Summary: What you list on your resume contributes to the impression potential employees have of you. Make that impression a good one by earning certifications. Certifications on your resume demonstrates you possess intangible characteristics employers appreciate.
Career counselors and employers often talk about hard and soft skills. The thing we hear little about is intangible characteristics. Yet such characteristics are terribly important to employers hoping to bring on the best of the best and keep them employed for a long time.
Do you know what those intangible characteristics are? Do you know how they differ from hard and soft skills? Finally, do you know how certifications show you possess the intangible characteristics employers are looking for?
Certification training can help you obtain both hard and soft skills. But listing certifications on your resume goes one step further by demonstrating to prospective employers that you possess certain intangibles they might be interested in.
Hard and Soft Skills
A full understanding of this topic begins with knowing the difference between hard and soft skills. A hard skill is a specific, learnable ability that can be measured in a definitive way. Take AutoCAD training. AutoCAD is a very specific digital design tool used in a variety of careers covering everything from architecture to electrical engineering and interior design.
Being certified in AutoCAD shows employers you possess the hard skills that come with learning how the software operates. AutoCAD certification could be an open door to new job opportunities.
Soft skills are skills that are not specific to a particular job or career type. They are skills that are easily transferable between employers and careers. For example, Microsoft 365 is the world’s second most popular office productivity software. The number of different jobs and careers requiring a working knowledge of the suite is staggering. Learning how it works is a skill that is transferable to just about any job requiring computer use.
Other soft skills include things like time management, communication skills, and the ability to collaborate with others in a teamwork environment. Again, they are not specific to any job in particular. They are transferable regardless of where you might work at any point in time.
Intangible Characteristics Are Different
Intangible characteristics are different inasmuch as they are not necessarily skills. Some are learned like skills, but they have more to do with a person’s character and reliability than anything else. The thing about intangible characteristics is that they stand out to employers. HR managers and company owners pay attention to the characteristics when it comes time to hire. When all other things are equal, an employer will prefer someone with the intangibles over someone without.
Here are the top three intangible characteristics employers appreciate most:
- Initiative – Think of initiative as the same thing as self-motivation. A person with initiative does not wait around to be told what to do. They know what is expected and make sure it gets done.
- Discipline – Discipline (or self-discipline, if you will) is the ability to prioritize and practice self-control in order to reach desired goals. Discipline and a committed mindset are strongly linked.
- Lifelong Learning – The lifelong learning mindset is one that says you never stop learning for as long as you live. People with this mindset are always willing to learn new skills, try new things, and boldly go where they have never gone before.
You cannot learn these intangible characteristics through a certification course and exam. And yet, listing certifications on a resume shows these characteristics to employers.
Certifications Speak Loudly and Clearly
Have you ever wondered why traditional job applications request information about all past jobs and your roles and each one? Some applications want a specific list of tasks you performed in your past jobs. Why? Because the information helps employers understand whether you possess the desired intangible characteristics.
Certifications appearing on a resume do the same thing. Let us go back and look at the three characteristics from the previous section:
1. Initiative
Seeing half-a-dozen certifications on your resume tells employers that you have initiative. It tells them you took it upon yourself to sign up for a selection of courses, complete them, and pass the associated exams. Nobody forced you into it. You did it on your own. Employers like that. They prefer to hire people willing to take the bull by the horns to get things done.
2. Discipline
Earning new certifications while working a full-time job and spending time with family is not easy. In fact, it is one of the biggest challenges career-minded people will ever face. Employers know that. They also appreciate it.
If you have the internal discipline required to earn multiple certifications, you likely have the discipline to give your absolute best to your employer. You have the discipline to do what is expected of you without your boss looking over your shoulder. Your employer can trust you, which is important at a time when loyalty on both ends of the employment equation is in question.
3. Lifelong Learning
Certifications on your resume demonstrate that you are willing to learn new things in order to move forward. That is an excellent trait to have in a world that seems to be changing at breakneck speed.
Employers value lifelong learning over a static college degree. A college degree is nice, and it might even be necessary in some fields, but an employee begins to lose his edge the further away from college he gets. A failure to continue learning only encourages an employee to become stagnant.
You’ve Got What It Takes, So Do We
Certifications demonstrate to employers that you have what it takes to succeed. It shows them that you possess intangible characteristics to go along with your hard and soft skills. Compared to other job candidates without the intangibles, you have a clear advantage because you offer your employer more.
We have what it takes as well. We provide certification courses that are essential for your success, as well as a variety of other resources that will help you to fully utilize your online training. Take a look at our course catalog and contact us at info@protrain.edu with specific questions about a particular course.
FAQs
Why are intangible characteristics so important?
Intangibles are important because they tell employers something about your character. The more your character aligns with their goals and company culture, the more attractive you are as a job candidate.
Are intangibles as important as hard and soft skills?
Absolutely. Employers can teach hard and soft skills if necessary. They cannot teach the intangibles.
How does certification training help with the intangibles?
Certification training helps build the intangible characteristics through the actual process of taking and passing courses. The more courses you take, the stronger those intangibles become.
Are there other ways to develop the intangible characteristics?
Yes, there are other ways. But if your career path requires certification training to move forward, you can accomplish both at the same time.
How do I sign up for ProTrain courses?
You can get started right away by sending a message to enroll@protrain.edu or calling us at (844) 292-8641. We are waiting to hear from you.
