Initiative – an Overview

What is Initiative and Why is It Important?

Initiative is the ability to be resourceful and work without always being told what to do. It’s a self-management skill that requires resilience and determination. People who show initiative demonstrate they can think for themselves and take action when necessary. It means using your head, and having the drive to achieve.

When you use your initiative you do things without being asked, solve problems that others may not have noticed needed solving, and go out of your way to continue learning and growing. You do extra research if required, ask questions, and seek help if you need to. It also means doing things for others. Going out of your way to help people shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond, which will impress employers.

Using your initiative makes you a desirable candidate for jobs and opportunities as you are showing you can think for yourself, as well as proving that you will continue to develop and grow in your role. It allows you to get ahead of the competition and ensure you’re up to date with what’s going on in your career sector.

Developing and Demonstrating Initiative.

Have you ever started a project or activity on your own? That’s a great way of developing your initiative – even if things don’t turn out how you expect you can talk about what you learn from the experience. The key thing is that you’re driven to do things, and have the determination to follow through on ideas. Always wanted to write a blog? Sign up to a free blogging site and start one. Interested in another country? Start learning the language so you can travel there one day.

Volunteering at a charity shop or reading with your little sister every week shows initiative as you understand the value of service to others.

Working in a partnership to complete a task or project will prove your initiative – by learning from someone else and contributing your ideas you will both grow.

Becoming a Youth Employment UK Young Professional shows a great deal of initiative! You can supplement this by doing your own research and further learning on the skills and ideas we talk about in the training.

To demonstrate your initiative, you should have a few great examples of things you’ve done to develop it. Remember to use the STARRS model to talk about your experience.