How to Write a Resume Skills

This article is geared at educating you on how to write a resume skills section. The skills section of a resume normally is supposed to include your abilities that are related to the jobs you are applying for. This section should include a list of skills that are important to the position or career field that you are interested in, like computer skills, software skills, and/or language skills.

How to write a Resume Skills

Customizing Your Resume Skills Section

The skills section of your resume should be customized to match, as much as you can, the requirements listed in the job posting. The closer a match your skills are to the job requirements, the better your chances of being chosen for an interview.

Having a skills section makes it easy for a hiring manager to pinpoint if you have the needed skill required for a position, and is also an easy route you can take to get resume keywords onto your resume.

Now many employers use automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) to scan candidate resumes and these systems are programmed to search for specific keywords.

Note, the more keywords your resume can “match”, the more likely it is that your resume will be chosen for review physically.

An Example of Resume Skills Section

To get an example of a resume with a skills section, download the resume template (compatible with Google Docs and Word Online) for more examples.

Skills

Mastery of Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Experience with QuickBooks and with maintaining office budget.

Proficiency in working with several operating systems, including Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux.

Hard vs Soft Skills

Skill sets normally include both hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are teachable abilities or skills that can be quantified, while soft skills are subjective interpersonal skills (like “communications”,  “leadership” “team-building” or “motivational” skills) which are much harder to quantify.

These two sets of skills may be included on a resume and in cover letters.

Job Specific vs. Transferable

Job-specific skills are those abilities that enable a candidate for employment to excel in a particular job. Some of these skills are attained by attending school or training programs. Others can also be acquired via experience learning on the job.

Note, that job-specific skills vary depending on the position.

Job-specific skills can be contrasted with transferable skills like communication, organization, presentation, teamwork, planning, as well as time management, which are needed in a broad array of jobs.

Transferable skills, on the other hand, are those that you can use in almost every job and both types of skills can be included in a resume.

Skills You Should Not Include in Your Resume

When listing your skills, not every skill you possess needs or should be included in your resume. You should not include skills that you don’t actually have. Leave out obsolete skills.

Also, there’s no need including skills that do not relate to the job at hand.

There, you can now make use of the new knowledge you’ve gained now to make the skills section of your resume thick.

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