Proof Beats Paper

This post originally appeared as issue 27 of the Daily Job Hunt email. Sign up for kick-butt career hype in your inbox each morning.

For soft skills, proof beats paper

Soft skills aren’t something you can just list in a bullet point on a resume. That’s meaningless. There’s no proof or demonstration of the skills, it’s just paper.

Proof beats paper every time.

For instance, we saw a question on Twitter posed to hiring managers: “What’s more impressive in an applicant; a college degree or having run a marathon.”

90% of the responses were “marathon.”

A short blog post about your marathon training regimen and the results of your race, (ideally with photos so people know you’re not making it up), would demonstrate soft skills better than any bullet on a resume.

Results-driven
Time-management
Self-motivated

Anyone who trained and ran a marathon is very likely to have these skills!

Show, don’t tell.