Demonstrate Leadership Skills In Your CV Through These 4 Ways

 By Kibet Tobias
Whether you’re an entry-level job seeker or an established professional In Kenya, leadership traits are among the top skills required by Kenyan employers.
Every hiring manager will go through your CV looking for leadership skills. And if they miss them, you are going to miss the job opportunity too.
Ms. Esther Kamau, a professional Interview Coach at Corporate Staffing Services advises that when wanting to demonstrate leadership in your resume, consider things such as volunteer, civic, or social engagements.
“If you don’t have leadership experience in this area, it might be a good idea to take the lead on a volunteer project or offer to chair a committee,” She adds.
“If you’re not already a member of a professional organization or civic club, join one. These are great ways to meet new people and contribute to your community while gaining valuable networking opportunities that can lead to leadership experience,” she explains.
Here are a few ways you can use your past experiences and skills to demonstrate leadership experience on your resume.
Proven Ways of Demonstrating Leadership In Your CV & Get Noticed
1. Indicate Teamwork
Show examples on your resume of how you’ve participated in a team environment, both as a leader and follower. Demonstrate what you’ve achieved in quantifiable terms to show your leadership experiences to the best advantage.
Add information about how many people you were leading, what the end result was, and how you participated as a team member. If you can obtain a positive quote or two about your teamwork skills from former team members, this will speak volumes about your leadership skills.
Use words such as “Coordinated a 10-person team of software engineers and IT programmers.” This statement tells the hiring manager that you can handle a medium-sized team and that you’re familiar with the technical software engineering process.

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2. Add problem solving scenarios
This is an important skill that every employer in Kenya is looking to find in job seekers today. Are you able to quickly solve problems?
At an entry level job seeker, you only have classroom knowledge, which is basically theory and has nothing to do with practical application. However, you can make the experience worthwhile by asking your boss to let you in on the difficult tasks.
Taking on challenging work can help you learn the skill of problem solving faster than your peers. You can also volunteer to help out on other challenging tasks from different departments. This will pay off later in your career.
3. Use verbs related to soft skills.
One of the biggest mistakes made when writing CVs is avoiding the use of verbs. A quick way to remedy that is to use verbs associated with leadership skills.
Verbs such as advocated, mentored, engaged, mobilized, campaigned, motivated, challenged, focused, championed, ignited, drove, influenced, spearheaded, steered, and empowered are great examples.
4. Explain Projects
To show off your leadership skills, you should list projects you spearheaded from conception to completion. Indicate them clearly on your CV.
Communicate both by describing the projects you managed, using examples that are likely to speak to the potential employer.
If you’re applying for a position that requires event planning, you might include a bullet point that says, “Planned and executed annual fundraising gala for 200 guests.” For an art director job, say, “Directed client print projects from creative briefs to final production.”
Also, be sure to feature your commitment through a career history that reflects steady, long-term employment.
Do you have other ideas to show leadership skills in a CV that you feel like sharing that might be helpful to readers? Share them in the comment section below.
Tobias is a content writer at Career point Kenya. For any related queries, contact tobias@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke.