Success Secrets and Stories
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Success Secrets and Stories
Problem-Solving Skills: Your Resume's Secret Weapon
Struggling to make your resume stand out? The secret might be hiding in your problem-solving skills.
In this revealing episode, John and Greg dive deep into how effectively showcasing your problem-solving abilities can transform your job search prospects. Drawing from an insightful article on Indeed.com, we break down exactly what employers are looking for when they scan resumes for solution-oriented candidates.
Problem-solving isn't just one skill—it's a constellation of abilities including critical thinking, communication, adaptability, and technical expertise. We explore how to demonstrate these qualities throughout your resume and cover letter, moving beyond generic statements to provide compelling evidence of your capabilities through specific examples and measurable outcomes.
From research and active listening to adaptability and creative thinking, we examine the full spectrum of problem-solving components employers value across all industries. You'll learn practical strategies for highlighting these skills in your application materials, including how to craft an impactful "elevator speech" that concisely communicates your problem-solving prowess in less than two minutes.
The most successful job candidates don't just claim they can solve problems—they prove it with examples that showcase their process: identifying issues, gathering information, generating solutions, implementing changes, and measuring results. By the end of this episode, you'll have actionable insights to transform your resume from a simple list of past experiences into a powerful demonstration of your value as a solution-driven professional.
Ready to revolutionize your job search approach? Listen now, then put these strategies into action. Have a success story about how highlighting your problem-solving skills helped land you an interview or job? Share it with us at wando75.jw@gmail.com or gpowell374@gmail.com—we'd love to hear from you!
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast Success Secrets and Stories. I'm your host, john Wondoloski, and I'm here with my co-host and friend, greg Powell Greg, hey, everybody. And when we put together this podcast, we wanted to put out a helping hand and help that next generation and help answer the question of what does it mean to be a leader? Today, we want to talk about a subject that I think supports that concept, about a subject that I think supports that concept. So I wanted to talk about something that I thought was kind of an interesting article, that really I saw the video first and I thought the video was really entertaining and it's something that I think you should see. It was on Indeed, and the description is indeedcom backslash advice, backslash resume cover letter and it was written by Jeniker Hereti and it was updated in May 30th of 2025. And she did a wonderful article and I think it's interesting in both her example and what she talked about as far as how to do a resume.
Speaker 2:So let's just start from the beginning. She starts out with problem-solving skills. Show employers that you have the ability to handle challenges, to think critically and to find effective solutions. These abilities are essential for improving business processes, managing tasks and adapting to unexpected situations. Beyond the workplace, strong problem-solving skills can also help you make a better decision and build stronger relationships in everyday life. Developing these skills can set you up apart professionally and support you in terms of successes in other areas of your life. So, in this article that she put together, she wanted to discuss problem-solving skills and provide tips to improve your own skills and to highlight them during your job search. She goes on to say that having the ability to help individuals to identify the root cause of an issue is key, evaluate the potential solutions and implement the most effective one.
Speaker 2:While problem solving is often viewed as a standalone skill, it actually draws on a range of related abilities critical thinking, communication, adaptability, technical expertise. These skills are essential across virtually every profession and career level. For example, a registered nurse might use active listening and clear communication to understand a patient's concerns, while also applying technology, knowledge and medical conditions and treatments, recognizing that when the situation starts to escalate or they need to contact a physician. That's all part of effective decision-making. It ensures the best possible outcome for the patient. So you're looking for these skills in terms of how someone is applying for a job and whether they can demonstrate that, since you have the HR experience, and what would actually interest somebody when they're reading a resume, I thought this was an interesting twist on trying to share that knowledge. Why don't you help out with that description?
Speaker 1:Thanks, john. So we're saying you want to hire a real problem solver. So what should you be looking for in a resume? How to highlight problem solving skills during a job search. That's what we're going to help you with. Demonstrating your problem-solving skills on your resume and cover letter can help employers quickly see the value that you could bring to their team. These skills are especially important for roles in customer service, engineering, management and any position that involves overcoming challenges, making decisions or improving processes. So you want to showcase problem-solving skills on that resume. You can highlight problem-solving abilities in several key areas of your resume, most notably in the skills, achievements and experience sections. So under skills, be specific Instead of listing problem-solving.
Speaker 1:Break it down into more actionable terms that reflect both your technical skills and your soft skills, like data analysis, conflict resolution, decision making or creative thinking. You want to tailor your skills to match the requirements in the job description. Now let's move to experience. In the experience section, use bullet points to describe how you address specific challenges and past roles. We used to call this behavioral interviewing. What did you do to make it work right? Highlight the actions you took and the results you achieved, using measurable outcomes when possible. And then the achievement section. In the achievement section, emphasize standout moments where your problem problem solving skills made a clear impact, very tangible impact. Maybe you got recognized or rewarded. Use language that shows initiative and results.
Speaker 1:Showcasing problem solving skills in a cover letter right, because that's the first thing that the prospective employer is going to see. Your cover letter gives you more room to tell your story, because you're looking for print space right. Choose one compelling example of a time you successfully solved a problem, ideally one that's relevant to the role that you're trying to apply for. Alternatively, reference a challenge mentioned in the job posting or implied by the company's overall goals. Then briefly outline how you would approach solving that problem using your particular expertise. For example, if a company is looking to expand its social media reach, you might mention how you previously grew an Instagram audience by 60% through targeted content strategies and engagement tactics. This shows that you understand the employer's needs and you're already thinking about how to be a solution-oriented team. Member John.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when you're writing a resume and you're trying to make that impact to get past the HR department sorry, greg, but that really is the essence they're looking for people who have those skill sets. And just let's talk about some of the things that she brought up, examples of problem-solving skills. So the first skill she brought up was research, and to solve a problem effectively, you're expected to first identify the root cause, fully understand it, so you can gather the information and research techniques or consult experienced colleagues to expand your knowledge. These are all the kind of things that they're looking for that should be on your resume. Another example of active listening. I think it might be hard to do an example of that, but active listening is typically involving focusing on the speaker, understanding their message, reflecting on what they've had to say and responding thoughtfully, retaining the information for future reference. This can enable you to identify underlying problems and gather important information and understand the different perspectives when addressing an issue. Adaptability, I think, is one of those skill sets that people are looking for within a resume. Adaptability is a valuable skill in terms of problem solving, especially in dynamic work environments where circumstances can shift rapidly. Being adaptable means staying open to change, quickly adjusting your approach when needed and remain effective. Flexible thinkers are more likely to test different strategies and embrace feedback, leading to more resilient, more effective problem-solving processes.
Speaker 2:Analysis is another one of those key steps in terms of what people are looking for in a resume To show that you have the ability to solve problems. That involves strong analytical skills and that can help you understand the issue and develop effective solutions. Next is one of my favorites so being a creative thinker and you can show examples of creative thinking and your ability to look at a problem from new angles and develop innovative, out-of-the-box ideas. These skills support the generation of creative solutions and for me, just to get from her text, I always had the what if? Question, trying to push that piece of what do you think we should do next? Having the ability to be a creative thinker. Individuals and teams can discover alternatives and break through common roadblocks. This process involves brainstorming, mind mapping and simply stepping away from the problem and viewing it from a fresh perspective. Often, the best solutions can be found in creativity is actually combined with the analytical reasoning. Greg, do you have a few more?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, john. Let's jump into decision making. Decision making can be an important aspect of effective problem solving. Depending on your industry experience, you may be able to make quick decisions to solve problems. However, strong research and analytical skills are useful for those who are less experienced in their field. In addition, there may be instances where it may be ideal to take the time needed to develop a thoughtful solution or to escalate the issue to someone with greater expertise, communication skills and, if you can imagine an image where you've got thinking, listening, speaking nonverbal, and those are all balls. They're all interacting. They're all balls, they're all interacting.
Speaker 1:Strong communication skills are essential for every stage of the problem-solving process, whether you're collaborating with a team or discussing the issue with a supervisor. Clear and respectful communication can ensure everyone is aligned and everyone is informed. It enables smoother sharing of insights, identification of root issues and discussion of potential solutions. Listening actively, as John mentioned before, asks clarifying questions and articulates ideas clearly, so you can contribute to better decision-making and help teams reach consensus on the best solutions. Dependability Dependability can be an important skill for effective problem solvers. Timely resolution of issues can be critical in the workplace, and employers may greatly value individuals who can be trusted to identify and implement solutions quickly and efficiently, skill that enhances collaboration within a group, resulting in improved overall performance. This shared focus on overcoming challenges can build trust and help a team to generate innovative solutions more effectively, john.
Speaker 2:The next category is brainstorming. Brainstorming can be an effective problem-solving technique that helps generate ideas and solutions through group discussions. The cooperative approach typically encourages a variety of views and enables members to build their own ideas and discover innovative solutions to their own challenges. Critical thinking challenges Critical thinking, and this in a resume. I think is really important too If you can show examples of when critical thinking was a vital problem solving application for structured or a logical approach to address a challenge.
Speaker 2:It typically begins with accurately identifying a problem, followed by evaluating potential solutions and determining the best course of actions for implementation. This methodology and process ensures that decisions are well-informed, grounded in reason and lead to effective and substantial outcomes in the workplace. So the author came up with a way of trying to define this in terms of how do you apply these skills that they're looking for in a resume and you want to try to show some kind of example, if you're trying to get people to read your resume, that there is actually strategies that are approached in terms of effectively making a change Identifying a problem to define the issues clearly, gather the information by collecting data and input from others, generate possible solutions by brainstorming or other ideas. This is how those solutions start to become reality. Evaluate your options and demonstrate that you had actually engaged others in the process. Choose the best solution and usually, if it's on a resume, you want to make sure that you were the one who made that selection, that you were engaged in making that decision.
Speaker 2:The next part I think is the most important on a resume is to make sure that you show that you've implemented the solution, that you've created an action plan and you've created a solution, that you've created an action plan and you've created a kind of strong teamwork and communication that is necessary to get the results that you're looking for. And there's the magic words at the end results. Did you get the outcome that you were looking for? Did you find a solution? Can you prove it? All those things are what people are looking for. If they're going to be hiring from the outside, which is usually the hardest thing to do, is looking for the talent when it's not in-house and trying to bring in new people. They have these skill sets and especially problem solving is one of the bigger challenges if you're looking for people that have that skill set coming in. People that have that skillset coming in, greg. Any comments as far as resume looking and those kind of important keys that you were looking for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the only thing I would add, John, is make sure you have an elevator speech of some sort in there that would identify your skillset of problem solving.
Speaker 2:You want them to walk away having confidence that you've done this before, you can apply that experience to the new job and that you're ready to roll and an elevator speech for those that aren't familiar with the term is a one-minute or two-minute description of what you would tell the president of a company, while they're sitting in an elevator, before he hits his floor, of who are you and what are you doing. Boom, that's exactly it.
Speaker 2:John, yeah, so hopefully, if this was helpful and it was some help in terms of your resume, you'll like what you've heard. So I wrote a book to help you, at the same time building your leadership toolbox, and that's what we're doing today trying to put things into your toolbox. My book's available at Amazon and Barnes, noble and other websites. The podcast is what you're listening to and thank you. It's also available on Apple and Google and Spotify and others. A lot of what we talk about is really from the MBR program from Dr Gerst. It's available on successgrowthacademycom. If you want to get a hold of me, it's wando75.jw at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:And Greg. I can be reached at gpowell374 at gmailcom.
Speaker 2:And the music has been brought to you by my grandson. So drop us a line, tell us what you think, and the music has been brought to you by my grandson. So drop us a line, tell us what you think, and we do appreciate it. Well, greg, thanks.
Speaker 1:Thanks, John, as always.
Speaker 2:Next time yeah.