Those who want to learn Spanish fluently can use language apps or arrange “tandem meetings” with native speakers. If you want to sew your own t-shirt, watch a tutorial video on YouTube. And those who want to learn programming can use platforms such as Skillshare or LinkedIn Learning.
Skills that you acquire in this way are often useful in your job, but often cannot be directly proven when you apply for a job. Almost a quarter of Germans are unsure how to properly showcase their own skills.
This is shown by a recent YouGov survey commissioned by the job exchange Monster. It is not so much a question of whether a competence is certified or not, but above all the type of application.
When applying in writing, the following applies: You should state everything that fits the job advertisement – in the cover letter as well as in the CV. For example, if a job posting asks about creativity, it makes sense to mention that you design and sew your own clothes.
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And if basic knowledge of Spanish is desired, it helps to indicate the language skills that you have acquired in your free time. Even if they are not certified.
“You can judge the level yourself,” explains career coach Jochen Gabrisch. Common designations would be, for example: basic knowledge, fluent or business fluent. “However, you should make sure that you only state skills that you really have and for which you have reached a competent level,” Gabrisch points out. So if you can only make holiday small talk, it is better not to indicate your Spanish skills in the written application.
The explanation of how you acquired your knowledge and skills does not belong in the written application either. You can also mention the learning path in the cover letter if you consider it to be particularly important – but not in the CV. “That only raises questions and is not important at this point,” says Gabrisch.
Kerstin Woll, Senior HR Business Partner at the Monster job exchange, is also convinced of this. She advises applicants to list all skills that could be relevant for the position in keywords in the CV. Evidence is not decisive at this point – the keywords should, however, be as specific as possible, provided they fit the respective position.
If you sew your own clothes and apply for a job as a product designer, for example, you can name your skills with the keywords fashion design and sewing. On the other hand, anyone applying for a job as a media designer can leave it at the keyword design.
The same applies to other industries: if you teach yourself to code and apply for a job that requires this skill, you should state exactly which program you are proficient in. On the other hand, if he applies for a job for which he does not need the programming language at all, it is sufficient if he writes that he can program.
The curriculum vitae mainly focuses on knowledge that is important for the respective job and position. It’s different on platforms like LinkedIn or Xing: “Here it makes sense to specify as many skills as possible in detail,” says Thomas Fritz, Professor of Human Resources and Organization at the University of Applied Sciences in Aachen.
“This gives headhunters the chance to find suitable candidates.” On LinkedIn, you can also have your skills confirmed by former colleagues or employers – that increases credibility.
Career coach Gabrisch advises that you should already think about the subsequent personal interview while you are writing your application. If you find it difficult to recognize your own strengths and skills, he suggests keeping a success journal in advance. That means: If something went well, it is noted.
This works best if you do it regularly, say five minutes at the end of each workday. In the best case, according to Gabrisch, this not only helps in the conversation, it also strengthens self-confidence.
In the face-to-face interview, applicants should then present their skills in as much detail as possible, advises Gabrisch. You can use the STAR method for this: The abbreviation stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result. Applicants first explain what their task was and then describe how they solved it.
For group projects it is important that they explain exactly what they have done themselves. At the end of the day, you have to present the result. Applicants should remain authentic throughout the interview.
“You always have to be open and transparent in an interview,” confirms HR manager Woll. That means: If asked, they should also tell where they acquired their non-certified skills. Only through honesty can a basis of mutual trust be created – the basis of a good working relationship.
Certificates are important in many professions – just like a dentist, a hairdresser must have demonstrably learned the trade. Otherwise, however, certificates are often superfluous because they say little about whether someone can do their job well or not. Anyone who has worked in child and youth work for five years is generally better suited for a position as a children’s hairdresser or children’s dentist than someone who has only taken part in a certified course.
Personaler Fritz therefore weights the experience of candidates more than their certificates. In one-on-one interviews, he tests the credibility of applicants and follows up: “The better someone can remember a situation, the more specifically they can say what exactly they did, the more convincingly a competence is substantiated,” he says.
In many cases, however, this is not necessary at all, because applicants can often show concrete work samples. “Even if you’ve only done something for fun, you’ve often shown this competence somewhere,” says Fritz.
For example, if you have set up the website of the carnival association or designed a particularly unique piece of clothing – “I find such documents much more credible than any certificates anyway”.
If someone absolutely cannot show any work samples, practical tests can also help. Applicants are allowed to be aggressive here: “Give me a programming task and I’ll solve it for you.” Or: “Give me a code and I’ll continue it.” Something like this shows great self-confidence and trust in your own Capabilities.
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