A competency is the ability to successfully do a task by combining skills, knowledge, experience, personality, motivation and intelligence. When used in business or in job applications it refers to the ability to complete a specific work related task successfully. Competencies can be very divers, some competencies you can learn or develop by repetition others are closely related to you personality or motivation.
Competencies are important elements of the recruitment process. Recruiters often look for candidates with certain key competencies that are crucial for that specific role within the company. Therefore it is important to include your competencies in your job application. You can include them you’re your CV and you cover letter. It is also important to have a clear overview of the necessary competencies when you are preparing for a job interview. Most job posts will state some of the key competencies. You can also use the job description itself to determine what competencies will be crucial for that role. The list of competencies below can help you to identify these key competencies for you job application.
There are numerous competencies, from general basic skills to very specific professional skills. It is essential to select the skills that are relevant for the job you are applying to. Obviously it also necessary that you indeed own the competencies that you select. We have divided this overview of 60 competencies in four groups: personal competencies, interpersonal skills, leading competencies and technical competencies.
Personal competencies
This type of competencies reflects your personality and your personal behavior. It gives information about what type of person you are.
Adaptability: The ability to change and to deal with changing circumstances
Ambition: To pursue progress, to reach goals, or for career opportunities
Assertiveness: Being confident and forceful, not frightened to say one’s opinion
Creativity: The ability to imagine and create new things or methods, resourcefulness
Decisive: The ability to make quick and effective decisions
Dedicated: Being devoted to a task
Discipline: The ability to set and follow strict rules for one’s self in difficult situations
Energetic: Full of energy and stamina
Enthusiastic: To show eager interest and to be excited
Flexibility: The ability to adjust to changing situations, adaptability
Independent: Being able to work and take decisions without the support or help of others
Integrity: Having strong moral principles, being honest
Involvement: To have a strong association with an organization
Learning ability: The ability to gain and to process knowledge and proceedings
Loyalty: Having strong feelings of support and duty for an organization or other person
Perseverance: The ability to continue an effort in spite of difficulties until the goal is reached
Positive: Optimistic, counting on a good result
Precise: Being exact and accurate, paying attention to details
Proactivity: Taking initiative, thinking ahead, not hesitant
Reflection: The ability to look back on events or actions and to analyse the results
Responsibility: Aware of agreements and duties and acting accordingly
Result driven: To focus all your effort on a specific result or goal
Self-awareness: Being conscious about one’s own personality and abilities
Self-starter: The ability to work effectively without needing to be told what to do regularly
Strategical: The ability to create a well-considered plan to realize long term goals
Stress resistance: The ability to work and perform under pressure, deal with stressful situations
Taking initiative: To start something without being told to do so
Interpersonal skills & competencies
Interpersonal skills and competencies show how you interact with other people:
Advising: The ability to give counsel and give useful recommendations
Cooperation: To work together, to make an effort to complete a task in close consultation with each other
Diplomacy: The ability to manage relationships in a sensitive and tactful way with consideration of the interests of different parties
Empathy: The ability to understand the feelings of others and sympathize with others
Listening: To hear attentively and show interest in what others have to say
Negotiating: The ability to reach an optimal agreement
Networking To interact with other to develop and maintain professional contacts
Persuading: The ability to convince someone through reasoning or arguments
Presenting: The ability to give information in clear and structured way to a group of people
Sociability: Liking to be around and interact with other people
Verbal communication: The ability to articulate complex matters verbally
Written communication: The ability to write clear and well organized
Leadership competencies
This competency category refers to the aspects of leading a group of people or a company.
Coaching: To mentor and to support others during a learning process to reach a specific goal
Conflict management: The ability to deal with and to deescalate conflicts
Delegating: To hand over tasks and responsibilities to others
Leading: To direct and to motivate a team to complete a task or to reach a goal
Motivating: To encourage others, to provide others with a reason to do things
Problem solving: The ability to recognize problems and solve them individually
Functional competencies
Functional competencies are related to specific area of work. There are even functional competencies that are linked to a specific job. The full list of functional competencies could be endless, we have gathered some of the more general type of competencies here:
Analytical :To examine thoroughly and systematically
Business awareness: The knowledge and understanding of how a business works and what makes a business successful
Customer focus: Putting the customers’ needs in the center of your working process
Entrepreneurship: The ability to recognize and to reach for business opportunities independently
Goal driven: To work with a focus and dedication towards the end goal without being distracted
Helicopter view: The ability to have a clear overview of complex situations or tasks
Innovative: The ability to introduce new creative and original ideas and methods
Organizing: To bring together people and means necessary to reach a goal, make arrangements
Planning: To organize what needs to be done, create a work schedule
Prioritizing: The ability to classify tasks by importance
Project management: The ability to work together in a temporary setting to reach a specific goal
Quality focus: To strive for high quality, setting a high quality standard for one’s self
Risk management: The ability to forecast and evaluate (financial) risks and to create procedures to minimalize these risks
Time managements: The ability to plan your time efficiently to complete a task within a set deadline
Vision: The ability to foresee and to plan for future events and developments
