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Employment ads are employers’ wish lists: We need fast learners, problem solvers and team players. The task for job seekers is to prove themselves to be a perfect match.However, wish lists are sometimes confusing, especially about candidates’ soft skills. Job seekers may have no idea about what “being result-oriented” means. And though they understand the term “team spirit”, they are not sure how to convince HRs they are good team players. We interviewed HRs who decoded four confusing phrases commonly seen in employment ads. The HRs explained the phrases and offered tips in writing resume entries and answering interview questions related to the phrases.

1. Learning ability

A long list of scholarships and prizes in academic competitions in your resume is not convincing enough.

You need to include comparisons with your peers to demonstrate that it’s difficult to achieve a certainscholarship or prize,” said Huang Sibin, HR manager of Procter & Gamble (China).

For example, make it clear that only 20 percent of the students can earn the “third-prize scholarship”

Du Juan, HR partner of northwest and north region of Lenovo China, pointed out that it’s also part of learning ability to review one’s own performance and proactively seek for improvement. So candidates can talk about how they discovered their weaknesses during the course of internship and improved themselves.

2. Handling pressure

HRs are not expecting answers such as “It’s OK for me to work overtime”. Their concern is whether a candidate can stay calm and positive in the face of difficulties and find solutions, according to Du. In job interviews, candidates are often asked to describe the biggest difficulty they have met. The key is to give a detailed description of how you dealt with the problem, according to Wang Xijin, HR/recruitment and training manager of Diebold China. Advice: divide the problem into several tasks that are easier to handle; list possible solutions; analyze the pros and cons of each. In resumes, it’s impossible to give such details. “Candidates can list their multi-tasking experiences or the tasks they had to finish within limited time,” Wang advised.

3. Team spirit

Besides writing about group project experiences in your resume, you can also demonstrate you are apotentially good team player. List interests which rely on teamwork, according to Wang. For example, soccer and basketball involve teamwork. Candidates are often asked in interviews to describe how their teams solved arguments. “It’s important to show that you are open to teammates’ opinions, but it’s also vital that you fasten on your own ideas if you believe in them,” said Du. But Wang reminded students that in HRs’ eyes, a team player agrees with the leader’s decision if the argument can’t be solved by discussion.

4. Being result-oriented

Fresh grads tend to emphasize how enthusiastic they are but HRs expect more than that. Students need to prove their capability to prepare action plans, stay focused and monitor progress to achieve a goal, according to Wang.

A common interview question is: Describe an instance where you set a goal and saw it to completion. When describing the process, candidates need to break down their action plans. More importantly, candidates should show HRs that they are able to evaluate their performance at each stage and adjust the schedule.

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