What skills to put on a resume, and how to choose them
The skills on a resume should come from the job posting. List the hard skills you can show (tools, software, equipment, licenses, languages) in a short Skills section, using the posting's own words. Prove soft skills like teamwork in your experience lines instead of listing them. Lists by kind of job are below.
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How to choose: start from the posting
The right skills are the ones this employer asked for and you actually have. Do this for each job:
- Copy the job posting into a note.
- Mark every tool, piece of software, piece of equipment, license and task it names.
- Cross out the ones you cannot honestly claim.
- Use the posting's exact words for the rest. If it says "point of sale", write "point of sale", not "cash register".
- Put the ones the posting mentions first, or most often, at the front of your list.
The same person ends up with a slightly different Skills section for each kind of job. That is the point.
Hard skills and soft skills
| Hard skills | Soft skills | |
|---|---|---|
| What they are | Things you can be tested on | How you work with people and pressure |
| Examples | Excel, forklift certification, Spanish, food safety, QuickBooks, CPR | Teamwork, communication, reliability, patience |
| Where they go | The Skills section, and your experience lines | Your experience lines, as proof |
Anyone can write "great communicator". A line such as "Answered about 60 customer calls a day and resolved billing questions without escalating" shows it. Keep the Skills section for the hard skills.
Skills by kind of job
Starting points. Keep only what is true for you, and add what the posting names.
| Kind of job | Hard skills to list | Soft skills to prove in your lines |
|---|---|---|
| Retail and cashier | Cash handling, point of sale, returns and exchanges, inventory counts, merchandising | Patience with a long line, reliability, upselling |
| Restaurant and food service | Food safety, order taking, POS, food prep, opening and closing duties | Speed under pressure, teamwork during a rush |
| Office and administrative | Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook, scheduling, data entry, filing, phone systems | Organization, accuracy, discretion |
| Customer service and call center | CRM software, ticketing systems, typing speed, a second language | Calm with upset customers, clear explanations |
| Healthcare support, such as medical assistant | CPR and BLS, vital signs, patient intake, electronic health records, medical terminology | Bedside manner, attention to detail |
| Warehouse, trades and driving | Forklift certification, pallet jack, inventory scanners, power tools, a clean driving record, CDL | Safety habits, punctuality, physical stamina |
| Childcare and teaching | First aid and CPR, lesson planning, classroom management, Google Classroom | Patience, communication with parents |
| Tech and data | The languages, tools and platforms you have used: SQL, Python, Excel, Tableau, Git | Explaining technical work to non-technical people |
| Sales and marketing | CRM software, prospecting, social media scheduling, email tools, Google Analytics | Persistence, listening, presenting |
For any job not here, look it up on O*NET OnLine, a free site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. Each occupation lists the skills, knowledge and software it uses, which gives you the words employers in that field use.
Where skills go, and how to write them
A short Skills section, after experience and education for most people, or under the summary if you are a student or changing careers. Group them when you have more than one kind:
For a first job, one line is enough:
Computer skills. Name the programs, not "computer literate" or just "Microsoft Office". If you can do something specific in Excel, say what.
What to put on a resume: the whole page
Skills are one section of several. For most US jobs, a resume holds:
| Section | What goes in it | Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Contact details | Name, phone, email, city and state, a LinkedIn link if you have one | Always |
| Summary | Two or three lines on who you are and what you are after | Optional, useful when changing careers |
| Experience | Jobs, internships, and relevant volunteer work, newest first, each with two to four lines | Always, if you have any |
| Education | School, degree or diploma, graduation date or expected date | Always |
| Skills | The six to ten hard skills that match the posting | Always |
| Extras | Certifications, volunteering, projects, languages, awards | When they fit the job |
Leave off: a photo, your date of birth, marital status, Social Security number, your full street address, and references, which go on a separate sheet. These are the US habits. Other countries differ.
You can build it here by answering one question at a time.
Questions
How many skills should I put on a resume?
Usually six to ten in the Skills section. Enough to cover what the posting asks for and you can do, few enough that each one is believable.
What skills can I put on a resume with no experience?
Skills from school, volunteering, sports and chores count: software you used in class, a language you speak, cash handling at a school fundraiser, childcare from babysitting. Show where you used each one in your experience or activities.
Should I list skills I am still learning?
Only with an honest label, such as "Spanish (basic)" or "Python (coursework)". Leave off anything you could not use on your first day or talk about in an interview.
Should I rate my skills with stars or bars?
No. A bar means nothing to the reader, and hiring software may not read it at all. Write the level in words when it matters, as with languages.
Where do skills go on a resume?
In a Skills section after your experience and education, and in your experience lines where you used them. Students and career changers can move Skills higher, under the summary.
Sources
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