Are you looking for a job and don’t know what to put on your CV? do you want to identify what qualities companies are looking for today? Then you should know what aptitudes and skills are and why they are so important to make your job application stand out from other candidates.
Nowadays, no one can deny that the labor market is constantly changing, as it is a very dynamic and competitive system. Every day people must seek to develop new skills that adapt to the professional demand, so the constant updating of skills and abilities for your CV is essential to stand out from the rest.
In today’s article, we will tell you what skills and abilities are. first of all, we will explain what aptitudes are and what are the differences between aptitudes and attitudes. Next, we will explain what skills are and what are the types of skills. Finally, we will review the aptitudes and skills you need to have on your CV to be successful.
If you are interested in learning more, read on.
what is an aptitude?
The Royal Spanish Academy defines aptitudes as the “ability to operate competently in a certain activity” or the “capacity and disposition for the good performance or exercise of a business, an industry, an art, etc.”.
On the other hand, according to Psychology, aptitude is described as the predisposition to develop a specific activity. These can be a series of characteristics related to your personality that will allow you to develop, more easily, certain functions.
These are usually intrinsic, that is, they are inherent to you; however, they can be strengthened through experience, training, work and a lot of perseverance. in the same way, if you do not work on them or the conditions do not favor them, it is possible that they do not develop as expected. For example, it is undeniable that Mozart was born with an aptitude for music, but the academic context was also a determining factor.
Likewise, aptitudes mean that it will be easier to become familiar with certain professions. These will increase the likelihood of obtaining certain positions and of adapting to functions and tasks more quickly and effectively.
Differences between aptitude and attitude
Although, at first glance, they seem to be the same term, the words aptitude and attitude have different definitions, and it is very common to confuse them, since both are aspects that are often considered a lot in the organizational environment and are of great relevance to be selected for a position.
As we have mentioned, the concept of aptitude, in short, is the talent to perform a specific task. On the other hand, as for the definition of attitude, it is “the predisposition to behave or act in a certain way”. In other words, it is the cognitive and affective tendency that triggers a response from a subject, depending on the situation or the people involved.
Although we have already mentioned what aptitudes consist of, we will briefly talk about the functions of attitudes so that you can make a more effective comparison. First of all, attitudes serve to predict behaviors. In addition, they have an instrumental purpose, since they help people to approach their goals, as well as to enhance their motivation.
Also, attitudes are those characteristics of people that allow them to assimilate information from the environment, since, although they may not realize it, they condition their perspective, beliefs and scale of values.
Likewise, in contrast to aptitudes, attitudes have three factors: cognitive (thoughts), affective (emotional) and behavioral, while aptitudes are competencies that are improved through studies, training and experiences.
However, it is worth mentioning that aptitudes and attitudes, in turn, have similarities. for example, both can be natural or acquired. In the case of aptitudes, if they are innate, they are called talent and, as for attitudes, if they are natural, they are part of the personality. However, attitudes are more sensitive to change due to the influence of context.
Types of aptitudes
Aptitudes are the link between your abilities and your personal characteristics. These are some types of aptitudes proposed by psychology:
Abstract: refers to people with a taste for research. These abilities and aptitudes will be very useful in professions related to science, such as Biology, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, etc.
Artistic-plastic: this aptitude corresponds to creative people who have a taste for artistic disciplines. They are good with colors, shapes and concepts related to aesthetics.
Visuomotor coordination: for people with good motor coordination. This is one of the types of skills that requires a lot of precision. For example, this is useful for health professionals involved in surgery.
Directive: these are the abilities and aptitudes of a person who is a leader and is in charge of a work team. This type of aptitude is related to organization, direction, proactivity, ambition and, of course, leadership.
Spatial: these are people who have a facility for handling spaces and dimensions. They are oriented to professions such as architecture and engineering.
Physical: this aptitude corresponds to people who are involved in sports activities or have the ability to perform physical tasks with agility.
Linguistic: these are people who learn languages easily. In addition, they tend to be intuitive and skilled in communication.
Logical: this type of aptitude corresponds to people with the natural ability to solve problems.
Musical: this refers to people who have a good ear for creating melodies and generating harmonious arrangements to make music. They usually have developed fine motor skills that will help them play instruments. Also, they are people with a very good memory.
Numerical: These are the people who get along very well with numbers! They are skilled in mental calculation and mathematical operations.
Organizational: These are people with the ability to sort and classify. They are detail-oriented and prefer systematized activities.
Persuasive: they are very friendly and self-confident people. They have the ability to argue and convince, they are good listeners and have the ability to recognize the needs of others. this is one of the ideal types of skills to work in sales!Social: they are empathetic, communicative, extroverted, collaborative and have a good command of interpersonal relationships. Commonly, they have an orientation towards social sciences and humanities. Verbal: this type of aptitude refers to people who are able to communicate easily, have a varied vocabulary and know how to choose their words. They also tend to have a taste for reading and writing.
what is an ability?
We call skills the abilities acquired through experiences, practice and study, which allow the individual to perform a specific task successfully. Likewise, they are those that are developed progressively, through environmental, cultural, educational and social opportunities.
These characteristics will determine whether you are capable of fulfilling the functions of a position. A person’s skills are usually oriented to specific tasks, subjects or themes, which can be cognitive, physical and social.
In the same way, skills can be defined as the set of actions that will represent the evidence of your comprehensive training as a professional. likewise, these will be based on the knowledge and habits you already have, so it will be extremely important to know which skills you should include in your CV.
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Types of skills
Hard skills
Hard skills are intellectually oriented. These are the technical knowledge required to fulfill specific job functions.
Hard skills are quantitative in nature; that is, they can be measured objectively through numbers or other quantifiable elements such as certifications.
Some examples of hard skills are:
Language proficiency
Software operation
Operation of machinery
Accounting and finance
Web development
Analytical reasoning
Mechanical engineering
Project management
Information technology
Cybersecurity
It is important to mention that, in the digital era and with the incorporation of remote work, digital skills will be key to be able to enter the labor market with a resume that stands out. but, what are digital skills? They are those that allow people to use, access and share digital content through electronic devices such as computers, tablets and smartphones.
The digital transformation has generated the need for companies to train their employees in digital skills, especially in the financial, commercial and communications sector, so having these hard skills will be an added value to your resume.
However, technical knowledge are not the only skills that are appreciated in organizations, but it will be essential that they are combined with soft skills. And what are soft skills? we’ll tell you below!
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Soft skills
We refer to soft skills when we talk about competencies associated with human character. These will help us to better develop our functions and will give us greater competitiveness and employability. In the same way, it is important to mention that these skills are of a transversal nature, so they are useful in almost all contexts.
In English, “soft skills” are divided into 2:
Relational skills: these are the soft skills that involve dealing with others and how you communicate with others; that is, how you relate to the environment.
Self-management skills: these are also called self-management, which, in essence, is how we manage our own development.
Today, this is what HR recruiters are looking for most. Seventy-seven percent of employers focus on candidates with good soft skills development, and 16% consider them more important than technical knowledge.
Soft skills, nowadays, are more valued than before, because we fight with other factors that did not exist before, such as artificial intelligence. Although they are usually more efficient for systematic tasks, the added value of a person’s criteria is to be found in social-emotional skills.
Hard skills are usually easier to learn; however, soft skills are developed from childhood and represent a greater potential for success in your work. However, as we mentioned, they will not only be useful in the work context, but in life in general.
Good team management and productivity in an organization are closely related to the development of soft skills in employees, so it is essential that company leaders have developed these capabilities to enhance the dynamics of teamwork and obtain better results.
Some examples of soft skills are:
Leadership
Teamwork
Creativity
Critical thinking
Social skills
Responsibility
Flexibility to changes
Assertive communication
what is the difference between aptitudes and skills?
On the one hand, when we talk about aptitudes we refer to innate characteristics and traits that give us a predisposition to develop in a specific activity; while skills are abilities acquired through study and learning .
Therefore, skills are learned and practiced. On the other hand, aptitudes will be intrinsic and will only need stimuli and experiences to be developed. This is the main difference between aptitudes and skills.
Likewise, skills can be learned at any time, according to the opportunities that the person has, but aptitudes are manifested from childhood and develop naturally in the individual .
In conclusion, it can be said that aptitudes are innate abilities and skills are the development of these abilities through environmental stimuli. Furthermore, regarding the differences between aptitudes and skills, the former are discovered and will be there waiting to be developed, while the latter are learned from scratch and trained.
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The best aptitudes and skills for your resume
what to put in aptitudes and skills in a CV? Below, we will tell you what are the most valuable professional aptitudes and skills for companies in 2021.
Skills for a resume
Developing our work skills to their full potential will be a way to stand out in front of recruiters. They will be tools that will make it easier for us to perform activities that will be useful in our professional life. However, remember that we can always strengthen them through constant learning.
These are some examples of skills that companies are looking for:
Abstract aptitude: Research is a key function in many positions. This aptitude will give us a predisposition to develop competencies such as information seeking and analytical thinking.
Managerial aptitude: They are natural leaders! Nowadays, companies are looking for qualities such as team management and appreciate proactivity.
Organizational aptitude: These are people who possess the natural ability to develop competencies that companies look for such as strategic planning, organization and vision.
Social aptitude: They will be able to develop competencies such as teamwork.
Hard skills for a resume
As previously mentioned, the most desired hard skills for organizations in 2021 are those linked to technology and information technology. professional skills such as software management, database management and knowledge of artificial intelligence management will be highly valued in applicants.
Also, the use of languages such as English will be indispensable for many companies.
Here is a list of the most sought-after hard skills:
Blockchain
Cloud computing
Analytical reasoning
UX Design
Business analytics
Affiliate marketing
Agile.
Artificial Intelligence
Cybersecurity
Web programming
Pro tip: Don’t forget to always update your CV and add the knowledge and skills you develop.
Soft skills for a resume
Soft skills are the most requested by human resources professionals and provide an added value to the company. Their main function is to be a tool to communicate assertively, work as a team and have a good self-management. They are also an essential factor to boost motivation in the organization.
The 10 most sought-after soft skills in recruitment and selection processes according to studies carried out by the employability platform LinkedIn:
how to evaluate aptitudes and skills?
In a recruitment process, it is necessary to evaluate the skills and abilities that you put on your CV. To do this, the Human Resources department uses different techniques that will allow it to identify the ideal applicant for the position. Below, we will tell you what they are:
Personal interviews. these are usually the first stage to filter candidates, since they will evaluate, based on a series of questions, some of your knowledge, as well as your soft skills.
Group dynamics. group dynamics work on the basis of a predetermined activity, in which certain aptitudes and skills required for the position will be tested. Here, it is very important to demonstrate the ability to communicate and work in a team.
Written tests. finally, written tests are those that are responsible for measuring your knowledge in a precise and objective way; that is, they evaluate your hard skills. On the other hand, there are also psychometric tests that have the function of evaluating whether you meet the ideal aptitudes for the job
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we hope today’s article has been useful to optimize your CV! Now that you know the importance of developing your skills and abilities, you can apply it in your work life to get the job of your dreams, as well as grow in your current job.
Remember that there are no skills and abilities that are better than others, it all depends on what position you are applying for. also, while your hard skills will allow your CV to stand out, your soft skills will make you stand out in the interview process and help you get the job you want.