Companies looking to fill the vacant positions in their organization typically post job ads. These adverts will explain what the role is along with the requirements for the position.
If you’re looking for a job that will better your career, you’ll need to do more than just meet the job requirements. You also have to possess certain skills that will win over the hiring manager.
On top of having great intrapersonal skills, which we explained in one of our previous posts, you need to have excellent conceptual skills.
Conceptual Skills: An Overview
Conceptual skills, by definition, refer to the aptitude that an individual has to work with new ideas. They entail being able and knowing how to formulate ideas.
People with strong conceptual thinking usually have great cognitive abilities to solve problems and think creatively. A person who has these skills in the business environment might come up with an idea for a new process or a new idea. They’re able to evaluate a complex situation and formulate an effective and specific course of action.
A Look at the Types of Conceptual Skills
Conceptual skills consist of several different soft skills. They’re as vital as each other in providing you with the ability to adapt a creative-thinking approach.
Here are a few examples of soft skills that you should develop if you have a better career:
Effective Communication
The lack of strong communication skills will prevent you from sharing your analysis and ideas effectively with the right people. An example of a person with conceptual skills is someone who can explain a problem and provide solutions effectively. These individuals can communicate effectively to everyone in the company, from workers in a specific team to the managers and directors.
People with strong conceptual skills are also great listeners. They listen to the needs of their employer before coming up with a plan of action.
Problem Solving
Once you complete analyzing a situation and identifying a problem, you now have to decide how to solve that problem. People with solid conceptual skills are great at obtaining solutions to problems and coming up with swift and strong decisions that will produce results.
Analysis
This ability allows you to look at how a business is working, whether the organization is accomplishing its goals or not and how departments are working together.
Emphasizing Your Conceptual Skills to Employers
If you’re going to apply for a job at Apple, Tesla or other big companies, you’ll need to demonstrate that you’re the right person for the vacant position. On top of saying that you have the expertise and experience, you should show that you have the right conceptual skills for the job.
How can you achieve this goal? Here are a few suggestions to help you highlight this particular skill set:
Prepare Responses for Common Conceptual Skills Questions
During an interview, the talent acquisition specialist or hiring manager may ask questions to find out more about your conceptual skills.
Before your interview schedule, take the time to prepare responses to some of these interview questions:
- How do you come up with an effective business plan or strategy?
- What skills do you think will help you succeed in this job or meet your goals?
- As a manager, can you tell me why effective communication is important in the workplace?
- What is your goal-setting process?
- What was your experience working with other departments?
Add Your Conceptual Skills in Your Cover Letter
When you’re writing a cover letter, don’t simply state your work experience and how you’re qualified to meet the requirements of the job position. Go the extra mile by talking about your conceptual skills.
Think about how you’re planning to connect your conceptual skills to your previous work experience. If you’re applying for the position of a manager, for instance, talk about an experience where you directed a team to meet the goals of the department or the organization. Discuss in detail how you believe this experience is useful and relevant to the job that you’re gunning for.
Create a Skills Section in Your Resume
You have to make sure that your resume has a skills section, as many leadership and managerial roles require a candidate to possess specific conceptual skills.
Before crafting your resume, read through the job description carefully. Then, highlight the conceptual skills that the employer requires. Make sure that you include these skills in your resume.
When highlighting a particular skill, don’t simply talk about how it helped you succeed. Discuss how it can add value to the organization.
Tips to Develop Your Conceptual Skills
You can improve your conceptual skills with practice and focus. Take note of these suggestions to improve your conceptual thinking and boost your work performance and dedication:
Look for a Mentor
Find a person who practices conceptual thinking regularly. Observe carefully how this person applies their conceptual skills in their work and ask for guidance as you find unique solutions and connect disparate concepts.
Seek Outside Knowledge
Sometimes, you need to look for outsider information to solve insider problems. Check with companies outside your industry to figure out how they handle challenges. Then, see how you could apply their solutions to fix your company’s problems.
Stay Updated on Industry Trends
Keep informed about the changes in your sector. Discover how leading organizations are innovating their products, services, work processes and other business elements to enhance their operations. Then, think about how you can apply these practices to your work.
If you want to advance your career, you’ll need to work on your conceptual skills. During your free time, make sure that you take steps to improve as many of the soft skills under conceptual skills as possible.
