How to present adaptability and flexibility skills on your resume (2023)

What are "adaptability" and "flexibility"

During your last job search, did you see the following requirement (or something similar): "Adapt to change and lead change"?

And you started revising and revising your resume. Reconsider and overanalyze whether your experience shows how you deal with change...

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Change is the only constant in life. The ability to adapt to these changes will determine your success in life.”

With that in mind, we'll show you how to best showcase your 'adaptability' and 'flexibility' skills on your resume.

Beide Soft Skills sind sich sehr ähnlich und werden in Stellenausschreibungen oft synonym verwendet.

“Adaptability” are qualities that help you adapt to changes in situations faced with new (and/or unexpected) factors, conditions, environments, circumstances, or obstacles.

"Flexibility" is also the ability to adapt one's behavior and actions to changes. But beyond that, it defines the willpower to adapt your mindset to the new and unknown.

This sentence may be a bit trite, but it still reflects our reality. For the past two years, we've adapted to the "new normal" every day - from the way we live to the way we work.

And the main result of this constant adaptation is how we develop our cognitive and learning skills, which are also essential for the workplace.

Without giving too much away, let's look at a few more reasons why your adaptability and flexibility are worth mentioning.

Why recruiters want “adaptability” and “flexibility” on their resume

Customization and flexibility skills aren't just things you need to "check off your list" and be done with. You show recruiters that you will be successful in the role.

From the start of a new position you should be able to adapt easily to new systems, surroundings and colleagues.

Of course, this responsibility lies on both sides, but your ability to be flexible can make it easier for you to settle into your new job.

Customizable skills show recruiters are a dependable and diverse professional; a great team player and employee.

Being adaptable means you can navigate uncharted waters and are not afraid to face the unknown. And you are always able to deliver – no matter what the circumstances.

Looking to the future, adaptable employees are early adopters of new ideas.

In order to survive in the modern economy, companies must implement new technologies.

Employees who show adaptability integrate easily into their work environment.

Continue to shape the corporate culture and tackle the first wave of innovation.

Her career exemplifies a desire for growth and advancement.

Simply put, from the moment these employees step into the office, they are ready to take on any challenge to achieve their goals.

And if you're still wondering which of your skills are great examples of flexibility, look no further.

What skills, activities, and accomplishments help you highlight your “adaptability” and “flexibility”?

We have compiled the 3 most popular qualities that define you as an adaptable and flexible professional.

Of course, you shouldn't just limit yourself to these 3, but use them as a framework for your experiment:

• awareness and openness- Both skills are more associated with demonstrating a certain mindset. They portray a person who is aware of and understands his surroundings. And when a particular problem arises, they can seek new solutions from a variety of sources with an open mind.
• Creative and strategic thinking- what do you think about experimenting and improvising? Creative and strategic thinkers can offer a fresh perspective on a specific topic. But they also think about the future—the impact of their actions on the bottom line, the signature, or the big picture.
• Conflict Resolution Skills- Being able to engage in a polite discussion or debate with your colleagues shows adaptability. Remember to show impartiality - that you respect the opinions of others in the event of a conflict. Focus on what can be done rather than unnecessary drama.

How to demonstrate “adaptability” and “flexibility” on your resume:

• Describe how you handled unplanned changes to your work environment—whether it was communicating unprecedented problems to clients or being the first to explore a new tool;
• In your daily work, another good example would be how you have adjusted your workflow to prioritize unplanned events;
• Think of situations where you chaired meetings with your team (and/or clients) to gather everyone's feedback, opinions and ideas in an impartial and positive environment;
• Instances where you offered innovative thinking to a specific problem - this had a positive and measurable impact;
• Even your attitude towards failure can be well described - where you made a mistake but stood up and offered new solutions.

As you've seen so far, demonstrating your adaptability and flexibility is all about showing how you think.

They help you to be successful in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. And guide you to see change as an opportunity and not a threat to your work.

If you rely on a good thesaurus to write your resume instead of showing what you can do, you're not going to get anywhere too quickly.

Because not all of us can be “dynamic, adaptable, flexible, and adaptable individuals.”

Eventually that sandcastle you built will disappear.

That's why you need to build it with more durable "materials" - in this case, evidence and examples.

To further improve your adaptability and flexibility in your CV, we have prepared some snippets for you.

They describe how to properly showcase those particular skills (or should we say mindset) as part of your career.

Example 1: Demonstrate "adaptability" and "flexibility" in the experience area

Professional status: Project Manager, applying for the position of Senior Project Manager

The project manager's CV shows that his role included both ongoing responsibility (day-to-day management) and increasing responsibility. The impact they created was measurable at their primary focus.

Think of similar risk assessments or system upgrade requirements that you had to implement. They reveal their expertise in an unprecedented environment. Excellent examples would be situations where you needed to communicate necessary adjustments or changes to other departments and/or customers.

Every early implementation situation (of software or processes) shows a flexible mindset.

Example 2: Demonstrate “Adaptability” and “Flexibility” in the Resume Summary section.

Job status: Crisis communications specialist with 3 years of experience managing PR campaigns

Any situation where you need to announce “unusual” or “unique” (to put it mildly) events requires flexibility.

In the case of the crisis communication specialist, they always made the best of every situation and played the customer's trump card in front of the media. Regardless of the circumstances and events, they knew how to plan ahead and make that positive impact.

Example 3: Demonstrate your “Adaptability” and “Flexibility” in your performance sections

Occupation: Elementary school teacher applying for the position of Head of School

“Key Accomplishments” for each role can allow you to further emphasize your flexibility skills through your resume.

Notice the pattern in the role of this elementary school teacher? They have constantly evolved their responsibilities to better serve students' interests while creating a better learning experience for everyone.

Example 4: Demonstrate “adaptability” and “flexibility” in other sections of your resume

Did you ever have the opportunity to spend a year abroad during your studies (as part of an Erasmus program or similar)? If so, you can add this to your education section and share more about your experience.

Briefly state one of the following points:

• How you dealt with language barriers and communication challenges;
• Getting used to the new environment;
• Meeting new people and making friends—impacts they had on your faith and mindset.

This would further show that you can adapt to any scenario both personally and professionally.

“Adaptability” and “Flexibility”: key points for your CV

• It is best to represent your adaptability and flexibility skills through your experiences highlighting scenarios where you have had to deal with change;
• Showing these skills can be an indicator not only of your professionalism, but also of your character, your ability to thrive and grow in any environment.
• Being the first to try new things in the workplace - be it your processes, systems or tools - can be another great tip for your ever-evolving interpersonal skills.