While everyone may have a different skill set that contributes to their success, people with well-established initiative skills typically do well at work and may have a higher chance of getting promotions. Simply put, initiative is the ability to take action without being told what to do. Understanding how to develop and highlight your initiative skills can help you impress employers and get a job.In this article, we discuss the definition of initiative skills, examples of these skills, how you can improve them and how to highlight your initiative during the application and hiring process.

What are initiative skills?

Initiative skills refer to your ability to assess a situation and take action without direction from someone else. Initiative is a self-management skill and purposeful self-management can help you set goals independently and direct the trajectory of your career. Various skills can contribute to your ability to take initiative in the workplace but many of them involve thinking critically and quickly to decide the best course of action and taking that action with confidence.

Self-management

When you practice self-management, it means you can take care of yourself, meet work quotas and realize when you need help. This skill helps you take initiative because it helps you be independent and a self-starter, which may lead to you taking action to improve your performance or help your company. You may use self-management skills when you work through and learn from a challenge instead of waiting for someone else to fix it for you.

Decisiveness

Employers expect decisiveness from people who take initiative because they want you to be positive about your decisions and to take action without hesitation. Often, being decisive helps you make effective decisions quickly, which gives you the opportunity to take initiative sooner than someone else. This makes you dependable for quick, successful solutions in the workplace, which employers typically appreciate. You can show decisiveness by understanding a situation and providing a decision quickly rather than letting a colleague take initiative.

Problem-solving

Solving problems efficiently is an important part of taking initiative in the workplace. To take initiative, you may need to create solutions to problems with little information, but this can help you take action before others and overcome obstacles that are affecting your employer. Problem-solving skills also allow you to overcome challenges on your own, which saves time for your colleagues and improves your knowledge, productivity and reputation. One way to use problem-solving skills at work is by creating helpful solutions to problems that come up in meetings with your team.

Professionalism

Staying professional helps you take initiative in respectful, work-appropriate ways. Professionalism is a skill that you may strengthen as you work, but it involves following workplace rules and regulations, maintaining friendly and proper relationships with your coworkers and completing your work to company standards. Since taking initiative often means stepping up to overcome a challenge before others, it’s important to remain professional and kind to your colleagues and consider their opinions.

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