There was a time when soft skills were considered resume filler—something to make the resume look longer, but not bringing any value to it — fluff. Times have changed, and companies actually use different soft skills as parameters to weed through the abundance of resumes they get. However, there is still a balance to using your soft skills to your advantage in your executive bio or resume. Here are some of the most common soft skills to add to your executive resume.
Organizational Skills
Every company likes an organized person. This is the most commonly used soft skill on an executive resume cover letter because most people believe they are organized. The reality is this soft skill needs to be on your resume, because most companies will include it in their job requirements.
Team Player
This is a good example of a soft skill where you can give real experiences to demonstrate. Talk about times where you had to give up something that benefited you to help the team as a whole. No one wants to hire a selfish executive, so make sure your executive bio clearly demonstrates how you have been a team player at your past jobs.
Great Communication Skills
The best executive resume writing services will always highlight the importance of good communication skills. At an executive level, you will have to talk to people within and outside your organization, so you have to represent the company with class. This is another soft skill you can highlight with real examples. Talk about different meetings, interviews or speeches you’ve given in the past to show how great of a communicator you are.
Find A Balance of Soft Skills and Hard Skills to Incorporate
No matter which soft skills you decide to incorporate in your executive bio, you have to find the right balance between them and your hard skills. These three soft skills are good complements to the hard skills you list on your executive resume or cover letter, so be sure to use them to your advantage.
The key to incorporating the right soft skills into your executive resume is to read different job descriptions closely to see which ones they are looking for. If you aren’t sure which soft skills you need to highlight, or if you’re having a hard time finding a good balance of hard versus soft skills, feel free to contact us.
By Erin Kennedy, MCD, CMRW, CPRW, BS/HR, a Certified Professional & Executive Resume Writer/Career Consultant, and the President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She has achieved international recognition following nominations and wins of the prestigious T.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award. Find Erin at http://exclusive-executive-resumes.com.