What weaknesses can you indicate in your resume? Weaknesses in a resume: should they be indicated and how best to present them

It so happens that some employers, when surveying, and sometimes in the job description, ask you to indicate your shortcomings and weaknesses in your resume. Thus, they want to simplify the selection of personnel, weed out unnecessary candidates, etc. In a word, HR managers solve their problems in a way that suits them.

Let's get to the point

Enough long time I help people write resumes and look for jobs, and I want to say that the topic of shortcomings in resumes rarely comes up. But if it comes up, I tell everyone the same thing.

Weaknesses do not need to be listed on your resume.. Not necessary at all. Under no circumstances. Even if a vacancy or a special questionnaire asks you to describe your shortcomings, it’s still not. No no and one more time no. Never write bad things about yourself!

There are several reasons for this.

Indicating character weaknesses in a resume increases the likelihood that your resume will be thrown into the trash. Someone will definitely understand your words “wrong” and decide that such a candidate is not needed. Let them first invite you to an interview, and there you will answer the employer’s questions and tell about yourself in all details.
Second point - don't judge yourself. You may be biased and most likely you will. Many people are demanding of themselves and self-critical, they make mountains out of molehills and scold themselves out of the blue. Let others evaluate you. Let the employer look at you, talk to you and draw his own conclusions. For him, your disadvantages can be advantages (and vice versa).
For example, shyness may be rated very highly. She may be seen as calm in nature and accommodating. Likewise active and active man can be called an upstart and a troublemaker.
If you indicate weaknesses and shortcomings in your resume, this will show your low self-esteem. Low self-esteem = low salary. Therefore, there is no need to be completely honest in your resume, show yourself from your advantage.

What if you still need to write something?

If you have a questionnaire or a form on a website where there is a special column “your shortcomings,” write a neutral phrase.

Examples of indicating weaknesses in a resume:

— “I am ready to answer your questions in personal communication”
- “I prefer to talk about it in person”
- Just put a dash

No disadvantages - only advantages

I want to say a few words about reverse side medals. If you don’t need to indicate your weaknesses in your resume, then your strengths should. This is really important. Focus on your strengths, on strong traits and skills. This will help the employer make the “right” choice.

A well-written resume is the key successful search work. Many people do not know what to write about personal qualities, how to use this to stand out among applicants, to show themselves to potential employers with the best side. The resume must include both professional skills and valuable personal qualities.

Positive qualities for a resume

Showing strengths, highlight 5-7 characteristics that clearly reflect your character. When choosing suitable personal qualities from the list, it is important not to overestimate or underestimate your self-esteem. Evaluate yourself wisely and determine what character traits are needed for a particular position:

activity;
Analytical mind;
ambition;
quick adaptation to changes;
attentiveness;
politeness;
discipline;
friendliness;
initiative;
communication skills;
reliability;
focus on results;
optimism;
responsiveness;
decency;
punctuality;
independence;
ability to make quick decisions;
stress resistance;
desire for self-improvement and development;
creative approach to assigned tasks;
ability to get along with a team;
ability to persuade;
determination;
honesty.

Negative qualities

All people have flaws, and if you openly show your weaknesses to an employer, he will understand that you adequately assess your character.

Some negative qualities may be ideal for one type of work and categorically interfere with another activity.

The ability to recognize your own negative character traits is always valued by an employer.

Honestly select a few characteristics from the list below:

trust only confirmed facts;
trusting people, naivety;
excessive demands on oneself and others;
isolation, desire for solitude;
slowness;
inability to perform monotonous work;
non-standard approach to problem solving, creativity;
lack of skills and experience in certain activities;
pedantry, scrupulousness;
increased sense of responsibility;
straightforwardness;
self-confidence;
modesty;
excessive activity.

Examples of personal qualities in a resume

Personal characteristics of an individual are conventionally divided into groups and areas, which are applied depending on the position and vacancy. This:

Attitude to work. Personal characteristics for resume:
- integrity;
- initiative;
- interest in studying the intricacies of the profession;
- diligence;
- creativity;
- persistence;
- responsible attitude to assignments;
- hard work;
- perseverance.
Attitude towards people. Personal qualities for a resume:
- politeness;
- flexibility in communication;
- goodwill;
- friendliness;
- communication skills;
- responsiveness;
- ability to quickly find a way out stressful situations;
- ability to persuade;
- justice;
- tolerance, respectful attitude towards people;
- ability to work in a team;
- clear diction, competent speech.
Characteristics, attitude towards oneself. Personal characteristics for a resume:
- active;
- attentive;
- disciplined;
- cheerful;
- decent;
- punctual;
- punctual;
- self-critical;
- stress-resistant;
- confident;
- plodding;
- honest.
Attitude towards your own and work things. Personal qualities of a person:
- careful;
- I always maintain order in the workplace;
- neat;
- neat.

Depending on the position for which the applicant is applying, suitable character traits are indicated. For example, the following qualities are suitable for an analyst or economist:

pedantry;
attentiveness;
perseverance;
responsibility;
accuracy;
diligence.

On an engineer's resume

In addition to professional skills, knowledge and abilities, indicate several personal options from the list:

attentive;
disciplined;
results-oriented;
responsible;
self-organized;
independent;
ability to concentrate;
technical mindset;
balanced;
plodding;
purposeful.

Strengths in a lawyer's resume

This profession involves advocating for people's interests and helping to solve problems, so applicants must meet strict requirements. List suitable qualities:

attentive attention to detail;
friendly attitude towards people;
logical thinking;
defending a certain point of view;
the ability to quickly win over your interlocutor;
the ability to consciously conduct dialogue;
justice;
desire for development;
self confidence;
ability to find a way out difficult situations;
the ability to clearly convey your point of view;
resistance to conflict situations.

In an accountant's resume

An applicant for this position must have financial literacy and be able to manage company money. Select several personal, appropriate options from the list:

careful;
attentive to detail;
executive;
loyal;
non-conflict;
responsible;
organized;
punctual;
scrupulous;
capable of learning;
stress-resistant;
plodding;
vigorous.

Sales Manager

In order to get this job you must have the following personal qualities:

adequate self-esteem;
politeness;
high responsibility;
competent speech, clear diction;
initiative;
communication skills;
loyalty;
multitasking;
non-standard approach to solving assigned problems;
sociability;
result orientation;
positive thinking;
presentable appearance;
punctuality;
ability to learn and remember large amounts of information;
stress resistance;
hard work;
self confidence;

For a manager's resume

To obtain leadership position, the following qualities must be highlighted:

quick analysis;
building communications;
flexibility of thinking;
interest;
multitasking;
observation;
persistence;
organizational skills;
focus on obtaining the desired result;
entrepreneurial skills;
demandingness;
the ability to inspire and lead;
energy;
independent decision making.

Positive qualities for a driver

Key personal qualities of the candidate:

polite;
attentive to the details;
flexible in communication;
communicable;
loyal;
responsible;
decent;
prudent;
punctual;
stress-resistant;
tolerant.

Administrator

An energetic character is suitable for this position. Employers pay attention to applicants who have the following qualities:

quick adaptation in non-standard situations;
high performance;
competent speech;
bringing to fruition;
love of life;
initiative;
communication skills;
learning ability;
organization;
responsibility;
positive attitude;
stress resistance;
ability to work in a team;
determination.

Seller

For this position, employers value applicants with the following characteristics:

ambitious;
polite;
diplomatic;
having a presentable appearance;
initiative;
having the ability to listen and hear;
communicative;
team-oriented;
responsible;
positive attitude;
independent;
seeking professional and personal development;
stress-resistant;
patient;
hardworking;
confident;
purposeful;
vigorous.

Common mistakes

When compiling a list of positive and negative qualities in your resume, be extremely careful. The choice of characteristics is determined by the desired position and the internal culture of the company.

It is important that these personality traits are perceived in positive aspect, and not as shortcomings.

For example, for an accountant, leadership abilities and charisma are undesirable, and in a creative team, pedantry and modesty will be a “minus”.

To avoid mistakes in describing personal qualities, follow the recommendations of experienced personnel officers:

Don't just use template phrases. Convey in your own words, in a discreet manner, your personal character traits. Exclusively for creative professions, you can use humor and creativity in your resume.
Do not indicate more than 5 characteristics. Try to avoid vague, general phrases, for example, talented, responsible. It’s better to choose an individual character trait that exactly suits you and the desired position.
Draw the employer's attention to personal qualities that are easy to immediately check, for example, energetic, sociable.
When characterizing negative qualities, you should not evade the answer. It’s better to name several options and indicate how you are working on them, how you are improving your character.

Video

A good, well-written resume is a powerful argument in favor of hiring. It can be a serious advantage, so you should start your job search by drawing it up. In the West, careerists keep their resumes throughout their lives, and add new lines as they improve their qualifications or change jobs. A document providing information about the applicant before the interview is part of business etiquette, which should not be neglected.

What you can and should write about yourself in your resume

There are basic points that must be spelled out. Indicate your strengths in your resume, avoid unnecessary things, only be informative. A resume is a brief summary of skills and qualities. From the first lines, show that you are a person with a serious character, focused on results. So what you need:

Personal information: full name, date of birth, Family status. If desired, you can add a photo.
Contacts. Please provide your phone number and address Email at the beginning of the resume. This will make it easier for them to find you when they want to contact you.
Desired vacancy. This item must be filled out.
Education. Indicate all institutions, courses, trainings that you have completed. School, university, attended a seminar on NLP - your knowledge base should be impressive. Be prepared to document each point.
Experience. Have you already held a similar position? Put this on your resume. To a person who does not have a single entry in work book, will be treated with suspicion.
Additional Information. Here you can talk about hobbies, strengths and weaknesses. Carefully select personal qualities for your resume. It will be a plus if they prove useful in the position.

Professional skills and abilities

Describe yourself in your resume: Show the employer that you are qualified for the position. Possession computer programs, knowledge of languages, availability driver's license- all this must be described in this paragraph. Place your resume skills and abilities in order of importance for your future job. If you have a specific, not-so-useful talent that you want to list, put it at the end of the list.

Personal qualities of a person

Education and experience are not the only evaluation criteria. Personal qualities for writing good resume Although they are not mandatory, they can play a decisive role in many situations. Imagine what kind of employee the director of the company wants to see? Do you have anything in common with him? positive traits, can you look competitive? Be sure to write about it, use your advantages!

Character strengths and weaknesses

Correctly selected good and bad personal qualities for a resume will help you get a job. If you cope with your responsibilities, character weaknesses will not be so important. Often the same trait becomes a trump card or interferes with work. Show your shortcomings as strengths in your resume and show your willingness to work on yourself. Determination is strong point character, which is valued in the team.

Positive features character for resume	Negative traits character for resume	Ambiguous character traits for a resume
Responsiveness	Contempt	Individualism
Sensitivity	Closedness	Pedantry
Sociability	Coarseness	Scrupulousness
Hard work	Negligence	Self-criticism
Accuracy	Sloppiness	Self-esteem
Care		Conceit
Responsibility	Passivity	Vanity
Integrity	Negligence	Mistrust
Punctuality	Touchiness	Self-confidence
Friendliness	Arrogance	Hyperreactivity
Discipline	Hot temper	Straightforwardness
Resourcefulness	Indifference	Demandingness
Focus on results	Greed	Pedantry
Organization	Envy	Modesty

What weaknesses can be indicated in a resume?

The employee’s task is not to scare you away, but to show that you do not suffer from inflated self-esteem. Be honest, but strongly negative personal qualities are inappropriate for a resume and should not be included. The second column of the table will scare away the employer. Character traits from the third will play a positive role for certain positions. Don't be cunning and don't try to present advantages as disadvantages. This will be conspicuous and reveal insincerity.

Examples: individualism is good for a creative profession, it helps you stand out from total mass presenters or artists. When working in a team, on the contrary, you need to be able to become part of the team and take into account the opinions of others. A pedantic character will interfere with working quickly, but it is appropriate where quality comes first. Modesty will prevent you from communicating freely with clients, however, when the right approach will put the company in a good light.

Good day, dear friend!

If you value concise answers, then the question “What shortcomings can be listed in a resume?” - you will receive it.I will answer right away, and you decide whether to read this article to the end or not.

The answer is as simple as five kopecks: c - no shortcomings should be indicated. I hope I didn't disappoint too much.

I can imagine that you are thinking like this: there are no ideal people and everyone has shortcomings. And you're absolutely right, but...

What is the purpose of writing about shortcomings in a resume?The resume should be designed to answer the question: Who are you and why do you need to be invited to?

How can your shortcomings help answer this question? That's right - none.

However, I would not put an end to this. We will need the shortcomings very soon, namely at the next interview. If not by telephone, then in person - for sure.

Why do we need disadvantages?

1. The employer needs them

Everything is very prosaic. The employer needs the shortcomings so that they have something to point out. A person who tries to hide his shortcomings does not inspire trust. They will still find your shortcomings, you can be sure.

2. You need them

Awareness of your problems is the first step to solving them. Your flaws are the same distinguishing feature, as well as advantages. The desire to seem like a superman with a stone chin will not buy anyone now. Quite the opposite.

What not to talk about

About shortcomings that are critical for work. If you are an accountant, but you confuse debit with credit, this is not a case that you need to tell everyone about)
Never use templates that are worn to holes. For example: “I’m a workaholic and I don’t notice how quickly time flies.” Such memorized phrases cause nothing but irritation.

“I tried to sell memorized bullshit” - this is the entry your humble servant saw in the interview report of one of his employees. I think comments are unnecessary here...

Your flaws should be as unique as you are.

Failures are also a plus

It is quite normal to talk about some kind of failure. For example, I started accepting delivery drivers without taking into account subsequent loading. Or rather, he made a too superficial forecast. As a result, I recruited people, but gave few orders. Accordingly, wages are low, people leave and we need to recruit again.

The most important thing about failure is what conclusions did you draw? Your humble servant has learned to force his colleagues to make a correct forecast of customer orders and give it to me as an order for the selection of people. And everyone is fine.

By talking about failures and shortcomings, you show that you are a person with adequate self-esteem.

How to compensate for shortcomings

Everyone has shortcomings and that's normal. The problem is if you don’t compensate them in any way. That’s right, not so much how you fight it, but how you compensate.

Example: I have a bad memory. I can easily forget some important things.

I can fight this as long as I want, for a year or two or more.

But I installed reminder programs on my smartphone. They don't forget anything and compensate for my forgetfulness. It’s even convenient, I write down everything I need, what I don’t need I forget and free up my brain for more important things.

Sometimes a disadvantage can even be presented in a positive light. For example, the same forgetfulness. I receive quite a lot of confidential information from the people I talk to, but I forget it, which means I won’t spoil it for anyone.

My old friend, a colleague in the shop, is a person who is difficult to motivate with a carrot in front. He is motivated to action by the ass in which he finds himself. He doesn't hide it.

The main thing is that he understands his motivation for avoidance and knows how to generate the energy that allows him, like Baron Munchausen, to pull himself out of the quagmire in which he finds himself by the hair. And ultimately, to solve the problems at hand.

Not every recruiter will understand you. Someone will measure with stamps. But an experienced and thoughtful recruiter will understand. A competent person will always understand.

Take responsibility

What is really valued at? Your adequacy and responsibility.

Show that you are willing to take responsibility for your successes and failures.

Tell us about yourself as a person who is the only reason everything that happens to him.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again,

We do not write any shortcomings in the resume.
For the interview: We evaluate ourselves adequately. We find our shortcomings, which clearly exist. We talk about how these shortcomings are compensated.

Thank you for your interest in the article. I would appreciate your comment (at the bottom of the page).

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Have a nice day and good mood!

The recruiter makes the first opinion about the applicant, and, as we know, there will be no second chance to make a good first impression. Therefore, the point about character weaknesses often confuses the candidate.

Do I need to indicate my shortcomings in a custom resume? There is no definite answer to this question, but for most vacancies this is not necessary and will not be a significant disadvantage when considering your response. However, if such a question is in the questionnaire, then ignoring it would be a big mistake.

If you are filling out a resume on a job search site and there is this item, you should not skip it. You can limit yourself to writing standard 2-3 characteristics and move on to next point. But if you really want to make an impression, it's better to be thorough in filling out every item on your resume. If in a dialogue we can paraphrase a phrase, focusing on the behavior of the HR manager, then in a resume every sentence should speak only in your favor.

By including a question about weaknesses in the questionnaire, the employer certainly does not expect your absolute honesty. Rather, he wants to test the candidate’s ability to answer complex questions, not ignore the manager’s instructions, simply his adequacy. After all, if a person has nothing to tell about himself, then is he such a good worker and is it worth wasting time on an interview.

What answers should you avoid?

So how to answer tricky question about your shortcomings? First, let's look at what is better not to write:

You should not put a dash through or completely ignore this point. For a recruiter, such an act is a signal of the candidate’s inattention, lack of desire to carry out complex or unpleasant instructions from his superiors, and inability to correctly evaluate himself.
Write a list of 10 or more shortcomings. For most companies, it is enough to indicate 2-3 qualities.
Describe those aspects of character that can really interfere with the chosen job. For example, laziness, conflict, unpunctuality, etc. will definitely not brighten your appearance in the eyes of your future boss.
Lie outright. Even if the quality you specified in the point about weaknesses will be perceived positively when evaluating the questionnaire, but in reality you do not possess it, the truth will quickly become clear and there will definitely not be any praise for deception.