DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS SKILL IN YOUR CV?

Every employer want people who can work under pressure but can you really work in a pressurized environment?

However simple it may seem, I have found out that writing a CV is one of the most difficult things for many graduates, and as a result, many seek help from resource agencies and platforms or friends and senior colleagues.

Due to the ingenuity in this, there are many things included in the CVs that are not true about the individual's personality. One common thing you see in these CVs is the 'ability to work under pressure'. But what does this really mean and do everyone really have 'this' soft skill?

The ability to work under pressure in a simple term means the ability to cope with much work or in a tensed environment/situation. Sadly, not everyone can thrive under pressure. 

The truth is that everyone gets to deal with pressure at some point in life and/or at the workplace. While phlegmatic-oriented personalities are good pressure riders, sanguine-oriented personalities tend to get frustrated when in a tensed environment. However, as there are strengths and weaknesses to every personalities, the ability to work successfully under pressure is not a superior quality for a phlegmatic over other personalities. Understanding your personality is what gives you edge over others. 

The sanguine worker may have little capacity to work under pressure but tends to be proactive and intuitive while at work than the phlegmatic. The melancholic on the other hand, may not like working in a tensed environment, however, has the capacity to meet deadlines just as the ambitious and active choleric-oriented personality. 

According to a recent article by the Forbes Coaching Council, they shared that since stress is unavoidable, it is important to learn how to channel and deal with it in a healthy, productive way. In doing so, you’ll not only survive tough situations, but thrive in spite of them. Do you also need help in handling pressure at work? A good way to start is mastering your goal setting and achieving process. Those who have learned to follow-through and achive their goals under difficult circumstances will have little or no problem in handling pressures in the work place.

Olukotun Gideon Olusola

Lead Coach, Take the Lead Coaching Consult