Dr. Otito Iwuchukwu
Re-Assessing Our Internal and External Aptitudes and Abilities
I am sometimes asked about the difference between skills and abilities for the purpose of a resume. I also think quite a bit about the difference between aptitude and ability in that vein, because I have seen that students and early-career professionals may sometimes conflate the two. While similar, they’re not the same, and understanding some of the intrinsic differences can help when going out into the job market.
Using darting as a metaphor here: unless born without our upper limbs due to some congenital issue, all of us are born with the aptitude needed for this sport, which is the ability to throw an object at a defined target. Whether we hit the target with precision or not, the fact is, if we can throw an object, we can throw a dart. The ability to excel in this sport, and to play competitively, comes with practice — very deliberate practice over time, learning from our mistakes and fixing them by even more practice, and entering into competitions with other darters.
So a proficient darter, even while born with the aptitude to throw, develops the measurable ability to classify this sport as a skill over time. A skilled darter is able to say they have the ability to throw and aim with precision and hit the bullseye 95 percent of the time (or whatever measurable outcome is used to rank them among highly skilled professional darters).
Which is why, as a professional, you should recognize that the learning in school gave you the knowledge required to become an able professional. The skills that drive this ability, on the other hand, are varied and do not always come to you by chance. Some you developed while in school, and others you will develop on the job — or may even bring with you as a result of your lived experiences, in combination with other sections of your career wealth wheel.
As an example, consider the ability to manage direct reports and resolve work-task-related disputes between team members. This singular ability involves the use of skills and strengths like strategic communication for influence and persuasion, negotiation, conflict resolution and effective delegation.
To note this appropriately on a résumé would involve being able to give a work-related outcome, or an organizational return on investment, tied to that ability. So one could write this as:
Depending on the context, a hiring manager can see that you are a good leader whom team members want to work with.
If we went with a more clinically focused example:
Ability: Overseeing patient safety metrics for anti-thrombotic therapy in the cardiovascular therapeutic area at an inpatient (or specialized outpatient) bed facility.
Skills: Warfarin monitoring, patient counseling, electronic health record chart documentation, cross-provider collaboration, strategic communication with key treatment-team stakeholders.
Outcome: Reduced incidence of non-coagulation target goals by 98 percent over three years in our patient population, with a resultant 30 percent decrease in emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to non-optimal warfarin dosing.
Again, depending on the context of the job you are applying for, outcome statements make an impact and can serve as the difference between an interview and none.
Remember, the ability to understand your strengths and abilities, and document them in an outcomes- and results-oriented manner on a résumé, can help distinguish you from the many other knowledgeable professionals out there.
A final note to say that you may not need to do this yourself — finding a good, accredited resume writer to work with you is a good way to go. The key thing, in working through some of these strengths exercises for yourself, is to get comfortable recognizing and owning your strengths, and translating them to external parties.