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How well do you adapt to new environments?
How well do you adapt to new environments?

Flexibility

How well do you adapt to new environments?
How well do you adapt to new environments?

Flexibility

“It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same. Even smells the same. You realize what’s changed is you.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Flexibility competence is tested and developed when having to adapt to new environments. Especially if one moves abroad to study/work/live. Demonstrate your ability to adapt to new environments by answering the questions below 👇

  • Have you lived abroad? How did you adapt to new culture?
  • What have you learned from living abroad?
  • Do you like working/living/immersing yourself in multicultural environments? What do you like/don’t like about it?
  • How do you handle cultural differences?

Problem solving
Problem solving

Creativity

Problem solving
Problem solving

Creativity

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”

Albert Einstein

Creativity is one of the competences essential to problem solving. Rules, guidelines and best practice manuals are helpful and can get you a result but they are not always available. Furthermore, in order to achieve extraordinary results, everyone needs to sometimes think “outside the box”. Demonstrate your problem-solving skills by answering the questions below 👇

  • What problem-solving event are you most proud of? Why and what happened?
  • How do you ensure that after having dealt with problems they do not repeat? Have you developed a method/technique to solve similar problems?
  • Tell us about a situation where you used creative thinking to eliminate frustration with a product/situation or a process.
  • Describe a situation where you had to think “outside the box” and how did you go about it?

Evaluation
Evaluation

Review and dissemination

Evaluation
Evaluation

Review and dissemination

"Evaluation is creation: hear it, you creators! Evaluating is itself the most valuable treasure of all that we value. It is only through evaluation that value exists: and without evaluation the nut of existence would be hollow. Hear it, you creators!"

Friedrich Nietzsche

After you finish your video and before you start planning how you can share it, it might be worth taking some time to evaluate your video. While a video CV can help your chances of getting a job it can also hurt 🤕 them. Here’s a short checklist of things to consider before sending out your video CV.

  • Did you introduce yourself at the beginning?
  • Did you highlight your strengths and/or achievements?
  • Did you emphasize why you would be the perfect candidate?
  • Is the sound quality ok?
  • Is video quality good enough?
  • Have you showed your video to at least 5 people (friends, colleagues, family, industry people…?) and got their feedback?
  • Do you think some people might find it inconsiderate or offensive?
  • Do you think that core competencies are highlighted?
  • Do people recognise you in the video? Is the video authentic and personal?
Willingness to learn and teach
Willingness to learn and teach

Collaboration

Willingness to learn and teach
Willingness to learn and teach

Collaboration

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

Dr. Seuss

In order to stay relevant in our fast-paced world we must be willing to keep on learning and improving which, as a result, can enhance our ability to collaborate effectively. Here’s a couple of questions that you might consider answering in your video CV to demonstrate your teaching and learning skills:

  • Are you actively seeking to improve your skills and knowledge? Then apply it in the workplace? (give an example)
  • Do you use online learning platforms (Coursera, Futurelearn…) to hone your skills? Have you earned any certificates?
  • What do you do if you're stuck on assignments/tasks? Do you ask for your collegues' help?
  • If you see that your colleague is struggling with an assignment and you knew exactly how to do it, would you teach them how to achieve desired results or would you more often just offer to do it for them? (please give examples)
  • How do your teaching and learning skills help you collaborate with others?

Dealing with unwanted emotions
Dealing with unwanted emotions

Self-management

Dealing with unwanted emotions
Dealing with unwanted emotions

Self-management

“It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

We all have bad days but not everyone deals with them in the same way. You can be sure that in any workplace, you will have to deal with other people’s unwanted emotions as well as your own. If you pride yourself on being able to manage your emotions and maintain a healthy and pleasant work environment, you can mention this in your video CV. How? Try answering these questions for starters:

  • How do you deal with unwanted emotions, do you let them get in the way or do you maybe have a strategy how to manage them?
  • How do you manage unwanted emotions?
  • How do you deal with angry/agitated colleagues? Do you let their emotions transfer onto you? Or maybe you have methods/strategies how to calm your colleagues and help them?

Don’ts
Don’ts

Review and dissemination

Don’ts
Don’ts

Review and dissemination

"Measure twice and cut once."

proverb

Don’ts

  1. Don't send out your video resume if you got feedback that it might be offensive
  2. if you're not happy with the outcome, the quality is not up to your standard (sometimes it might do more harm than good)
  3. Don't try to include everything you've done
  4. Don't just read out your resume
  5. Don't criticise your previous employer
  6. Don't get too personal

Getting out of your comfort zone
Getting out of your comfort zone

Flexibility

Getting out of your comfort zone
Getting out of your comfort zone

Flexibility

“Comfort can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor but also a ceiling.”

Trevor Noah

Most people are nervous about getting out of their comfort zone but that’s probably one of the best ways to learn and improve. You could show your potential employer how you do it and handle situations in which stepping out of your comfort zone is necessary. Here’s a couple of things you might cover when describing how you get out of your comfort zone:

  • List 5 things that push you out of your comfort zone. When did you experience these?
  • Do you actively seek new ways and opportunities that would get you out of your comfort zone?

Teamwork
Teamwork

Collaboration

Teamwork
Teamwork

Collaboration

"It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed."

Charles Darwin

Even if you work mostly independently, there will come a time when you’ll need to work with others. Here’s a couple of questions that might inspire you to highlight excellent teamworking skills:

  • Think of a time when you achieved something that was only possible as a team. What was it?
  • Have you ever joined a project midway? What did you do to blend in quickly? How did you manage to work effectively as a team member?
  • Would you consider yourself a team player? If you would, why?