Personal Attributes And Key Qualities Describe YOU

Personal attributes are those qualities that make you who you are. Some of these attributes are innate and others may be something you've learned or gained from experience; more about this in my Career Changer's Guide.

What is important about them is this:

If you can say what yours are, you create a deeper understanding of the person behind the words. The person hearing the description of your personal attributes will develop a much stronger mental image of the sort of person you are. That is important because the key to most interviews is convincing the interviewer that you are the sort of person they are looking for; this is particularly true when you are returning to work after a period of absence such as maternity leave.

There are lots of qualities that sum up a person, but not everybody can put them into words, so the point of this article is to give you some words and phrases or statements that you can use in the interview. You may also want to use some of them in your covering letters, to help you answer an application form question or as part of your personal summary in your CV.

Make Sure You Can Back Up Your Claims

A word of warning though: whenever you make statements about your personal attributes, you may be challenged and asked to prove it or demonstrate it in some way or at the very least, to give an example of how you live up to your claim. So make sure you have a story to illustrate each one you use. If you don't possess that particular personal quality, you will be found it!

Here are some phrases that describe a range of personal attributes:

I am highly motivated and enthusiastic and have a keen desire to continually update my knowledge and skills
I am a loyal employee who is hard working, dependable and trustworthy because I understand it is a two way relationship.
I have the ability to work individually and as part of the larger organization's team
I have a strong sense of commitment; I am able to begin a course of action and work through it until it's finished
I have a very strong drive and motivation to continually develop my professional skills
I have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
I have the ability to relate to all types of other people I work with
I have the ability to be flexible and adaptable in order to meet changing conditions or situations
I am outgoing, enthusiastic and a determined individual, eager to make progress.
I am professional, confident, efficient and goal orientated with the proven ability to use my own initiative or work as part of a team.
I have the ability to learn quickly and my common sense helps me respond to the needs of new situations.
I see myself as being competent and versatile with good organisational skills.
I possess honesty and integrity; I have high professional standards and I aim to be fair and truthful in everything I do.
I am reliable and able to be trusted to do what I have been asked to do, or what I have promised to do.
I take pride in my personal presentation and take into consideration suitable clothing and company dress codes
I have common sense and the ability to make decisions based on knowledge and good judgement
I have a sense of humour and I am able to join with others and enjoy funny situations
I maintain a balanced attitude to work and home life giving appropriate consideration to things that matter at home and at work
I am able to deal with pressure and organise my time well, so that work and job demands get proper attention
I am motivated and positive about the work I do by setting myself goals and working toward them.

The personal attributes statements above are just the start of being able to describe yourself, which is a very important part of being good in interviews and talking about yourself.

Down the margins of this page you will see more descriptions of different personality types; do you see yourself described there? If you want to know more about any of the descriptions you can click on the box and take a free test to learn more about your own personality. The more you know, the better able you will be to describe your personal attributes and the better able you are, the more convincing you become.

How Not To Use Personal Attributes

Although this list of personal attributes is written in the first person, don't just try to reel off a list like that. Mix them up, change them around and make them sound natural in the flow of your conversation. And certainly do not think you can use every one on this list - you would sound just too good to be true!

The important thing about your personal attributes is that if you can say what yours are, you will instantly create a deeper understanding of the person behind the words (i.e. you). The person hearing the description of your personal attributes (i.e. the hiring manager) will develop a much stronger mental image of the sort of person you are. That is important because the key to almost every interview is in convincing the interviewer that you are the sort of person they are looking for; this is true in every case but never more so than when you are returning to work after a period of absence such as maternity leave.

Use the statements carefully and you'll find that they put more meaning into your interview answers or your cover letters, which will bring you better results and most likely more job offers than ever before. You can also modify them for use in your CV writing.

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