The skills section of your resume is there to show employers you have the abilities required to succeed in the prospective role. Mostly, employers pay attention meticulously to the skills section of your resume to decide if you should be moved to the next phase of the hiring process. In this article, we’d expose to you 10 important skills to include on a resume.
Top 10 skills for resumes
Some vital skills to cover on a resume include:
- Communication
- Active listening
- Computer skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Customer service
- Leadership
- Management skills
- Time management
- Problem-solving
- Transferable skills
Hard skills vs. soft skills
Employers are always on the lookout for potential employees who have the right mix of two different types of skills, which are: soft skills and hard skills.
Hard skills refer to the abilities specific to the prospective job and/or industry. Basically, these skills are more technical and are those skills taught in schools, certification programs, training materials or experience on the job. Hard skills can include proficiency in things like:
- Software
- Foreign languages
- Operating certain equipment or machinery
Soft skills, on the other hand, refer to the abilities that can be applied in any job. Mostly, soft skills are referred to as “people skills” or “social skills” and it includes proficiency in things like:
- Communication
- Leadership
- Customer service
- Time management
- Problem-solving
Hard skills are predominantly teachable while soft skills take much more effort to develop and this is because they are typically personality traits and, therefore, immensely valuable to employers. In many cases, your soft skills enhance your hard skills. For example, if you’re a detail-oriented app developer skilled in a programming language, you’ll likely be able to spot errors and correct them in the code you and your team create.
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As a candidate, it’s important to accentuate your best soft and hard skills to properly position yourself as a balanced candidate. It’d be immensely beneficial to consider how the two sets of skills relate to the job.
How to identify your best skills
If you’re unsure of which skills to share, then you’ve to consider your previous experiences, where you excelled, where would your peers say you’re especially practiced, those are a few ways to find good skills to put on a resume:
Consider your awards and achievements
If you ever received any recognition for meeting a particular objective or excelling in a specific area, then your skills most likely aided you in reaching this achievement. Consider what talents or attributes aided you in meeting that milestone.
Ask former coworkers or fellow students
On some occasions, others can help you identify strengths you may not recognize yourself. So feel free to reach out to a former manager or colleague who closely worked with you. If you’re a newbie in the professional world, reach out to students you collaborated with, teachers who knew you well, or someone you consider a mentor.
Talk to professionals in the field
If you’re facing difficulties with determining what skills an employer may want to see, consider the option of contacting a professional already working in the industry or position similar to the prospective job. Enquire about the skills they consider paramount and identify which of those aligns with yours.
When creating the list of skills for your resume, exclusively include those you know to be your strength. If you’re still learning something or not proficient enough, don’t feel pressured to include it because it appeared on the job listing. If a skill is mentioned during the course of the interview that you didn’t include, you can talk about how you’re working to learn or improve for the role.
How to list skills on your resume
Review the job description and research the company
Although you might possess several areas of strength, only include those that are relevant to the job. As stated earlier recruiters often have little time when reviewing resumes, so it’s best to keep your skills section concise. Then if you scale through to the interview phase, you’ll then have ample opportunity to elaborate on additional skills not mentioned on your resume.
Start by reviewing the job description and noting down any required skills or abilities that match yours. In inclusion to the job requirements, consider the nature of the company and its culture.
For example, a job description for a medical assistant may require proficiency in electronic medical records software and scheduling programs. It might also state that the company values teamwork and client satisfaction. In such case, the best skills to put on the resume should include the following:
- Customer service
- Team leadership
- Electronic medical records systems
- Patient scheduling software
- Interpersonal communication
If you don’t see any clues about company culture listed in the job description, check the employer’s website for additional information.
Decide on a skills section format
There are several options open to you when deciding where you should list skills on your resume:
- Listing your skills on a functional resume.
- Listing your skills in a separate skills section.
- Weaving your skills into your professional experience section.
