Good Skills To Put On a Resume (With Examples)

Skills for resume are as important as your work experience for your chance of getting hired, so when you’re working hard on bringing your resume to the highest standard, make sure not to ignore this part. Today you will learn more about the types of resume skills, how to list them properly, and why exactly this section of your resume is so important.

The Difference Between Hard And Soft Skills

Both hard skills and soft skills have a crucial effect on the success of your resume, but there is a big difference between the two. Hard skills are the skills that can be taught, whether it’s done at school, college, internship, or courses. These are the skills you need to perform a particular job, and normally they cannot be transferred to other industries. For example, a journalist looking to transfer into education won’t have too many relevant hard skills, since those two fields hardly overlap. Another signature quality of hard skills is that they can be measured. The hard resume skills examples include:

• • Project management
  • Engineering
  • Computer programming
  • Teaching

• Data analysis
• Bookkeeping
• Driver’s license
• Foreign languages
• Accounting
• Mathematics

Soft skills include a variety of skills that all have a common trait: they have something to do with your personality. Soft skills can be character traits, social and interpersonal skills, emotional and social intelligence, and others. Mentioning soft skills in your resume will give the prospective employer an idea about what you’re like as a candidate and whether you will fit in at the job you’re applying for. Plus, soft skills complement your hard skills to create a thorough portrait of a candidate.

Since the modern job market is constantly moving towards teamwork, having common soft skills significantly improves your chances of getting hired – employers want their employees to get along and work together well. The examples of soft skills for a resume include:

• Teamwork
• Responsibility
• Interpersonal skills
• Communication
• Integrity
• Flexibility
• Positive outlook

There is also such category of skills as general skills – the ones that every employee is expected to have if they’re applying for a particular position. The general skills include:

• Leadership
• Self-motivation
• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• Computer skills
• Initiative
• Self-management
• Continuous learning

How To Match Your Skills To The Job Description

In order to create the most relevant skill list to the job you’re applying to, simply look at the keywords listed in the job description and your own list of skills, and see where the two overlap. You can also use the achievements section of your resume to further expand on the skills that helped you get those accomplishments: it will show not only that you put a lot of work in creating your resume, but also that you can become a valuable addition to the company.

Which Skills To Include In Your Resume

According to HR managers, they are looking for particular skills when browsing through the applications. Here is a resume skills list that can be used for most positions:

• Communication skills: listening, clarity, verbal and non-verbal communication
• Leadership skills: flexibility, feedback, commitment, responsibility
• Organization skills: time management, planning, delegation
• Social skills: patience, teamwork, empathy
• Computer skills: Microsoft Office, web skills, data analytics
• Life skills: resilience, adaptability, problem solving, handling of criticism

How To List Skills On A Resume

As one of the most important parts of a resume, the list of your skills should occupy an appropriately important place – right at the top of your resume below the header and before the work experience. In case you are using a two-column format for your resume, place the work experience on the left and your skills on the right.

Sample List Of Skills For A Resume

Technical Skills

Google AdWords, Facebook and Instagram for business, Google Analytics, Hubspot Sales, Typeform, Microsoft Office suit, online communication.

Soft Skills

Teamwork, time management, problem solving, adaptability, listening.