly he can evaluate himself and whether he accepts criticism from the outside.
Most often, managers are interested in answers to the following questions:
- How adequately do you treat yourself?
- Are you ready to hear and listen to the opinions of others?
- How will you relate to management?
When answering this question, remember that people are not perfect, so talking about your shortcomings is quite normal. Moreover, sometimes a disadvantage can turn into a plus.
- For example, slow people tend to be very detail-oriented and are accustomed to doing the best possible work. And this is a very good characteristic for an accountant.
- The lack of excessive talkativeness can also be a plus for work where the ability to concentrate and not make mistakes in numbers is required. Therefore, feel free to point out your shortcomings and do not be afraid that this may spoil the impression.
When listing your weaknesses, mention how you deal with them. For example, you can answer that you are aware of your slowness and love of perfectionism, so you mentally indicate the period of time by which the task must be completed. This helps you work more efficiently and get everything done on time.
# How to identify weaknesses
It is difficult to determine on your own what shortcomings you have, and even more difficult to accept them, so you can turn to friends or family for help. Ask them to be honest about your character weaknesses - listen carefully. This way you can analyze what was said, draw conclusions and start working on yourself!
Character is the established mental properties of a person, which are reflected in behavior and actions. And character traits are the qualities of a person that he displays in society. They can be both positive and negative.
Also remember what you were told at your previous place of work, what you were praised for and what you were blamed for. Admit honestly what you don’t like about yourself, look at yourself from the outside - this way you will understand where your strengths and weaknesses are. Once you realize this, you will become much stronger and wiser.
What to write
Before filling out the box in which you need to indicate your shortcomings, think about your answer. Do not miss it under any circumstances, because ideal people do not exist. As a rule, managers want to see how adequately you evaluate yourself. If you don't know what to write, look at the suggested options and choose something that suits you best.
A universal formula: select character traits that are an advantage for performing this particular job, but in ordinary life can really be considered a human flaw.
The following weaknesses can be written:
- excessive directness, the habit of telling the truth face to face;
- difficulty establishing contact with strangers;
- inability to show flexibility in labor matters;
- reliability;
- increased anxiety;
- excessive emotionality, hot temper;
- love of formalism;
- restlessness;
- slowness;
- hyperactivity;
- fear of air travel.
All of the weaknesses listed in your resume can become strengths if you look at them from a different angle. An example is restlessness. For a sales representative or active sales manager, this can even be a plus. The same goes for reliability. This is a signal to the manager that you may be the person who will do all the overtime work.
Good to know: Your strengths in your resume
# How to turn disadvantages into advantages
When answering a question about weaknesses, you should not specifically show your imaginary “good weaknesses,” otherwise you will cause distrust.
Bosses have a stereotype: if a person wants to show only good things, then he is probably hiding something bad in himself and maybe he doesn’t even realize it.
It is important to show that you know your weaknesses, recognize them and know how to deal with them. This is the kind of presentation that will make a positive impression on the employer.
Expert opinion
Ekaterina Troitskaya
HR manager
It will be difficult to fully turn minuses into pluses in the questionnaire. Therefore, it is better to highlight a line in your resume and indicate that there are many more advantages, and the disadvantages do not affect the work in any way. But when talking with a boss or an interviewer at an interview, character weaknesses should be revealed with a smooth switch to strengths.
Example: I can be meticulous and scrupulous. This irritates many people. But it seems to me that as an analyst I simply do not have the right to treat tasks differently, and therefore I am used to checking everything several times and analyzing everything down to the smallest detail. I can’t work calmly until I recheck everything completely several times.
You can also indicate that you are working on your weaknesses and doing everything possible to improve:
Example: I'm not a very good speaker. I can become confused and stutter when I'm in front of a lot of people. I realize that for a journalist this is a clear disadvantage, which is why I signed up for public speaking courses. And I’m even glad that I can develop and work on myself, realizing my shortcomings.
You can use the method of compensating for negative qualities if you realize that you cannot turn them into positive ones, and you can no longer fight:
Example: I'm an owl. Getting up early is very difficult for me. This could make me late for work. But I’m ready to compensate for this; I can happily stay late in the office to complete all the errands. After all, my productivity increases in the evening, so I will happily do everything that is necessary, and I can even complete urgent additional assignments.
Good examples of disadvantages that can be turned into advantages are the following:
- Distrustful - a person who will only enter into transactions with trusted companies.
- Excessive self-confidence - you will be seen as a leader who is always moving forward.
- Increased anxiety – a responsible approach to work, in other words, fear of making mistakes.
- Demandingness - if you are demanding of yourself, then of your work and your subordinates too.
- Self-criticism - you are responsible and do quality work.
- Shyness - you will not have conflicts with colleagues and be polite with your superiors.
Adviсe
Writing a resume is not an easy task. Only a successful and competent application form will help you find a good job. Therefore, you should not copy standard solutions, but apply a personal approach to a specific vacancy. When listing your weaknesses, you should follow a few tips:
- All specified characteristics must be true. Any deception is revealed during the interview.
- There is no need to list all your shortcomings. Limit yourself to two or three characteristics, but only in relation to the profession.
- It is important that the resume is properly formatted, that there are no errors, and that it is in stylistic order.
PS Add your negative qualities to the list, relating them to your profession in the comments
