When you’re going through the interview process, you’ll likely be assessed not just on your level of skill and experience, but on your range of soft skills, too. While not always as easy to demonstrate as a list of your qualifications and previous work experience, your personality traits – better known as soft skills – help an interviewer determine whether you’re the right fit for both the job, and the company.
Whether you’re applying for a new job or are a female entrepreneur seeking to start your own company with the help of business loans for women, being able to demonstrate the following 7 personality traits could help you land your dream job, or set up the company that will make you rich!
- Flexibility
In many instances, employees are expected to be able to perform a variety of different functions within their role, and employers are increasingly looking for new talent with the ability to be flexible when needed.
If you’re striding out as an entrepreneur, flexibility will almost certainly be a requirement, and at various stages in the businesses lifespan, too.
- Strategic thinking
Being able to come up with robust strategies to help a business achieve its long term goals, is a highly desirable quality in any potential job candidate, and the ability to convey them convincingly, is equally as desirable.
Entrepreneurs need strategic thinking more than anyone, and without it, their dreams could easily fall by the wayside, along with any hopes of ever making a profit.
- Decisiveness
While business owners may wish to take an active role in all major decisions involving their business, this isn’t always possible, and having an employee who can use their own judgement responsibly to take action in a decisive manner, is a characteristic much sought after by employers.
As an entrepreneur, you will likely be relying on your own ability to make a swift but informed decision in times of need, and being able to make a decision and stick to it, is an admirable and all but essential personality trait.
- Curiosity
If you’re applying for a job and can show your potential employer that you’re keen to advance your skillset and increase your knowledge, you’ll easily give yourself the edge over candidates who are not to willing to adapt and change.
Comfort zones don’t belong in the world of entrepreneurship, and if you’re not comfortable stepping outside of yours to expand your learning, you’re virtually guaranteed to fail.
- Independent thinking
While questioning your superiors operates along a fine line, the ability to think independently and make suggestions for the betterment of the company as a whole, is an admirable soft skill that employers will definitely approve of.
As an entrepreneur, standing up for what you believe in and for what you believe to be the right thing for your business, may be hard, but it’s absolutely worth it and will almost certainly pay dividend in the future.
- Being a team player
There is a time and a place for independent thinking as an employee, that’s for sure, but as with most businesses, the need for their employees to work together as part of a team is always required at some stage.
Even if you’re a solo entrepreneur, most business rely on at least one other person to help them achieve their goals, and being able to work with them as a team, is an invaluable quality to have.
- Being the right cultural fit
The culture of each company varies, and while certain qualities in an employee may be desirable across the board, certain business owners will be searching for someone who fits their company’s cultural norms perfectly.
While this isn’t quite so applicable to entrepreneurs, it is important that you read your audience correctly, and take care to present yourself in a way that’s culturally respectful of both your core beliefs and your mission statement.
The above personality traits are generally the same of women as they are of men, and the more of them you can possess (particularly as a woman though, since the world of business presents a more challenging environment for them), the better your chances of being an outstanding employee, or successful entrepreneur. If you’re a businesswoman in need of an instant cash injection, try using an online MCA Calculator to determine whether a merchant cash advance could be the right solution for you.
