When hiring a person for a leadership position, companies often have specific criteria and elements that “give away” the right person. These people are essential to big companies since they are the workers that drive changes and progress, thanks to their leadership qualities.
Among the essential features of a leader are high emotional intelligence, equanimity, and experience in managing business processes.
Here are a few ways to show your leadership skills in your resume:
1. Passive and Active Voice
People with strong leadership skills can often be recognized by the language they use. Try opting for an active voice as often as possible.
For instance, let’s review the next two sentences:
- The company’s UI design was optimized by my team.
- My team optimized the UI design.
As you can see, the first sentence focuses on the UI, whereas the second one stresses that it was your team who made this possible. This is why it is crucial to use an active voice wherever it is necessary. Don’t go overboard, as your letter will sound slightly unnatural.
“Using an active voice throughout your resume will ensure a more lively narrative. The person reading it connects with the content of the resume,” says Amanda Sparks, chief editor at the TopDownWriter blog.
2. Verbs Are Important
If you want to stress that you’ve contributed to innovation at your previous workplaces, you need to focus on verbs that convey a lot of initiative.
Opt for the following:
- to initiate
- to launch
- to spearhead
- to develop
- to optimize
- to pilot
- to modernize
3. Don’t Write – Craft
Of course, this may seem a bit too much, but the proper wording of your resume and cover letter differentiates you from the rest — boring, uninspiring template resumes.
But at the end of the day, this one document can change your life for the better or just make you stagnate for years in a row. Your resume is scanned for 20 seconds at first; make it count.
“We often tend to underestimate the importance of a well-executed resume. We generally believe that we are exclusively selected based on our skills. But the layout and the first fugitive impression matters greatly.” — Delilah Scott, writer at OnlineWritersRating states.
4. Show That You Build Relationships
A leader is a person that is very apt at solving problems most of the time. However, there is another facet of a leader’s responsibility — empathy and compassion towards his colleagues.
“At my first job, I got lucky to work under a strict chief editor, who, at the same time, never hesitated to say hi to me in the morning and ask whether I needed help with a task,” recalls James Daily, content manager, and blogger at Brainished. “Looking up to him, I realized how important it is to have a leader who is ready to support their team through potholes.”
If you can unite people around you and build long-term relationships with the people in your team, this is an incredibly valuable and sought-after skill.
Make sure you underline that you are very good at creating a family-like atmosphere around you and connecting with the team you manage.
5. Ask a Pro to Polish or Write it For You
Not all of us are skilled writers. And there’s nothing wrong with it. This is why some of us would benefit greatly from investing in a well-written resume. There is a host of reasons why resume writers will increase your chances of landing a well-paying job.
A professional resume writer knows very well how to present your accomplishments in the most elegant manner and deliver a coherent and cohesive career story.
There are myriads of websites that can help you out with finding the best freelance or in-house writer suited for your needs. There are websites that collect feedback and reviews on the authors around you, like Freelancer or Fiverr.
These services will show you all the feedback that these writers and agencies have received so far, which eliminates that gambling factor. You know what you’re getting.
Another option is to write a resume for yourself and then ask a professional or a collective mind of Internet users and algorithms to proofread and edit it.
Conclusion
Companies are always looking for workers that have leadership skills and are able to drive the company’s success by using them in the right way.
But simply having it doesn’t your employer won’t know about it right off the bat. You need to convey it cleverly in your resume.
Since the first contact with a company will be via a resume or a letter of intent, it’s essential that you invest some time or money into crafting the document that will ideally translate your leadership and qualities to the HR manager.
Choose your words wisely, and your chances will grow exponentially. Don’t use too much passive voice since it fails to convey leadership. Emphasize how good are at bonding with your team.
This combination of features will ensure that your resume will be thoroughly studied and considered for employment. Good luck!
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How Can You Show Leadership Skills in Your Resume?
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