Portrait of an ideal employee or 12 personal qualities for an exemplary resume

Business and personal qualities

An employee’s business qualities are his ability to perform certain job duties.
The most important of them are the level of education and work experience. When choosing an employee, focus on the benefits he can bring to your company. Personal qualities characterize an employee as a person. They become important when applicants for one position have the same level of business qualities. Personal qualities characterize an employee’s attitude towards work. Focus on independence: he should not do your work, but must cope with his own to the fullest.

Mass preferences of employers

Unique specialists are forgiven many personal shortcomings and even vices, but these are rare. For this reason, we will talk about the criteria for selecting performers that meet the most common requirements.

Every personnel officer can list the personal qualities of a good employee:

• responsibility,
• diligence,
• accuracy,
• communication skills
• qualification level,
• zeal,
• honesty,
• ability to get along with a team,
• work in a team.

It happens that some other requirements are added, but rarely.

Character traits are prioritized unevenly. For personnel with access to financial resources, the most important quality is “clean hands.” Service workers are required to be sociable. A top-level turner is not required to comply with the office dress code.

Professional suitability always comes first. If an employee does not master a craft, no positive personal characteristics will help him, except, perhaps, a quick learner. An applicant for a vacancy must meet at least the minimum level of training.

These are followed by other properties desirable for the employer. They are based on surveys conducted in many firms, in order of importance. It is recommended to pay special attention to the first three qualities that a successful employee must have.

Responsibility (85%)

This quality, as surveys have shown, is the most important - it was given priority by over 85% of respondents represented by enterprise managers. By the way, the very concept of responsibility is not specific and can be interpreted in different ways.

Some (mainly applicants for vacancies) understand it as readiness to unquestioningly carry out any instruction. Others (usually employers) believe that responding means making effective decisions at a delegated level, and not running to management with every problematic issue.

Some performers practice tricks of substituting concepts. Under the guise of consulting with the manager, they abdicate responsibility for making decisions. In case of failure, an excuse is always ready: “You said it yourself...” Formally, there is nothing to complain about, but employers quickly get rid of such employees.

Communication skills (53%)

Economic processes are accompanied by intensive information exchange. The tendency for conflict among each team member can have a detrimental effect on overall financial results. And not only.

During the Second World War, conflict arose between the operational command of the British Navy and naval intelligence. One day, one of the services sent a request about the location of a German battleship, indicated by a code. By the time it was processed, the numbers had changed. The answer was given only formally; as a result, the warship with almost its entire crew—hundreds of sailors—was lost.

In economics, losses are expressed not in human lives, but in money, but they can be devastating. One brawler is capable of causing a quarrel among the entire team.

Efficiency (41%)

In practice, each member of the team is a deputy manager, albeit in some narrow area of ​​work. If the boss could handle all the work himself, he would not hire staff. Management must be confident in the execution of given orders, which influenced the “bronze prize” of this quality in the rating.

Hard work and ability to work in a team (38% each)

Together with teamwork abilities, hard work ranks fourth in the ranking of the most important personal qualities of performers for employers. It should not be confused with the usual desire to work and provide for the family. The delays of some workers in the office after the end of the working day have nothing to do with hard work - it is rather a manifestation of slowness and unsettled personal life.

Regarding team spirit, this property is related to communication skills, but is not identical to them. There are people who prefer to work independently. Others do not imagine themselves outside the team - they need confidence that they will be “covered” in a difficult moment, and they themselves are ready to respond in kind.

Desire for personal growth and development of professional qualities (32%)

A person develops throughout his life. There is no specialist who could say about himself that he has achieved perfection. Most of the largest and most advanced enterprises encourage employees to strive to acquire new knowledge and skills.

The employee himself is also interested in strengthening his own qualifications - this increases his personal self-esteem and competitiveness in the employment market. The ability to master professional knowledge, including self-learning, is fifth on the list of factors that determine the value of an employee.

Loyalty and honesty (11% + 27%)

Devotion to their company is a characteristic feature of employees of Japanese zaibatsu corporations. It is less common for people of a European mindset, but every leader wants to be sure that he will never be betrayed.

Probably due to the fact that respondents confuse the concepts of loyalty and honesty, such strange results were obtained (a total of 38%).

Other positive qualities

It would take a long time to list all the wishes of employers for their employees. It is difficult not only to find, but also to imagine a person who fully corresponds to them. Positive qualities include:

1. Resistance to stress (29%) is a trait that is important for performers involved in complex types of work (transport industry, communication with a lot of clients, etc.)
2. Honesty (27%). It is difficult to evaluate an applicant for a vacancy on this basis.
3. Creativity (24%). The ability to be creative is tested only in practice.
4. Determination (15%). The desire to achieve one's own at any cost can be both a positive character trait and a negative one. It is important to understand a person’s motivation (whether he strives to benefit the enterprise or pursues personal gain).
5. Punctuality (15%). It’s great when an employee arrives exactly two minutes before the appointed time and always shows such precision. If punctuality is combined with self-discipline (24%), the result is almost 40%.
6. Positive outlook (12%). An optimist is more useful to a company than a pessimist.
7. Self-confidence (8%).
8. Only 6% of respondents (executives and human resources managers) noted the importance of the health of workers. It seems like everyone else continues to dream about robots.

Choice of qualities

If more than 5 characteristics are included in the resume, this is a signal that the applicant is not able to make an intelligent choice. Moreover, the standard “responsibility” and “punctuality” have become banal, so if possible, ask what these general concepts mean. A striking example: the phrase “high performance” could mean “ability to work with a lot of information”, while you were counting on “willingness to work overtime.”

Such general concepts as “motivation to work”, “professionalism”, “self-control” can be explained by the applicant in other expressions, more specifically and meaningfully. Pay attention to incompatible qualities. To make sure that the applicant is honest, you can ask him to illustrate the characteristics he specified with examples.

Negative qualities of an employee

Sometimes job applicants also include them in their resume. In particular such as:

• Hyperactivity.
• Excessive emotionality.
• Greed.
• Vengefulness.
• Impudence.
• Inability to lie.
• Inability to work in a team.
• Restlessness.
• Touchiness.
• Lack of work experience/education.
• Lack of a sense of humor.
• Bad habits.
• Addiction to gossip.
• Straightforwardness.
• Self-confidence.
• Modesty.
• Poor communication skills.
• The desire to create conflict.

An applicant who includes negative qualities in his resume may be honest, or he may be reckless. Such an action does not justify itself, but if you want to know possible problems with this applicant, ask him to list his negative qualities. Be prepared to give the person the opportunity to rehabilitate himself and present negative qualities in a favorable light. For example, restlessness indicates easy adaptation and quick switching from one task to another, and straightforwardness indicates the benefits that it can bring when concluding a deal.

Be prepared to give the person the opportunity to rehabilitate himself and present negative qualities in a favorable light.

Professional knowledge and skills of a support employee

Supplement these points with your own, taking into account your company, product, specifics, and so on. For example, if an employee must be able to configure a router, write so.

• Computer skills and basic software skills
• Correct oral and written language
• Knowledge in related fields
• Knowledge of competitors and their features
• Product knowledge
• Knowledge of related products and integrations
• Skill in working in a support program - helpdesk
• Ability to formulate and convey thoughts
• Work for results
• Ability to quickly understand a problem
• Ability to identify cause-and-effect relationships
• Ability to refuse a client
• Ability to transfer requests to colleagues and escalate

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Qualities for different professions

Certain professional qualities are needed in almost all types of activities. You can make it easier for applicants and at the same time narrow their circle by including information about the required characteristics in the job advertisement. For an employee in the field of promotion or entertainment, the main qualities are communication skills, the ability to work in a team, and to win people over. The list of winning qualities will also include: charm, self-confidence, energy. In the field of trade, the list of the best qualities will look like this: flexibility of thinking, skills in interacting with clients, the ability to negotiate, work in a team, as well as quick response, politeness, perseverance, and activity.

A leader in any field must have such professional qualities as organizational skills, the ability to find a common language and work in a team, resourcefulness, lack of conflict, charm and the ability to teach. Equally important are the ability to make quick decisions, self-confidence, attentiveness and balance.

The strengths of an employee working with a large amount of data (accountant or system administrator): attention to detail, accuracy, quick learner, attentiveness, organization and, of course, the ability to work with a large amount of information.

The characteristics of a secretary include a variety of positive qualities: skills in interacting with clients, business communication, literacy, ability to negotiate and conduct business correspondence, and the ability to deal with several things at the same time. Also pay attention to good external characteristics, attentiveness, tact and balance, and diligence. Responsibility, attentiveness and stress resistance are useful in any profession. But the applicant, adding such qualities to his resume, does not always take them seriously.

Responsibility, attentiveness and stress resistance are useful in any profession. But the applicant, adding such qualities to his resume, does not always take them seriously.

Reflection in the resume

When hiring, business and personal characteristics are taken into account first. Without knowing the person, an employer can only choose a suitable candidate based on a resume or interview. Sometimes the problem arises of which employee qualities are most suitable for a resume. The applicant makes a mistake if he lists them in large numbers without selecting the main ones related to the position. For the manager, this is a signal that he does not know how to isolate the necessary information.

The wording in the resume should be clear, concise, logical, and not inconsistent with the rest of the information. It is desirable that they reflect the strengths of the individual, so that from the text it is possible to trace the connection between business qualities and professional achievements.

Sometimes applicants for a position indicate in their resume not only their best sides, but also their worst. This can have two meanings: it demonstrates the person's honesty and shows his shortsightedness. It is advisable to note your shortcomings at the interview, where they will ask about them. It is important to emphasize the desire to correct your shortcomings.

An example of the correct beginning of a resume

Assessment of employee professional qualities

To avoid wasting time and money testing new employees, companies sometimes evaluate them before hiring. There are even special personnel assessment centers created for this purpose. A list of assessment methods for those who prefer to do it themselves:

• Letters of recommendation.
• Tests. These include routine aptitude and aptitude tests, as well as personality and biographical tests.
• Interview.
• An exam on the knowledge and skills of an employee.
• Role play or cases.

Role-playing will help you find out in practice whether the applicant is suitable for you. Simulate an everyday situation for his position and see how he copes. For example, evaluate his customer interaction skills. Let the buyer be your competent employee or yourself, and the applicant will show what he is capable of. You can set a goal for him to achieve during the game, or simply observe his working style. This method will tell you much more about the applicant than the “Personal Qualities” column on a resume.

When deciding on evaluation criteria, you can base your assessment on business qualities: punctuality, potential quantity and quality of work performed, experience and education, skills, etc. For greater efficiency, focus on the qualities required for the position for which the candidate being assessed is applying. To be confident in an employee, consider his personal qualities. You can conduct an assessment yourself in the form of a ranking of candidates, placing + and – according to certain criteria, distributing them by level or awarding points. Avoid assessment pitfalls such as bias or stereotyping, or placing too much weight on one criterion.

There are several stages of business assessment of personnel:

• collection of preliminary information about the activities and results of an employee’s labor in production;
• drawing up basic questions for an assessment conversation with an employee;
• conducting an interview and evaluating the responses received to the assessment questions asked;
• formation of an expert-level opinion and transfer of data to a special commission;
• making individual decisions on proposals put forward.

The business qualities of employees, and the ability to effectively evaluate them, help to set up the work process of the entire team, establish a comfortable environment and, most importantly, significantly increase the production indicators of not only the department, but also the organization as a whole.