You will probably agree that each person is unique and no two people are alike: neither externally nor internally. Everyone has their own individuality: character traits unique to them, personality traits, unique physical characteristics.

Have you ever thought about the question “Why are all people different?” Why are we naturally different from other people, and even from our parents? The answer to this question lies in the fact that each of us has our own mission. We must have exactly those features that are required for its implementation.

Unique features are strong and weak sides person. In order to find our destiny and fulfill it, we need to know these aspects well and learn to use them effectively in our lives. This is why many people ask the question “what are the strengths?” and “how to recognize your strengths?”

What are a person's strengths and weaknesses?

Strengths and weaknesses are our initial data: physical (body structure, height, weight, strength, speed, endurance, etc.) and mental (type of temperament, speed of nervous processes, personality traits and character traits).

What are a person’s strengths? For example, being tall for a basketball player is certainly his strength. With the help of his height, he is more likely to achieve success in professional sports; it is his uniqueness that helps him achieve outstanding results. Developed for a surgeon fine motor skills will be an advantage. For a pilot - a good vestibular apparatus, for a musician - excellent hearing, for an accountant - an analytical mind.

A person’s character strengths also play an important role in achieving success in one’s profession or business. If you are diligent by nature and have the ability to painstakingly complete work, these traits will help you in the profession of a programmer. If you are endowed with oratorical abilities, it is easy for you to lead people, you have a loud voice and clear speech, these features can help you in politics and organizational activities.

Along with strengths, each of us also has weaknesses. Understanding them will help you not make a mistake when choosing your professional path. Are there anyone among your friends who graduated from a university, but does not work in their specialty? Statistics say that there are about 50% of such people! This is a huge number of specialists who made the wrong choice. One of the reasons is that many did not take into account their weaknesses.

What are a person’s weaknesses? For example, for a lawyer, such a trait as impulsiveness will most likely be weak side, and will not allow you to build an argument without unnecessary emotions. For a recruiting manager, introversion will be a weakness, since a large number of communication with different people and the high pace of work will be beyond his strength.

Why do you need to understand a person's strengths and weaknesses?

“Most often, a lack of understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses is the cause of depression.”,” warns the author of the “Destination” project, Pavel Kochkin. The mechanism of its occurrence is that we do not accept our strengths, while focusing on our weaknesses. We strive for an ideal that we cannot and will never be able to achieve because we do not have the necessary abilities. In this case, we experience “shame”, which can develop into depression.

If a person is naturally an introvert, that is, he is not so open to to the outside world, communicating with other people, he has a hard time with public speaking and managing people, he is more concentrated on his inner world, he can be alone for a long time and do something that needs to be done alone. In this case, no matter how much he wants to be a famous organizer of special events, his weaknesses will not allow him to be 100% realized in this profession. Most likely, the feeling of dissatisfaction with your work and the constant stress of having to overcome yourself every time will grow and at one point result in depression.

“Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is a great tool for increasing self-esteem.”, says Pavel Kochkin. A person who loves, values ​​and respects himself is much better realized both in his profession and in other areas of his life. He is much more effective because he knows himself and puts this knowledge into practice.

Stop working on your weaknesses, trying to develop in a direction that does not suit you. You will achieve much better results by finding your strengths and starting to use them.

A person's strengths are powerful weapons in the hands of those who know how to use them!

Every person sooner or later is faced with the need to clearly identify all his strengths. Most often this happens when writing a resume. The employer wants to see a list of a person’s strengths before the interview. To ensure that this question does not take you by surprise, you should analyze yours in detail.

Talent

It is on talent that all strong character traits are based. Every person knows perfectly well what he can do best.
Developing talent will take effort. Few achieve perfection, but anyone can hone their skills.

To ensure that talent does not go to waste, it is best to associate your profession with it. Life will be much more interesting if work brings pleasure. To do this, it is simply necessary that it suits the person’s character, temperament, and meets his interests.

Work on yourself

A person's strengths and weaknesses are closely intertwined with each other. No one can boast that he is perfect and has no weaknesses. A self-sufficient person always admits that he has shortcomings. There is nothing wrong. After all, a person’s shortcomings are traits that, with volitional influence, make it possible to develop further, not to stand still. If you engage in self-development, then over time a person can turn all weaknesses into strengths.

It is not always easy to identify a person’s strengths and weaknesses. Their people are not inclined to hide, they know very well what they can do best. However, sometimes people overestimate themselves and do not always correctly assess their capabilities.

If everything is more or less clear with positive character traits, then with shortcomings everything is more complicated. Few people are able to honestly admit to themselves that they are excessively lazy, are constantly late, or cannot bring the work they have started to its logical conclusion.

What are human weaknesses? In most cases, people are characterized by laziness, excessive gentleness of character, shyness, problems with maintaining a daily routine, and lack of discipline.

Many human shortcomings can be easily corrected on their own, but others cannot be dealt with without the help of a psychologist. Some human flaws cannot be removed. According to them, experts advise adjusting your own lifestyle so that they do not cause inconvenience.

Objective assessment

My strengths, what are they? On the one hand, the question is not difficult, but many cannot accurately describe themselves. Assessing your capabilities is an important point. If self-improvement is important to you, you should not neglect it.

By making a list of your strengths, you can understand what you lack for career growth, and therefore begin the path to eliminating gaps in knowledge and opportunities.

Strengths: list

The combination of strengths gives a strong-willed character. There are qualities by which one can judge the strength of a human personality.

To succeed in your career and life you must have:

• Communication skills;
• Confidence;
• Professionalism;
• Purposefulness;
• Analytical thinking;
• Patience;
• Learning ability;
• Hard work;
• Responsibility.

Developing your strengths

• Professionalism

One of the strengths of a person is the ability to improve in a chosen field. Experts recommend reading at least one book in your specialty every month.

• Analytical thinking, learning ability

These personality strengths are entirely dependent on the level of intelligence. It, in turn, is determined by genetic data and the training that has been received.

• Discipline

To increase your level of discipline, you need to learn how to motivate yourself.

• Hard work

Few people can boast that they have this quality from birth. A person starts work not because he is tired of idleness, but only because there is such a thing as “necessary”. Each completed action brings a feeling of satisfaction, which works as an excellent motivator.

• Patience

You can't get everything you want right away. Achieving a goal takes time. The ability to wait is a valuable character trait.

• Confidence, determination

These strengths come with acquired experience and skills. The more knowledge you have, the easier it is to follow your chosen path.

These human strengths can be supplemented by the following:

• Courage;
• Honesty;
• Responsiveness;
• Reliability;

People who have all these qualities can control their actions and desires and manage their lives.

Exercises to determine your personal capabilities

1. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. To do this, you need to remember which actions cause you the most positive emotions. Write them down in a notebook, starting from the most significant to those that are least pleasant.
2. The next step will be a reassessment of values. Rethink your life beliefs to understand which of them are advantages and which are disadvantages.
3. Remember the people whose opinions are valuable to you. Why do you respect them? What traits do they have? Do you have these virtues?
4. Remember the last time you were happy? What was happening at that moment? Why were you happy?
5. After studying your answers, try to find similarities in them. Those features that will be repeated in most answers are your ideals, what you strive for.
6. Determine if your beliefs match your real life.
7. Study what is an advantage and what is a disadvantage in the area in which you live and work.
8. Determine whether environment optimal for the development of your personality.
9. Conduct a survey in which you ask people who know you what characteristics you have.
10. Having received answers from loved ones, you should find all the common points in them. Make a list of character traits that most people find in you.
11. Make a self-portrait. You will end up with a deep characterization of personal qualities.
12. Make a list of things you need to do to improve your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

Self improvement

Human shortcomings can only be overcome through constant development. Not only shortcomings, but also character strengths and talents cannot be ignored. They require improvement, because even the most outstanding abilities without daily training weaken over time.

Every person knows what he can do best. Therefore, only rare individuals do not pay attention to them and do not engage in self-development.

There are usually rarely problems with advantages. After all, there are a huge number of methods of self-development. And if desired, everyone can improve their abilities, make them brighter and more outstanding.

The situation is different with disadvantages. Everyone tends to downplay them in themselves. If you don’t see the problem, you can get along with it perfectly, but life will lose something important from this. You can stubbornly ignore your weaknesses and accept them, but developing as an individual and as a professional requires hard work.

Formed from birth. It is influenced by various factors, but mainly the child’s environment. The way peers and parents communicate with him. He learns by looking at the relationships of other people, emphasizing for himself significant moments that are deposited in his consciousness. And in the end it is formed into character traits. The formation of a person as an individual occurs until approximately 18 years of age. Afterwards, it is unlikely that the character will change unless you put enough effort into it.

Weaknesses and strengths of character

It happens that we think about our character. Some traits interfere with life, preventing you from developing and being realized in life. In such a situation, it is useful to sit down with a notepad and write down the strengths and weaknesses of your character in a column. This technique helps to sort things out life problems and understand ways to solve them.

Which traits are considered strong and which are weak? Let's figure it out!

Strengths help you move forward with your head held high, despite the current circumstances. These include:

Determination. We constantly set goals for ourselves: someone wants to achieve success at work (promotion in career ladder), another sets financial goals, others dream of losing weight and set the goal of getting the desired number on the scale. But not everyone reaches the end point; they lack moral, and maybe physical strength to implement plans. But if you have such a trait in your character, then don’t even doubt the success of completing your tasks.
Perseverance. To fulfill a desire, dream or goal, sometimes only determination is not enough; it happens that a little is missing, which helps a person reach the end, complete the intended tasks and proudly say that it is time to conquer new heights.

Strength of will. This quality usually manifests itself in situations where self-overcoming occurs. A person quits smoking, loses many kilograms, gets rid of addictions and addictions. allows you to cope with desires that do not lead to a positive result.
Organized. Sometimes it's difficult to organize your own day. Either children are distracting, or problems at work and at home. Everything interferes with the decision complex issues, disputes. It’s easy to develop organization in yourself by planning for a day or a week at once. Write down in the organizer by the hour what, when, at what time, how much time will be spent on performing each action, and follow the plan strictly. Over time, you will feel that you no longer need notes, and you can cope on your own, getting used to a regular daily routine.
Responsibility. This is one of the important and main traits in a person’s character. Without it you won’t be able to create a harmonious family, get settled and work long time in a prestigious and highly paid job. Responsibility must begin with mother's milk, and famous saying“We are responsible for those we have tamed” perfectly explains the need for this quality.
Sociability, sociability. These qualities enable a person to develop, find useful contacts, negotiate, and resolve conflict situations.

The combination of all these qualities indicates that a person has a strong character. Each of them needs to be developed and improved every day. Self-improvement never hurt anyone. Therefore, if you want to achieve everything you have in mind, you want to have a reliable rear (family, friends, children), then think about improving yourself.

Weak character traits

Pessimistic. Being in a pessimistic mood, a person perceives everything in gray color. This prevents him from implementing plans, hoping for the best, solving problems, and in general life becomes boring, dull, uninteresting and insipid. It seems that there is no way out of the situation, but all you have to do is change your glasses to pink ones. How quickly a solution is found. Look at the world with a bright eye, and then it will seem much more attractive.
Emotionality. interferes with communication between people. This applies not only family relations, but also business. How often do we shout in the boss’s office, forgetting about ethics. Such behavior should under no circumstances be allowed, otherwise the manager will harbor a grudge against you. Ultimately, you will receive a reprimand for any small violation of labor regulations, and there will always be a reason to fire you. Therefore, it is undesirable to show this quality anywhere, even with relatives.

Envy. Envy is a harmful, destructive feeling that negatively affects the psyche and emotional state. We have noticed more than once how negatively we speak about people who have achieved something in life. A woman bought an expensive car, we believe that she received it as a gift. But few people know that she earned it herself, spending years of effort to make her dream come true. A rich man married a simpleton - she is with him only for money, there is no talk of any love. A happy family– hide the real thing behind insincere smiles. And there are a lot of such situations. consciousness, it is like a worm that eats an apple from the inside.
Wastefulness, inability to accumulate. Such people are wasters of life, they don’t know what it means to not have money in their pocket, they spend it on entertainment, drinking, going to clubs, women, etc. This quality is unlikely to help one day build their capital, their own fortress, a reliable family. Ultimately, everything can end in disaster.

Weaknesses make a person vulnerable, unable to withstand negative circumstances, so it is important to develop your thoughts, skills, and qualities.

How to develop a strong character

Character is a set of qualities that we acquire in the process of life from the very beginning. early age. It does not originate genetically, it is not passed on from father to son and from mother to daughter. Qualities develop, improve or deteriorate until a person becomes an adult. Of course, this age is relative; in some developed individuals, character manifests itself already at the age of 15-16. Much depends on upbringing mental development, education.

To develop in yourself strong traits character, you need to work hard. This is the same as getting rid of something that has ingrained itself deep into the brain. I want to continue doing what I did before, but I need to do it differently. So is there a clear instruction on how to develop strong character?

First, understand what specific qualities you would like to change in yourself to become stronger, so that your mind and body work more productively. Write down the pros and cons of your character, what hinders and what helps, analyze some situations in life in which, in your opinion, you did not behave as you would like. This will help gather information together and draw conclusions.
Why having a strong character is important for you and the people around you. First of all, this allows you to achieve all your goals. But if, nevertheless, this did not happen, a failure occurred, then you should not despair, you need to continue moving in the right direction.
Empathize. Having a strong character does not mean that you go over your head, transgress through anyone who gets in your way. It's the other way around. You empathize with the weak, help them achieve their goals, love the people around you. But help unselfishly, don’t wait for a response from those you helped.
Naked facts. A strong character means a sober head. Do not start from emotions, experiences, hints and other relative feelings and qualities. Follow the pure facts, analyze, take concrete actions in your head, not vague assumptions.
Take the lead. Don't become, be someone who will adapt to conditions and lead, that is.


Appreciate what you have. Do you know the saying “it’s good where we are not”? She is unfaithful. Everything you imagine about other people, situations, places is subjective. Appreciate what is present in your life. If something doesn’t suit you, then don’t look away, don’t envy other people (neighbors, friends, celebrities), but improve and correct situations within yourself, at home, at work, etc.
No cowardice! Take risks, don't be a coward. But the risk must be carefully considered; do not rush into the pool headlong. Without battle there will be no victories, no gifts that victory should bring.
Don't follow other people's advice. Most likely, you have already subconsciously drawn conclusions for yourself on some important issue, decided what to do, but still ask the advice of your loved ones. Don't be fooled by other people's opinions that are opposed to your own, follow the first answer that pops into your head.

There is no need to argue, stay with your opinion and silently retreat, this is what strong personalities do.
Do good. There is enough evil, violence, and pain in our world. Make it a little better, notice only the best moments that happen around you, do good things yourself, help the weak: the elderly, children, animals. Only strong-willed a person is capable of such actions.
Control your mind, thoughts, emotions. To do this, you don’t have to be, look at each situation from the outside and reconsider your behavior. Excessive emotionality will never be a supporter strong man, these are manifestations of the weakest. By being rude, we defend ourselves, which means we are weak.
Patience. Achieving your goals takes time, and waiting the right amount of time will require a lot of patience.
Eliminate weak thoughts. We are like gardeners removing weeds from the garden, clearing our heads of harmful, weak, unnecessary thoughts to clear our minds of unnecessary things. Tune in.
The truth and only the truth. Liars are weak, to become strong, tell only the truth. If you lie to someone close to you, you are lying, first of all, to yourself.
Work hard. “You can’t catch a fish out of a pond without effort.” Work hard, improve yourself, improve yourself. But don’t forget about rest; without it, quality work on mistakes will not be possible.

Strong character is not a panacea for all problems, but it will help you cope with many. life situations, from which there seemed to be no way out. Learn, develop, become better, and then life will seem like a fairy tale.

If, after being asked about your professional achievements, life flashes before your eyes faster than the characters in action-packed films, you definitely need to prepare for the interview in advance. We have selected 3 questions that an employer will definitely ask, and found out how to answer them without panic or irritation.

"Tell me a little about yourself"

Such a seemingly simple request can make many applicants quite nervous. What exactly to tell? How long to talk? What can and cannot be talked about? What should you focus on? How to avoid appearing too modest or immodest?

A story about yourself is very important point self-presentation at an interview. It doesn't have to be a long story about your life or a list of the highlights of your resume. Telling about yourself is the first and probably best chance to let the recruiter know that you are the one worth hiring for this position.

If you don't know where to start, use the simple and popular "present-past-future" formula. First, talk about who you are this moment what you do, what you can do. Then talk about what brought you to your current position: your combination of skills and experience. At the end, you talk about your plans and prospects, paying attention to Special attention the opportunities that open up to you with this job. Also tell us about what you will do to develop the company in this position.

Remember to focus your story heavily on the job skills required for the position. You can say a few words about your interests and hobbies, but a couple of words is 1-2 minutes of your time for the interview, no more. As for the duration of the entire story about yourself, everything is very individual, but try to keep it to 7-8 minutes, after which invite the recruiter to ask your questions.

“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”

Don't get carried away when talking about your strengths in general phrases like “I can easily integrate into any team” or “I don’t have conflicts.” List the specific character traits and skills that are needed specifically for this position: “I know how to manage people,” “I have experience in successfully organizing the work of ten people,” “I took first place in a regional marketing competition,” and so on.

When talking about your achievements, focus on how exactly they affected the success of your organization. If you have non-work-related achievements to brag about, such as community initiatives, try to tie them to your labor activity. When listing your strengths, don’t be too modest: if you don’t tell the interviewer about your strengths, no one will do it for you at the interview. However, do not go to extremes: you should not give a half-hour presentation on the topic of your conceivable and inconceivable advantages. It’s better to talk briefly about your main strengths and be prepared to describe each in detail if asked.

With shortcomings, everything is also not so difficult. Don't try to seem ideal. Recruiters value sincerity and the ability to adequately assess themselves and their shortcomings in applicants. Don't try to embellish or hide your weaknesses: if you get this job, sooner or later everything secret will become clear.

However, there is a little trick. When talking about any shortcoming, you can talk about how you successfully combat it. For example, at school you had a fear of public speaking. It was a huge problem back then. You couldn’t even calmly go out to answer the board. However, at university seminars you gave presentations as often as possible and participated in amateur performances. The fear of performing began to recede. Today, although you feel very nervous, you are quite capable of speaking in front of an audience of a hundred people. In addition, you continue to work on yourself - attend trainings, read special literature. The main thing is for the employer to see: you not only recognize your own shortcomings, but also actively fight against them.

There are also weaknesses that will play into your hands. For example, at your last job you were considered a meticulous bore with a lack of creative thinking, but at this job you will be valued for your attentiveness and responsibility, especially if creativity is generated by other employees.

Remember that the worst answer to a question about weaknesses is a joking “I’m too perfect” or “I’m struggling unsuccessfully with my perfectionism.” This will leave the recruiter with a rather negative impression of your self-esteem and sense of humor.

"Your greatest professional achievement"

The best argument in your favor at an interview is a list of impressive ones. The recruiter’s logic is simple: if a candidate has achieved a lot in his previous job, then he can be expected to achieve success in the future. Therefore, before the interview, take a piece of paper and a pen and make a list of your brightest and most impressive victories on the work front. These could be examples of successfully implemented projects, increased profits and cost reductions, or increased sales. Try to rank achievements according to their importance to the enterprise. The more important the victory was, the higher its rating. When you can identify the most significant achievement, dwell on it in more detail. First, tell us why you chose it. Secondly, explain what your success has meant for the company and what it has given you personally. Thirdly, share how you managed to achieve success, what technologies and techniques you used in your work.

Don't forget about your colleagues. Tell us about who helped you achieve results, who was your partner, who inspired you to win. Tell us about the difficulties you encountered and ways to overcome them.

Finally, be sure to link your past work and desired place in the future. Share how the techniques you used can help you achieve results in the present. The recruiter must understand that you are not going to stop there and intend to move on, benefiting the company where you will work.

An employer cares about both the personal and business qualities of an employee. Which abilities are more important? How to deal with negative traits? Each profession has its own characteristics. We will tell you how to make the right choice and how to evaluate a future employee in our article.

Business and personal qualities

An employee’s business qualities are his ability to perform certain job duties. The most important of them are the level of education and work experience. When choosing an employee, focus on the benefits he can bring to your company.

Personal qualities characterize an employee as a person. They become important when applicants for one position have the same level of business qualities. Personal qualities characterize an employee’s attitude towards work. Focus on independence: he should not do your work, but must cope with his own to the fullest.

Choice of qualities

If more than 5 characteristics are included in the resume, this is a signal that the applicant is not able to make an intelligent choice. Moreover, the standard “responsibility” and “punctuality” have become banal, so if possible, ask what these mean general concepts. A striking example: the phrase “high performance” could mean “ability to work with a lot of information”, while you were counting on “willingness to work overtime.”

Such general concepts as “motivation to work”, “professionalism”, “self-control” can be explained by the applicant in other expressions, more specifically and meaningfully. Pay attention to incompatible qualities. To make sure that the applicant is honest, you can ask him to illustrate the characteristics he specified with examples.

Negative qualities of an employee

Sometimes job applicants also include them in their resume. In particular such as:

• Hyperactivity.
• Excessive emotionality.
• Greed.
• Vengefulness.
• Impudence.
• Inability to lie.
• Inability to work in a team.
• Restlessness.
• Touchiness.
• Lack of work experience/education.
• Lack of a sense of humor.
• Bad habits.
• Addiction to gossip.
• Straightforwardness.
• Self-confidence.
• Modesty.
• Poor communication skills.
• The desire to create conflict.

An applicant who includes negative qualities in his resume may be honest, or he may be reckless. Such an act does not justify itself, but if you want to know possible problems with this applicant, ask him to list his negative qualities. Be prepared to give the person the opportunity to rehabilitate himself and present negative qualities in a favorable light. For example, restlessness indicates easy adaptation and quick switching from one task to another, and straightforwardness indicates the benefits that it can bring when concluding a deal.

Be prepared to give the person the opportunity to rehabilitate himself and present negative qualities in a favorable light.

Qualities for different professions

Certain professional qualities are needed in almost all types of activities. You can make it easier for applicants and at the same time narrow their circle by including information about the required characteristics in the job advertisement. For an employee in the field of promotion or entertainment, the main qualities are communication skills, the ability to work in a team, and to win people over. The list of winning qualities will also include: charm, self-confidence, energy. In the field of trade list best qualities will look like this: flexibility of thinking, skills of interaction with clients, ability to negotiate, work in a team, as well as quick response, politeness, perseverance, activity.

A leader in any field must have such professional qualities as organizational skills, the ability to find a common language and work in a team, resourcefulness, lack of conflict, charm and the ability to teach. Equally important are the ability to make quick decisions, self-confidence, attentiveness and balance.

The strengths of an employee working with a large amount of data (accountant or system administrator): attention to detail, accuracy, quick learner, attentiveness, organization and, of course, the ability to work with a large amount of information.

The characteristics of a secretary include a variety of positive traits: skills of interaction with clients, business communication, literacy, ability to negotiate and business correspondence, ability to deal with several things at the same time. Also pay attention to good external characteristics, attentiveness, tact and balance, and diligence. Responsibility, attentiveness and stress resistance are useful in any profession. But the applicant, adding such qualities to his resume, does not always take them seriously.

Responsibility, attentiveness and stress resistance are useful in any profession. But the applicant, adding such qualities to his resume, does not always take them seriously.

Assessment of employee professional qualities

To avoid wasting time and money testing new employees, companies sometimes evaluate them before hiring. There are even special personnel assessment centers created for this purpose. A list of assessment methods for those who prefer to do it themselves:

• Letters of recommendation.
• Tests. These include routine aptitude and aptitude tests, as well as personality and biographical tests.
• An exam on the knowledge and skills of an employee.
• Role play or cases.

Role-playing will help you find out in practice whether the applicant is suitable for you. Simulate an everyday situation for his position and see how he copes. For example, evaluate his customer interaction skills. Let the buyer be your competent employee or yourself, and the applicant will show what he is capable of. You can set a goal for him to achieve during the game, or simply observe his working style. This method will tell you much more about the applicant than the “Personal Qualities” column on a resume.

When deciding on evaluation criteria, you can rely on business qualities: punctuality, potential quantity and quality of work performed, experience and education, skills, etc. For greater efficiency, focus on the qualities required for the position for which the candidate being assessed is applying. To be confident in an employee, consider his personal qualities. You can conduct an assessment yourself in the form of a ranking of candidates, placing + and – according to certain criteria, distributing them by level or awarding points. Avoid assessment pitfalls such as bias or stereotyping, or placing too much weight on one criterion.