Top 5 Personal Qualities on a Resume

  • Written by News Co Media


Today’s recruiters are looking for people who can grow with the company. Therefore, they will use the personal qualities on a resume to evaluate whether the candidate is a good fit for the company’s culture.

However, this doesn’t mean you can write whatever you want. As general rules:

  • Avoid using cliche words to describe yourself
  • Tailor the qualities according to the position you’re applying for
  • Don’t over or underestimate yourself

Feel free to look up personal qualities examples online if you don’t know where to start, or follow the guide below and customize a personal statement for your resume.


What are Personal Qualities?

First thing first, what are personal qualities? They’re different from your professional attributes, hard skills, or soft skills. For example, time management is a soft skill, but punctuality could be your personal quality.

An easier way is to think of qualities as what gives birth to skills. If you’re strong-minded, you may develop leadership skills. If you’re compassionate and supportive, you may have great customer service skills.


Top Personal Qualities on a Resume

Do you know there are some all-time favorite personal qualities among recruiters? Make sure you include at least one or two from the top list.

Below are our top 5 picks of personal qualities you can use:

  • Creative — Creativity is so huge right now, and it affects everything from how you work to what you produce.
  • Diligent — Everybody loves a hard worker. Therefore, diligence is a great quality to include for almost all jobs, but especially for field roles and sales roles.
    • Eloquent — Are you applying for a job that works closely with languages? Then eloquence will be a good one to include on your resume.
    • Honest — Nobody likes liars, after all.
  • Resourceful — Are you aiming for a leadership position? Being resourceful means you are a problem-solver, and that’s what most companies want for team leaders.

Again, the job description is a perfect place to find the best personal qualities you should include because it often tells you what type of person the company expects to hire.


Tailoring Your Qualities for Each Position

When it comes to job hunting, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Ideally, you should always tailor your resume for different positions. In general, you should at least customize the personal qualities you use according to the type of job you want.

A few examples include

  • Focus on communicative qualities for sales and marketing positions
  • Highlight concentration, attention to detail, and calmness for financial positions
  • Showcase your personal side for HR-related positions
  • Or talk about resilience and endurance if you’re applying for a field job.

Try to be creative and mix multiple quality categories together. Being well-rounded and multi-faceted makes you more competitive in today’s job market.


Some Final Thoughts

It’s not hard to put the right personal qualities on your resume. Make sure you thoroughly read the job description and understand your future employer’s expectations.

Try to include at least one or two from our top 5 list to catch the recruiter’s eyes. That aside, make sure you tailor the qualities according to the job function. After all, each department focuses on different personality traits.

Finally, always be honest. There are no negative or positive personal qualities, but shying away from one category and leaning heavily on another will make you look unauthentic.