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Communication skills
Communication skills

Collaboration

Communication skills
Communication skills

Collaboration

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

Mark Twain

Good communication skills are key to effective collaboration in the 21st century. If you can communicate your ideas clearly and concisely, you can reduce the likelihood of mistakes and misunderstandings. If effective communication is your strong suit – be sure to mention it! The question is how, right? Here’s a couple of prompts that might help you get the ball rolling:

  • Can you write emails, write blog posts and/or other types of messages that are clearly formatted, skimmable and get your point across?
  • Can you edit information and repurpose content and then adapt it to different platforms/channels?
  • Are you capable of evaluating your audience and tailoring communication accordingly?
  • What makes you think that you’re a good communicator?
  • Can you convey your ideas clearly and concisely?

How does your creativity competence help you make unexpected links?
How does your creativity competence help you make unexpected links?

Creativity

How does your creativity competence help you make unexpected links?
How does your creativity competence help you make unexpected links?

Creativity

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”

Winnie the Pooh

Creativity is about making unexpected connections, looking at the world or a problem/task from a different perspective, and/or combining things that usually do not belong together. Here’s a couple of prompts that might help you demonstrate your ability to make unexpected connections:

  • Have you ever made an unexpected link? Could you talk more about a specific situation? What problem did you help solve?
  • Would you consider yourself a divergent thinker? Why?
  • Are you familiar with the SCAMPER, 6-3-5 brainwriting, thinking hats or similar techniques? Do you use them? What do you like about them? Do you maybe recall an instance you used one of these techniques with your colleagues?

Getting out of your comfort zone
Getting out of your comfort zone

Flexibility

Getting out of your comfort zone
Getting out of your comfort zone

Flexibility

“Comfort can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor but also a ceiling.”

Trevor Noah

Most people are nervous about getting out of their comfort zone but that’s probably one of the best ways to learn and improve. You could show your potential employer how you do it and handle situations in which stepping out of your comfort zone is necessary. Here’s a couple of things you might cover when describing how you get out of your comfort zone:

  • List 5 things that push you out of your comfort zone. When did you experience these?
  • Do you actively seek new ways and opportunities that would get you out of your comfort zone?

Ability to prioritise
Ability to prioritise

Self-management

Ability to prioritise
Ability to prioritise

Self-management

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The ability to set your priorities straight is invaluable. We can guarantee you that your future employer is looking for team members that can identify the most important tasks and get to them immediately rather than focusing on tasks of lower importance. Do you think you’re great at prioritising tasks? If so, you should definitely mention that in your video CV. Here’s a couple of questions that might help you get started thinking about how to best demonstrate this skill in your video:

  • Tell us about a situation where you had too much to do. How did you go through all the tasks?
  • How do you prioritize goals? Do you have a method, a checklist?
  • Do you set yourself goals? Do you do so in your professional and in your personal life? You could talk more about a goal that you set yourself and how you achieved it.
  • Do you set S.M.A.R.T goals?

Initiating change
Initiating change

Flexibility

Initiating change
Initiating change

Flexibility

“What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.”

Maya Angelou

Flexibility competence could be demonstrated by discussing how one initiates change. For instance:

  • If you see that something could be improved, would you go out of your way to suggest changes? If you would, do you maybe have an example to give?
  • Are you the one that initiates change in your organisation?
  • Do you engage with other people working in your industry and constantly look for networking opportunities that might lead to collaborations?
  • Do you try to constantly learn new things and then apply them in practice?

What to do if you do not want to film yourself?
What to do if you do not want to film yourself?

Execution

What to do if you do not want to film yourself?
What to do if you do not want to film yourself?

Execution

"I get stage fright and gremlins in my head saying: 'You're going to forget your lines'."

Alan Rickman

Don’t want to film yourself? Feel camera-shy? There could be a number of different reasons for not wanting to perform in front of the camera. Luckily, you don’t necessarily have to in order to create a video CV! Here’s a couple of examples:

  • Animated video
  • Filming someone else
  • Creating a video from stock footage
  • Filming your pet! 🐕🐈🐟

Time management
Time management

Self-management

Time management
Time management

Self-management

"Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan."

Margaret Thatcher

Time management is an important and sought-after skill, and if that’s something you’re good at, you should definitely mention it. How can you demonstrate that you’re well organised? In your video CV, you might answer questions such as:

  • Do you make to-do lists? Show examples
  • Do you have a time check? Do you set yourself time limits?
  • Do you use software tools for time management, for example Pomodoro timer apps?
  • Do you feel comfortable delegating tasks?
  • How do you organise your time? Do you focus on one task at a time or do you prefer multitasking?
  • How do you plan your day? Do you have a routine? What does it look like?

Empathy
Empathy

Self-management

Empathy
Empathy

Self-management

“The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.”

Plato

Claire Cain Miller from The New York Times draws attention to recent research which shows "that empathy makes people better managers and workers, and better family members and friends. But it’s bigger than just its personal effect. We’re all in this together, and researchers say that connection and compassion are crucial to a sustainable and humane future. ". The ability to understand and share the feelings of another is a sought-after skill in all work environments. How do you cultivate empathy? How can you show your prospective employer? Here’s a couple of prompts that might help you get started:

  • Would you consider yourself empathetic?
  • Do you find it easy to understand other people’s feelings, emotions and problems?
  • Do you actively seek to develop empathy? How?(volunteering, reading books …)