Speaking of being flexible at work, this is one great addition to your CV. While acquired skills are valued by companies, soft skills are still considered extremely valuable by even the top companies around the world.
Soft skills include leadership, time management, teamwork, and other skills which are believed to be innate.
There are other ways to say you are flexible at work and they may even give your CV a commendable boost.
Meaning of Flexible at work
Flexibility directly refers to the ability of an employee to quickly adapt to new conditions or change positions. It encompasses the idea of working under pressure, being multi-skilled, and being adaptable.
When you are flexible as an employee, you can adapt to a change in the deadline easily. You can also manage your time effectively, and deliver within a specified time range.
When you are flexible as an employee, you have multiple skills which allow you to take on more than one role in a company.
Being equipped with a lot of skills allows you to be able to perform in different sections of the company. For example, you can be employed as a simple writer and equally have marketing and graphic design skills.
Again, being flexible as an employer may mean you can adapt to a sudden change in work situations. An example is a change in deadline. Another one is a change in conditions or style in which your job is required to be done.
15 Ways To Say ‘I’m flexible at work’
- Innovative
- Versatile
- Open-minded
- Collaborative
- Skillful
- Resourceful
- Resilient
- Independent
- Observant
- Adaptable
- Multi-skilled
- Compliant
- Attentive
- All-round
- Functional
Innovative
Here is another very similar word to ‘flexibility’. However, the two words do not mean exactly the same thing. It is also a soft Skill but this may be even better.
When you are putting this in your CV, you must have past works that prove how innovative you really are. You are probably wondering if you are innovative or not.
Innovation has to do with the invention of new things or the upgrade of old things. When you claim to be innovative, you must be talking about the ideas you have singlehandedly thought of and realized.
You may not necessarily have put these ideas to work but you can imagine how impressed your interviewer would be if you brought up an idea that may help the company you are applying for a job in.
Doing this will prove that you are truly forward-looking and innovative. Every company wants to progress. Have the right skills and every company will want you.
Versatile
This is another very similar word to ‘Flexibility’. Maybe not just similar since the two words have the same meaning.
Versatility refers to the ability of a person to do different things. When you are versatile, you have multiple skills which allow you to be able to work in multiple different sections of the company.
When you say this to your interviewer, you must be stating how versatile you truly are by mentioning your skills. Your skills define your versatility.
While being versatile can allow you to get a job due to flexibility, it can also help you get a different position in the company, in case the role you are applying for is taken by someone else.
A person applying for the role of a graphic designer may end up accepting the role of a writer if he/she can function in that position also.
Open-minded
This is a soft skill that is also considered valuable in many companies. It is not very similar to ‘Flexibility’ since it has a totally different meaning. However, there is still a slight similarity between these two skills.
We can say open-mindedness leads to flexibility and adaptability. Being open-minded simply means a person listens to assimilate.
It means a person is very open to learning and understanding. It has to do with studying things and focusing to learn every detail of something.
A person who keeps his or her mind open will be able to learn several skills. He or she will also be able to switch roles in a company after simply watching the process and keeping his or her mind open.
Open-mindedness has to do with paying attention to details. When a colleague can’t work and someone has to fill in, you can easily fill in for him or her if you have an open mind.
All you have to do is watch how the work is done. After studying it, you will learn it and you can keep working till your colleague is back.
Every company loves to have flexible people and open-mindedness is a sign of it.
Collaborative
Collaboration may not seem anywhere close to Flexibility but it actually has a similarity with being flexible.
Asides from being a wanted soft skill, being collaborative can help an employee develop. Instead of competing with fellow workers, you can collaborate and learn from them.
What makes collaboration similar to flexibility? The two skills are similar because it may take flexibility to be able to work in a team and being collaborative can make a person even more flexible.
You can learn more skills and tricks while collaborating. However, it takes a level of discipline and open-mindedness to work together with a team.
When you add this to your CV, you should be ready to explain how you have worked together with teams and the outcome of the projects you worked on.
Skillful
Being skillful makes you flexible so this is probably self-explanatory. However, we have explained that Flexibility goes beyond being simply skillful.
When explaining how flexible you are, you can mention how skillful you are too. Also, you don’t just say you are skillful.
Although you may not be asked to prove all of your acquired skills but you should mention them.
When you have more than one skill that you can verify, you may just be increasing your chances of getting employed in the company.
It will be even more commendable if the skills are connected in a way that you can remain in the role you are applying for while using your other skills to give your job an upgrade.
Instead of letting your interviewer think of this himself or herself, you can put it in his or her head.
Resourceful
Are you a resourceful person? You definitely want to add this to your CV also. Many companies will do greatly with resourceful employees in certain roles.
Resourcefulness refers to the ability to make good use of resources. A resourceful person is someone who can produce a lot out of little.
It refers to the cleverness that it takes to use available resources in the most efficient way possible. Resourceful employees will not waste the company’s funds when told to handle certain projects.
Resourcefulness is similar to flexibility in terms of how adaptable a resourceful person can be.
When there are fewer materials than usual, a resourceful person should be able to adapt to the change and make maximum production with what is available.
Resilient
Resilience is another useful soft skill you can add to your résumé. It is similar to flexibility also.
Resilience refers to the ability of a person to bounce back or recover. It can be interpreted in several ways. A resilient person may be one who is hardworking enough to recover from a long day’s work.
A resilient person may also be one who does not get discouraged easily and can always bounce back from failures.
An organization would definitely want a resilient team leader, rather than an employee who is scared of making losses.
Independent
We all know what independence means. Independence, in this context, refers to the ability of an employee to work perfectly without supervision. This soft skill will definitely do you good sitting in your résumé.
When you say this to your interviewer, you should explain what you mean by independence. Talk about how you can work without supervision.
Talk about how you can think on your feet and make quick decisions. This also entails decision making which is another interesting soft skill on its own.
By pointing out all of these soft skills in you, you will be convincing your interviewer that you can lead a team.
If the role you are applying for has to do with taking on projects and leading teams, this will definitely have you considered.
Observant
This is not a commonly mentioned skill but it is a skill you can mention alongside Flexibility and your other soft skills.
An observant person is one who makes observations. A person who makes observations is meant to be able to learn things by watching and paying attention to details.
Instead of this, you can put ‘Attention to details’ in your CV and open-mindedness. However, while discussing with your interviewer, you can talk about how observant you are.
With good observation skills, you should be a fast learner and a flexible person at work.
Adaptable
Here is another word that is quite similar to flexibility. Adaptation refers to the process of adjusting to new situations. Adaptability refers to the skill of adjusting oneself to one’s environment or situation.
An adaptable person is one who can get used to frequent changes in how a country is run or how jobs are done.
For someone switching from one company to another, he or she has to be ready to adapt to his or her new place of work.
While it may be the same job, the two companies may have different rules on how they want their work to be carried out.
It is like a freelancer who has to work according to the rules of his or her client. The freelancer must be able to work with the conditions given by every client.
Multi-skilled
This is simply another way of saying you are skillful. However, this may be the better way to say it. Instead of putting skillful in your CV, you can put ‘Multi-skilled’.
When you are discussing with your interviewer also, you may want to use this word.
Though it may refer to having multiple skills, Skillful is often used to refer to a level of dexterity in one ability. When you are saying this to your interviewer, mention the skills you have.
You should also say how they can benefit the company or how they can work for the particular role you are applying for.
Compliant
Here is a not-so-reverenced soft skill you can use in supporting your soft skills in adaptability and attentiveness. Compliance refers to submissiveness or the regard for rules or instructions.
When a person is compliant, he or she pays attention to instructions and does exactly as told. He or she also follows the rules of the company strictly.
When discussing in your interview, make sure you use this word when talking about your ability to adapt and attention to details.
Attentive
This soft skill is very useful in some jobs. When working for some clients, you have to pay attention to every instruction given and make sure you are delivering a perfect job.
You may not have to mention this in your interview if the role you are applying for is not one that really needs it.
If you think the job really needs this skill, you can talk about the dangers this skill helps you prevent.
All-round
This is another way of saying you are versatile. This implies that you have developed many skills and can use them effectively. This doesn’t refer to other soft skills.
It refers to acquired skills like Content creation, graphic design, web design, etc.
When you have multiple skills, you may be given two roles in the company, saving the company the cost of getting one more employee and probably getting a little more than the amount budgeted for the role you applied for.
Functional
This refers to something or someone useful. You shouldn’t put this in your CV but you can describe yourself with this word.
When you say you are functional, it means you are being useful in the role you have been put in.