Skills for Resume

Skills for Resume (with Examples)

Many people think that a resume is a one-off thing. You can put in all the effort at once and can then sit back and apply at any job you see. Let us correct. The job market is all about adapting and surviving. A few years back, you may have got what you wanted with a standard resume. But with the recent financial situations post-lockdown, job opportunities are narrowing down more than you think. It’s a fierce competition out there. To find the perfect job, you have to tailor your resume with what your employer is looking for.

“About 63% of recruiters want to receive tailored resumes, made specific to the job they’re applying for.”

Skills are what most employers look for, when they need to separate the good ones. For you, they may only be words. But for the employer, your skills represent your personality. It is important for you to figure out your skills and present them in an organic fashion. For example, most of the employers nowadays look for adaptability in applicants. They need to know how comfortable you are, working from home. So, it’ll help your chances, if you mention your computer skills in the resume. They’ll give the employer an impression that you know what you’re doing.

What Skills Should I List on My Resume?

This is the question where a lot of people struggle; what skills should I list on my resume? All the other components of a resume are comparatively simple. You just have to enter the facts and experiences. But when it comes to skills, there is no one who can give you the right answer, except yourself. Many people don’t know what are professional skills. So, they cannot evaluate themselves without knowing about the factors.

This is the point where we’ll start. By answering the following question; what are top 3 skills required for a good resume?

• Communication Skills
• Problem Solving Skills
• Organizational Skills

These three types of skills are the most common and preferred skills. But this doesn’t mean that the list ends. The skills we see most of the time are mostly derivatives of these types.

For example, public speaking and marketing generally falls under communication skills. Critical thinking may pass on as a problem-solving skill. And time management can qualify as an organization skill. But even with this linked structure, we still have more to see. But for that, we need to know what are soft skills and what are hard skills.

What Are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are also known as “people skills”. It is more intact with your personality. And represents your communication, body language, and confidence. In today’s world, it is an important element no matter where you go. You should be able to carry yourself through an interview. It doesn’t matter how talented and skilled you are, unless you can present yourself to a group of people.

Some top soft skills examples are:

• Communication
• Time Management
• Leadership
• Adaptability
• Conflict Management
• Collaboration
• Self-Awareness
• Flexibility
• Creative Thinking
• roblem Handling

What Are Hard Skills?

Hard skills are also known as “technical skills”. They are not subjected to a specified ethic and can vary greatly in relevance to the type of job you’re applying for. These office skills tell the recruiter whether you’re a good fit for the job or not. You can’t apply for the opening of an html developer without having any experience in it. Hard skills are normally indicated in the job description itself. And you can straightaway tell if you’re the right person for the job or not.

Some top hard skills examples are:

• Microsoft Office
• Data Entry
• Computer Skills
• Product Analysis
• Project Management
• Machine Learning
• Report Writing
• Programming Languages
• CAD Software
• Design & Testing

How to Identify Your Best Skills?

After learning the difference between soft and hard skills, it is important to learn their implementation as well. Managers generally prefer a candidate that comes out as a blend of both sections. So, try to keep both hard skills and soft skills, in equal ratio on your resume. Further, if you’re having trouble knowing what skill suits you best, follow the below-mentioned steps:

• Create a list about your strengths
• Mark the points on the list, that may relate to any top skill
• Ask your friends or co-workers, what they think about that list
• Take their recommendations into account
• Go through your honors and achievements
• Relate those achievements with your list of skills
• Finally, read the job description you’re applying for
• Look out for specific job keywords
• Highlight those keywords
• Compare them with your past achievements
• Search for technical skills, related to the job
• Create a finalized list of skills
• Proof-read them
• Update them regularly, in relevance to the job you’re applying

With the recent advancements in the job hiring sector, resumes are now screened through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This system scans and filters your resume, targeting basic keywords and information. To pass through this, you’ll have to make sure that you go into the details. For example, if a hiring manager has mentioned the need for a CAD expert with proficiency in SolidWorks. You should mention your expertise in SolidWorks. This way, the computerized system will be able to shortlist your resume for further review.

Why is Listing the Right Skills Important?

Resume building is not about anything that’s in trend. It is a personal document that must reflect you and you alone. By now, you should know what skills should be listed and what skills should not be listed on a resume.

According to a research,

An average recruiter looks at your resume attentively for 7 seconds.

Your goal is to make the most of these 7 seconds. If you play your cards right, you could easily take up more of his time and increase your chances of being called for an interview. Some recruiters pay detailed attention to the skills section. This is because this section indicates how serious and to-the-point you are. If you decide to go with the regulars, he may just ignore it like the bundle of resumes before you. But if you stay honest to the cause and mention skills that you can actually accredit through your experiences, you may eventually succeed at standing out.

If you look at a job description closely, you’ll be able to make a skeleton of what the company demands. Try to imagine yourself in those shoes and ask yourself if you are the right person for the job. If your answer is yes, then making edits to the resume won’t even be that hard. You’ll not have to think too much just to fit into the role.

How to Present Your Skills in the Resume?

Until now, you’ve established the importance of the right skills and finalized a skill set that you’ll be using most often. But, how do you connect those skills with the rest of the resume? Many recruiters feel that candidates lie on the skill section of their resume. And that is often the case. Your resume should in no way, lead to anything else than an organic report. To support your claims about your skills, you should be ready to link the rest of your resume to them.

According to research,

78% of applicants stretch the truth about themselves in a resume.

Below are some of the top skills, along with an example of how to accredit them through your own resume:

1.Communication

If you’ve included Communication as your prime soft skill, you need to tailor the rest of the resume according to it as well. We don’t recommend using keywords too many times. But you should at least touch the base. Look out for your past experiences and include some points that may highlight how you utilized your communication skills there.

For example, you can include the following under your achievements:

• Got the best salesmen of the year award.
• Hosted a seminar that increased workplace communication by 13%.

2.Leadership

Leadership is one of the most common skill. But it has been used to such an extent that it has lost its worth. You need to assert your leadership skills with relevant projects and experiences.

For example, you can include the following under your work experiences:

• Led the renovated HR project and delivered results while saving about 16% of the expenses.
• Organized a task force to identify and eradicate factors affecting the quality of the product, thereby bringing defective products down to 0.03%.

MS Office

MS Office is a technical skill, that is a must-have no matter what job you’re applying for. But even then, it does not describe how proficient you are in its branched-out software. You have to be more specific in terms of your knowledge and interest. It’ll help the recruiter know what you’re talking about.

For example, you can include the following:

• Increased productivity about 29% by transferring all records on spreadsheets.
• Kept track of all activities by writing technical reports for all projects.

Conclusion

Concluding all the information, remember to always be honest about your experiences. Instead of filling out lies and words, share what you’ve actually gone through. It’s hard to trust and back yourself in such a process. But it’s only right that you do. Once you’re committed about representing yourself, you’ll be able to write the perfect resume connecting all the skills you’ve mentioned. Try being yourself all along.