Article
3 min read
Author
Gabriele Culot
Published
March 01, 2023
Last Update
July 08, 2024
Table of Contents
Hard skills
Soft skills
Skill-listing best practices
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While crafting an effective resume is an art that requires a lot of fine-tuning and customization depending on who you are sending it to, no amount of tweaking and polishing will carry results if you overlook the most essential part of your resume: your skills.
Knowing what skills you should add to your resume is a skill in itself, and in this post, we will give you some tips to help you structure the best resume, dazzle hiring managers, and ace the job interview for that job application you set your heart on.
So let’s look at the right skills to add to your resume skills section. A common distinction between types of skills is between hard and soft.
Hard skills are objective and measurable. They can be obtained through education or experience and are often what a recruiter will look at first. Good examples of hard skills can include:
Knowledge of a language
A degree or certification
Experience with specific software or hardware
Technical skills
What hard skills you should add to your resume depends a lot on what your professional profile is and what roles you are applying to. However, here are some examples, grouped by job type:
Programming languages:
Syntax and semantics
Logic and algorithms
Object-oriented programming
Functional programming
Data structures
Integrated development environments (IDEs)
Debugging and troubleshooting
Software testing
Version control
Web development:
HTML
CSS
JavaScript
Front-end frameworks (e.g., React, Angular, Vue)
Back-end frameworks (e.g., Node.js, Django, Ruby on Rails)
Web servers and hosting
User experience (UX) design
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Responsive design
Data analysis:
SQL
R
Excel
Statistical analysis
Data visualization
Machine learning
Data modeling
Data cleaning and preprocessing
Big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Hive)
Graphic design:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Typography
Layout and composition
Color theory
Design software and tools
Digital media design
Print design
Project management:
Agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban)
Waterfall methodologies
Project planning and scheduling
Risk management
Budgeting and resource allocation
Stakeholder management
Communication and reporting
Quality assurance
Change management
Accounting and finance:
QuickBooks
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
Financial modeling
Financial analysis
Auditing
Tax preparation
Bookkeeping
Risk management
Investment analysis
Marketing skills
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
Email marketing
Web analytics
Marketing automation
Content marketing
Social media marketing
Graphic design
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Keep in mind that many of these are transferable skills that can be useful in multiple different roles or departments. So while CRM might be an important skill within marketing, it’s equally relevant as a one of the core customer service skills.
Soft skills mostly describe how you communicate and interact with people. Unlike hard skills, these are often traits of your personality. While they can be learned and trained, there is usually no certification for them. It’s also challenging to objectively assess them.
Still, soft skills (also sometimes called people skills) can be critical in the decision to hire one candidate over another and can heavily influence team dynamics and company culture, so you shouldn’t overlook their importance.
Examples of soft skills include:
Communication skills
Verbal communication
Written communication
Active listening
Nonverbal communication
Presentation skills
Negotiation skills
Persuasion skills
Interpersonal communication
Leadership skills
Decision-making
Delegation
Motivation
Coaching and mentoring
Goal-setting
Conflict resolution
Strategic thinking
Accountability
Inspiring and influencing others
Time management skills
Prioritization
Task delegation
Meeting deadlines
Planning and scheduling
Time tracking and analysis
Managing interruptions and distractions
Setting boundaries
Work-life balance
Problem-solving skills
Critical thinking
Analytical reasoning
Creative thinking
Innovative solutions
Logical reasoning
Research and analysis
Risk assessment
Troubleshooting
Adaptability skills
Flexibility
Resilience
Ability to learn quickly
Agility
Open-mindedness
Teachability
Comfort with ambiguity
Creativity
Resourcefulness
Teamwork skills
Collaboration
Active participation
Building relationships
Conflict resolution
Positive attitude
Empathy
Trust
Dependability
Accountability
Interpersonal skills
Empathy
Emotional intelligence
Networking
Conflict resolution
Relationship-building
Active listening
Self-awareness
Social awareness
Cultural competence
This list of skills, though not comprehensive, will be a good starting point to get you questioning which ones represent you best and how you can leverage them to boost your professional profile. Once you know what makes your profile unique, you can focus on designing a resume that stands out and makes your key skills shine even brighter.
How you choose to balance and prioritize these skills depends mainly on your role, the specific job you are applying to, and the career path you want to take. Some soft skills, for example, may be less relevant if your job doesn’t require much interaction with customers and coworkers, but teamwork and leadership skills may become more critical if you need to manage a team or negotiations.
It can be tempting, especially in your first interactions with the job market, to turn every little experience into a “skill” and add it to an ever-increasing list you submit with your resume. However, not being selective with the skill sets you include has the effect of drowning out the more valuable selling points in your resume, as recruiters will not have the time, or will, to read through a giant list.
The more detailed you can be about your relevant skills, the better. There is a considerable difference in listing “Effective communication” as opposed to “Public speaking”. The former can mean many different things to different people and do not provide any information, while the latter two immediately show how you could add value to the team.
Don’t say “Computer skills“, say “Powerpoint“ or “HTML“.
Don’t say “Writing skills“, say “B2B writing“, or “Social media content writing“, or “Long-form writing“.
An effective resume should be brief and concise while communicating as much information as possible. Avoid repetition, and ensure each point you make in your resume is unique and valuable.
Your resume should be a living and evolving document, and you should always take the time to include the best skills for the role you are applying to and remove ones that may not be relevant. As mentioned above, a recruiter’s time is limited, and they might read hundreds of applications, so make sure your resume is to-the-point.
Looking at job descriptions and analyzing their wording and structure can help you pinpoint the top skills you should focus on in your resume. It’s also a great way to monitor how hiring requirements and preferences evolve over time, and adapt accordingly.
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