Highlighting Organisational Skills On Your CV

The Importance of Organisational Skills on Your CV

Strong organisational skills are a highly valuable trait for various jobs and industries. Any role that requires you to complete complex tasks, multitask, work with clients or collaborate with a large team will benefit from organisational skills. In the modern world of work, employers can be quite demanding of their workforce, and employees who display effective organisation skills can help a team to function effectively.

Organisational skills can also help you with various other key soft and transferable skills that are critical to success in your career. If you’re confident and comfortable organising your workload, this leads to efficiency in your everyday duties, and helps you to be a reliable and effective collaborator. The ability to organise your work, and that of a wider team, is an essential leadership quality. Organisational skills can also help you to set and realise goals that are realistic, measurable and achievable.

Jobs that benefit from organisational skills

Although organisational skills can help you thrive in almost any job, some roles place greater emphasis on strong organisational skills than others. Here are a few jobs that demand high levels of organisational skill:

• Project manager
• Logistics manager
• Event planner
• Scrum Master
• Personal assistant/administrative assistant/office manager
• Solicitor
• Estate agent
• Quality assurance consultant
• Accountant
• Librarian/archivist

Which Organisational Skills Should You Highlight?

‘Organisational skills’ is a broad, catch-all term for a wide range of valuable workplace skills. Showcasing any of these on your CV can give you an advantage in your job applications. The best organisational skills for your CV will depend heavily on the job you’re applying for, and the industry you work in. Some roles require collaborative skills, while others require attention to detail, multitasking or delegation.

It’s important to consider which are the most valuable organisational skills for each job application. Review the job description to understand the traits and qualities the employer is looking for, and tailor the organisational skills in your CV accordingly.

Some of the key organisational skills you may wish to highlight in your CV include:

• Goal setting: creating objectives and working towards them requires an organised, considered approach to your workload, to ensure you complete tasks in a timely manner and work towards deadlines.
• Prioritisation skills: the ability to prioritise your workload means understanding what are the most urgent and important tasks and organising your time so you give priority to the most pressing jobs.
• Decision-making: decision-making skills are critical to working in an orderly, organised manner, which makes you a more effective colleague and team member.
• Strategic thinking and planning: strategic thinking means thinking ahead, and forming a plan for how to achieve a task or objective. Being strategic requires a clear, organised mind.
• Collaboration: without organisational skill, collaboration can be messy, frustrating and ultimately unproductive. To collaborate well with others, your colleagues need to know what to expect from you, and need to be able to rely on your consistency.
• Effective communication: one of the keys to an organised approach to working is clear, effective communication. A strong communicator is far more likely to be organised, and contribute towards a harmonious, high-functioning team.
• Time management: making the most of your time during the workday is one of the most effective ways to be organised. Time management means setting aside time to deal with the most urgent, high-priority tasks, and making sure you’re punctual and reliable in your activities.
• Self-motivation: the ability to motivate yourself without constant supervision is a mark of a mature, accomplished employee. Self-motivation means working under your own initiative and delivering consistent results for your team.
• Delegation: those who struggle to delegate are typically disorganised. If you have a chaotic approach to working, it can feel easier to just do the work yourself. However, an organised employee should be able to delegate work to others and trust them to get on with it.
• Multitasking: busy workplaces can require multitasking, or constantly switching between tasks during a workday. The ability to handle the sometimes chaotic, unpredictable nature of working with others, and still produce high-quality work, is the sign of an organised employee.

Incorporating Organisational Skills in a CV (With Examples)

There are numerous ways to incorporate your organisational skills on your CV. The approach you take is likely to depend on how important organisational skills are for the role, and how much of a strength they are for you personally. If organisational skills are particularly critical to the role, you’ll want to showcase these skills prominently in your CV.

Make sure you always quantify your organisational skills and achievements wherever you mention them in your CV. You can do this by providing examples and evidence of how you’ve used them to positive effect in your career to date.

How you present your organisational skills will depend on the CV format you decide to use. Here are some tips on incorporating organisational skills into different parts of any CV:

CV summary

Your CV summary is the ideal place to mention organisational skills, if they’re fundamental to the position you’re applying for. Pick one or two organisational skills and show how you’ve used them to positive effect. For example:

Work experience

Your work experience is the key place to showcase your organisation skills. Use your bullet points under each job entry to present your skills, and show evidence of their impact. For example:

Skills

If organisational skills are one of your key strengths, you may wish to include it in your skills list. Just remember, though, that your skills list is only a quick reference point for the reader. You’ll still want to display these skills in other sections of your CV, where you can provide more detailed evidence of how you’ve used them at different times in your career.

Other sections

Some other, optional sections where you might wish to list your organisational skills include:

• Achievements
• Projects
• Education
• Volunteer work
• Hobbies and interests

Showcasing Projects and Achievements Related to Organisational Skills

Providing evidence of your organisational skills is one of the best ways to impress employers and help them to see that you’re suitable for the job. However, because organisational skills are a soft skill, it can sometimes be tricky to show exactly how your organisation skills have made a positive impact. Here are a few different situations and achievements that could showcase the impact of your organisational skills:

For each of these, you’ll want to provide clear evidence of how your actions led to positive results. Include any data that shows the impact you made with your organisational skills.

"Any role that requires you to complete complex tasks, multitask, work with clients or collaborate with a large team will benefit from organisational skills."

Key Takeaways for Showcasing Organisational Skills on a CV

Adding your organisational skills to your CV can have a positive impact for various job applications. Consider the most valuable skills for each role, and tailor your CV to show how you’ve used those skills, and how they helped you achieve success for previous employers. CVwizard’s tools and resources can help you create a professional CV that showcases your organisational skills and other qualities for a strong impression with employers. Sign up today to access CV examples and templates to help you create a winning job application.