The Most Important Curiosity Skills (With Examples)

Curiosity is one of those workplace skills most people don’t think about, until it’s sorely needed. While you might imagine the perfect employee someone already in possession of all the skills and knowledge in their industry, the reality is that the successful professionals are often the people who consistently demonstrate curiosity and a willingness to learn more. Curiosity drives a person towards always improving themselves, their work, and learning more about their field.

If you’re a job seeker who wants to explore your curious side, you’re in luck. This article will cover how to demonstrate curiosity in the workplace, and provide you with valuable examples of curiosity in the workplace you can use on your next job hunt.

Key Takeaways:

• Being curious can help your career by gaining more knowledge to strengthen your skills that you already have.

• Asking more questions at work and trying to learn new things at work can help you be more curious about your job.

• A way to include curiosity in your resume is to add a section about your hobbies and interests that relate to the job.

What is curiosity?

Curiosity is defined as the desire for learning more. This urge to attain more knowledge grows organically from a person and is not the result of hoping to gain some type of reward. They’re just genuinely interested in the subject matter at hand.

To better understand what counts as being curious, and what doesn’t, consider the example of a college student.

The work that they’re doing for the classes on their schedule isn’t born from curiosity because they’re completing the tasks for the reason of receiving a grade, and eventually graduating. However, the additional books they read in their spare time about a lecture topic that especially interested them is considered an act of curiosity.

Curiosity is a mindset of embracing knowledge, which can be developed to boost success in your career.

Ways curiosity can help your career

Curiosity skills can help your career in many ways. Companies dread the realization that they’ve brought an employee on their team who simply comes in to cash a paycheck. While this type of individual might cruise by undetected for a bit, their professional stagnation will eventually be noticed. That’s why employers look for curious candidates when they’re hiring for an open position.

Getting hired is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to positive aspects of curiosity in your professional life. Below are a few more examples of the ways curiosity can help your career.

1. More knowledge strengthens your work skills. Curious people are constantly seeking more knowledge about every facet of their careers. This inadvertently strengthens their professional skills and makes them better employees.

   Once a supervisor notices this habit of constantly improving performance, you’ll be in line for more leadership opportunities.

2. It inspires innovative ideas. Since curiosity leads to being a walking bank of knowledge, there’s a likely chance that you’ll also have strong creative thinking and innovative ideas. Taking these concepts to your job could result in making the company more efficient, jump-starting a new project, or making another sort of positive impact.

3. Your learning capabilities improve. After getting into the flow of being curious and constantly taking in more knowledge, you’ll eventually start to sharpen your learning skills altogether.

   The ability to learn information is a skill just like any other. Improving upon it can have excellent outcomes for your work performance, creative thinking skills, and knowledge retention.

4. You’ll have more fun at work. Being curious at work means that you can have more fun. Being interested in the things around you and about what your coworkers do can help you from landing in a cycle of doing the same thing everyday.

   This is also a great way to get to know more about your industry and get to know your coworkers better.

How to demonstrate curiosity in the workplace

Demonstrating curiosity in the workplace is all about interest and being willing to pay attention. While many people are naturally curious about subjects that interest them, the mindset can be fostered in other ways. Start by reading through the following tips for being more curious at work.

1. Ask lots of questions. Think about how many of the questions that run through your inner monologue are vocalized out loud. If you only make your questions known about half the time, kick that average up to 95%.

   Ask every question that comes to you without the fear that it’ll be received as stupid. You may be surprised at the wonders that asking questions can do for your curiosity.

2. Listen to your co-workers and supervisors. There are dozens of brilliant insights you could be overlooking from your co-workers and supervisors. If you want to enhance your curious mind start listening more to the people in your professional circle. They could spark interests or prompt research into areas that you never even thought of before.

3. Try to learn something new. The easiest way to get more acquainted with curiosity is by altering your mindset about learning. Start viewing the pursuit of knowledge as an enjoyable and fun activity, that also happens to better you as a person. Once you change the way you look at learning, your curiosity has the space to bloom.

4. Read more books. Within the pages of a book, there’s a whole world of information and knowledge. A simple way to enhance your curiosity and knowledge is by picking up a new book and spending an afternoon of your free time with it. You might be surprised at how much knowledge you can absorb from reading.

5. Analyze the world around you. Part of being a curious person, and employee, is not taking the world around you at face value. This means that you don’t just accept things the way they are, you analyze the situation.

   Thinking analytically about your professional and personal environment can help promote curious thinking about how things could be improved.

6. Follow your interests. A great way to show your curiosity is to follow your interests. When something interests you, try to explore it more and see where it takes you. Not everything at work will peak your interest, but the topics that do, capitalize on that feeling. It can help show your employer that you are not afraid of taking on new tasks and learning new things.

Tips for demonstrating curiosity on a resume

Is curiosity a skill you should add on your resume? Yes!

If you’re wondering how you can demonstrate this quality on your resume, Look no further. Below are three helpful tips for displaying your curiosity on a resume.

1. Use alternative forms of pointing out curiosity in a resume skills section. You can simply state that you’re a curious person in your resume, but it comes off as a little bit childish. As an alternative, use more professional phrases that convey the same thirst for knowledge in the skills section of your resume.

   Instead of listing curiosity as a skill, use:

   • Willingness to learn

   • Always seeking improvement

   • Adaptability

   • Inquisitive

2. Include a section about your interests and hobbies. Since curiosity often has to do with an employee’s outside interests and willingness to learn about them, this can be a great way to demonstrate this quality on your resume.

   Simply add a section about your hobbies and interests to demonstrate your curious mind. However, make sure these activities are work-appropriate. You don’t want to list your passion for sports betting as a hobby on your resume.

3. Mention any additional certifications you have. Most professional positions have a certain level of education they require, but having additional certifications can make you stand out as a curious applicant. Going out of your way to earning extra skill certificates to your repertoire shows a distinct curiosity and determination to learn more.

Example resume demonstrating curiosity

Examples of being curious at work can be crucial for your resume, especially if you’re applying for a position that you’ve never done before, or one that rewards innovation. For a specific example of curiosity skills on a resume, read below:

Common interview questions to measure a candidate’s curiosity

Curiosity skills can be difficult to measure by reading their resume alone. A hiring manager has to speak with them face-to-face to evaluate their potential as an employee and their curiosity. When you go in for an interview, expect to receive some questions that test your curiosity. Below are a few examples.

1. What do you like to do for fun?

   Similar to how you can showcase curiosity on a resume by including information about your hobbies, a hiring manager might ask you what you like to do for fun to gather insight. Your response shows them the activities you care about and how you put effort into them.

2. When was the last time you learned something new?

   This question puts a lot of candidates on the spot by asking them to recall the last new thing they learned. An interviewer asks it to assess an applicant’s curiosity and drive to improve themselves.

   Choose a piece of knowledge or skill that is somewhat relevant to the job, but not directly required.

3. Have you taught yourself any skills?

   Being self-taught in a skill demonstrates a massive amount of curiosity and determination.

   Nobody told you to do it or even helped you in accomplishing the knowledge, which paints you as independently curious. When answering ‘yes’ to this question follow it up with an explanation of the skill and how you taught yourself.

Curiosity skills FAQ

1. How do you demonstrate curiosity in the workplace?

   Demonstrating curiosity in the workplace is all about how you listen and learn. More specifically, here are the top ways you can demonstrate curiosity in the workplace:

   • Ask lots of questions

   • Listen to your co-workers and supervisors

   • Try to learn something new

   • Read more books

   • Analyze the world around you

   • Follow your interests

2. Why is curiosity important in a team?

   Curiosity is important in a team because it breeds innovation and problem-solving. More often than not, teams can fall into the trap of groupthink and the bystander effect. When teams are stuck in their ways or avoid taking responsibility, this can damage the company as a whole.

   On the other hand, curious workers will often be eager to innovate, try new ideas, and solve problems with creative solutions. Often, creative workers can also inspire other workers with their ideas as well, which prevents stagnation within the group.

Author

Sky Ariella

Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.