How to show leadership skills on your CV – with examples
xt-align:center’>
Looking for a step up in your career? You need a CV that shows off your leadership skills. Whether you’ve been in a formal leadership role before or not, there’s plenty you can do to prove to recruiters and hiring managers that you’re ready for this next challenge. Let’s dive into how to show off leadership skills on your CV.
xt-align:center’>
How to decide which leadership skills to include on a CV
xt-align:center’>
Every leadership role is different, so the required skills will be different too. The easiest way to find out what skills to prioritise on your CV is to review
job adverts for roles you’re interested in, to see which skills keep popping up. You could also check out the
LinkedIn profiles of people in roles you’re interested in, to see what they’re emphasising.
xt-align:center’>
Which skills are in demand?
xt-align:center’>
Regardless of which role you apply for, certain leadership skills never go out of fashion. Consider adding some of the following top 10 leadership skills to your CV:
xt-align:center’>
- Team building
- Performance improvement
- Negotiation
- Influencing
- Conflict resolution
- Decision-making
- Problem solving
- Delegation
- Empathy / emotional intelligence
- Vision
Where to add leadership skills on a CV
xt-align:center’>
The most obvious place to list leadership skills on a CV is in the
Skills section. That’s certainly a great place to drop in some of the key skills you’ve identified from job adverts (as long as you genuinely have them!) – but don’t stop there!
xt-align:center’>
xt-align:center’>
A list of skills is all well and good, but anyone can say they have any skill. The impact comes by
proving
you have those skills. Therefore, in addition to listing
keywords in your Skills section, it’s also important to dive a bit deeper in the Professional Experience section. Try to give concrete examples of times you’ve used particular skills… and the positive outcome that you achieved for the business by using that skill.
xt-align:center’>
xt-align:center’>
For inspiration, check out these examples of proven leadership skills:
xt-align:center’>
- Achieved a 5% increase in productivity by building a stronger team through cross-training, social events and recognition for outstanding performance
- Reduced effort spent on month-end processes by 8 hours per month by solving a long-term problem with data collection
- Delivered a 15% cost saving by negotiating improved terms and prices with key suppliers
xt-align:center’>
As well as introducing skills as keywords and
achievements, you could also choose a few skills that are critical to the role to showcase in your Profile section. For example:
xt-align:center’>
xt-align:center’>
An
empathetic HR leader, with insight across the full employee lifecycle and the ability to
drive change. Focuses on
employee engagement, developing communications plans that support attraction, retention and
performance improvement. Recognised as a hands-on leader, who can
scale teams, systems and processes in rapidly-growing, fast-paced businesses. Driven by
solving problems through happier people.
xt-align:center’>
xt-align:center’>
Don’t forget to add any leadership programmes and courses to your Professional Development section, too!
xt-align:center’>
Stepping into your first leadership role
xt-align:center’>
Of course, it’s much easier to write a
leadership CV if you’ve already worked in a leadership role. But everyone needs to start somewhere! If you’re writing a CV for your first leadership position, you may find yourself feeling a bit light on skills to include. Don’t worry! You probably already have some leadership skills that you can draw on.
xt-align:center’>
xt-align:center’>
Consider times you’ve shown leadership in your current and previous roles, even if it isn’t a normal part of your remit. For example, you may have trained a new starter, covered for the boss while they were on holiday, or solved a problem that benefitted the entire team.
xt-align:center’>
xt-align:center’>
The CV doesn’t have to be entirely focused on work, though. Hiring teams are interested in the whole person, so if you’ve gained skills elsewhere don’t be afraid to shout about them. You can mention skills gained while leading a sports team,
volunteering, or organising community events, to name a few.
xt-align:center’>
Common mistakes when writing a leadership CV
xt-align:center’>
Don’t trip up with these common leadership CV mistakes:
xt-align:center’>
- Assuming your reader knows what you did: the hiring manager has probably never met you and knows that every role is different – even when they have the same job title. Ensure you give a solid overview of your leadership skills and experience – it’s a good way to add more keywords to your CV too!
- Not including achievements: saying you have skills is one thing – but proving you have them is another. Solid evidence of your skills is a quick way to get your CV to the top of the “Yes!” pile.
- Missing metrics: great leaders deliver great results, so
quantify the impact of your achievements and the scope of your role wherever possible.
Ask for help with your leadership CV!
xt-align:center’>
Of course, you know that delegation is a necessary leadership skill! If you’re tying yourself in knots trying to create the perfect leadership CV, or you’re just too busy leading to find time to do it yourself, it’s fine to delegate that task too!
xt-align:center’>
CV Shed is an established CV writing service that can help you to create the perfect leadership CV. Just place your order, have a chat, and receive a professional CV showing off your top leadership skills. With
services for every budget, you’ll be stepping up the career ladder in no time!