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30 Good Skills to Put on a Resume
Every job opening is unique — the best skills to list on your resume depends on what is advertised in the job description. However, most hiring managers are looking for a combination of hard, technical and soft skills to gauge whether you’re a strong candidate for an open job. Read on for our top picks!
Hard skills to add to resumes
Hard skills are quantifiable and tangible, including writing skills, language ability, design and marketing. They are necessary to perform your work-related duties. Companies require hard skills to demonstrate your ability to perform job duties effectively.
Top-10 hard skills examples:
Technical job skills for a resume
Technical skills are highly specialized hard skills you develop while working on specialized, job-related tasks in industries like IT, math and science. For instance, your technical skills as an electronic engineering specialist could include circuit design, data collection and analysis, and C++ programming language
Top-10 technical skills for a resume:
Soft skills to put on a resume
Soft skills describe your character and personality traits. These social skills tell how well you listen, communicate and interact with your coworkers and associates and how you manage your work. They can include your attitude, ethics, collaborative potential and problem-solving skills.
Sharing these resume skills can help hiring managers decide if you’re a good fit for an existing team or workspace. We carefully researched the most commonly requested soft skills below.
Top-10 soft skills to list on resumes:
Resume Skills Examples by Industry
We covered how to spot resume skills and those most requested, but every industry is unique! Check out our list of skills to put on resumes for popular industries and jobs.
Administrative resume skills and job descriptions
- Organization
- Teamwork
- Customer service
- Responsibility
- Time management
- Multitasking
- Communication skills
- Database management
- Enterprise resource planning
- Social media management
- Filing
- Record-keeping
- QuickBooks
- Spreadsheets
- Word processing
Bartender skills examples and job descriptions
- Accuracy
- Attention to detail
- Dependability
- Detail-oriented
- Inventory management
- Multitasking
- Friendly
- Energetic
- Engaging
- Guest services
- Hospitality
- Integrity
- Mixology
- Drink list planning
- Food and beverage purchasing
- Hygiene and health code compliance
- Bar operations management
- Private events
Child care skills examples and job descriptions
- Creative thinking
- Communication skills
- Analytical skills
- Organizational skills
- Patience
- Physical stamina
- Excellent interpersonal
- Age-appropriate communication
- Flexible
- Decision making
- Confidentiality
- Compassionate
- Entertainer
- Safety awareness
- Behavioral techniques
- Problem-solving skills
- Basic information technology skills
- Oral literacy
- Learning skills
- Self-management skills
Computer hardware skills and job descriptions
- Linux
- Windows
- Networking
- HTML
- Javascript
- Microsoft Office
- Troubleshooting
- Cloud management
- Network configuration
- WAN/LAN
- Technical support and troubleshooting
- Network security
- Hardware development, analysis and testing
- Desktop management interface
- Software
- Firmware
- Python
- Design verification
- C++
- Designed schematic diagram
Computer software skills and job descriptions
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- G Suite for Business
- Email management
- Information management
- Data entry
- Digital calendars (Google, Outlook, etc.)
- File-sharing programs (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
- Video conferencing
- Cloud backup software (Dropbox Pro, Carbonite, etc.)
- Social media management
- Project management software (Asana, Jira, etc.)
- Automation software
- Software programming
- Access
- Excel
- Outlook
- Powerpoint
- Word
Copywriting skills and job descriptions
- Copywriting
- Copy editing
- Researching and interviewing
- Strong writing skills
- Communication skills
- Technical skills
- Creative thinking
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Marketing expertise
- Digital marketing skills
- Email marketing
- Business skills
- Storytelling
- Certified Professional Technical Communicator
Culinary resume skills and job descriptions
- Detail-oriented
- Cleanliness
- Creativity
- Culinary expertise
- Fast-paced decision-making
- Kitchen management
- Menu creation
- Food safety
- Presentation
- Food quality
- Cost control
- Attentiveness
- Business management
- Knife skills
- Vegetable sanitation
Customer service skills and job descriptions
- Stress management
- Interpersonal skills
- Empathy
- Communication skills
- Product knowledge
- Problem-solving skills
- Patience
- Positive attitude
- Positive language
- Listening skills
- Personal responsibility
- Confidence
- Tenacity
- Proactive
Engineering skills and job descriptions
- Structural analysis
- Problem-solving
- Computer science
- Industry skills
- Pressure management
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- Drafting
- Mathematics
- Computing
- Welding
- Construction
- Communication
- Attention to detail
- Data modeling
Entertainment skills and job descriptions
- Attention to detail
- Planning
- Commitment
- Stamina
- Screen presence
- Persuasiveness
- Knowledge of industry trends
- Stage presence
- Filming
- Audience engagement
- Creative vision
- Editing
- Follows instructions
- Problem-solving
- Meeting deadlines
- Screenwriting
- Playwriting
- AV effects
- Light engineering
- Sound engineering
- Shot location
- Production
- Project fundraising
- Audience participation
- Crowd-pleasing
- Commercial production
- Filmmaking
- Crew management
- Editing coordination
Executive skills and job descriptions
- Strategic thinking and foresight
- Decision making
- Delegation
- Customer service
- Business development
- Financial skills
- Emotional intelligence
- Senior leadership skills
- Communication and presentation skills
- Change management skills
- Subject-matter expertise
- Employee development
- Logistics
- Emotional control
- Proactivity
Food service skills and job descriptions
- Strong verbal communication
- Listening
- Customer service
- Interpersonal skills
- Friendly
- Energetic
- Positive
- Outgoing
- Team player
- Multitasking
- Time management
- Self-motivation skills
- Math skills
- Food safety
- Food and beverage best practices
Graphic and web design skills examples and job descriptions
- Composition
- Content management systems (CMS)
- Software for design
- Responsive design
- User experience (UX)
- User interface (UI)
- Graphic design
- Photo editing
- Discipline
- Copywriting
- Business strategy
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Attention to detail
- Emergence
- Reification
- Typography
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Adobe Flash
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Critical thinking
- Deadline management
- Design strategy
- Organizational skills
- Multitasking
- Prioritizing
- Problem-solving
- Flexibility
Health care skills and job descriptions
- Detail-oriented
- Interpersonal skills
- Leadership skills
- Critical thinking
- Active listening
- Coordination
- Judgment and decision making
- Quality assurance and control
- Customer billing and coding
- Budgeting
- Staff management
- Project management
- Research skills
- Problem-solving
- Compliance
- Database
- Primary care
- Business administration
- Data entry
- Medical equipment
- Pharmaceutical
- Medical record and documentation
- Prior authorization
- Medical terminology
Media and communication skills and job descriptions
- Active listener
- Body language
- Emotional intelligence
- Empathy
- Respect
- Written communication
- Nonverbal communication
- Relationship building
- Public speaking
- Web communications
- Clarity
- Summarizing skills
- Improvisational skills
- Friendliness
- Confidence
- Emotional control
- Reading body language
- Positive eye contact
- Teamwork
- Persuasion skills
Marketing skills examples and job descriptions
- Data entry
- Computer skills
- Multitasking
- Communication skills
- Analytical thinking
- People management
- Business knowledge
- Leadership
- Budgeting
- Communication
- Hiring
- Interpersonal
- Conceptual thinking
- Finance
- Time management
- Conflict resolution
- Office management
- Collaboration skills
- Logistics
- Delegation
- Coaching
- Problem-solving
- Business development
- Critical thinking
- Negotiating
- Organization
- Planning
- Project management
- Technical skills
- Administrative skills
Nursing skills and job descriptions
- Urgent care
- Emergency care
- Monitoring vital signs
- Patient safety
- ICU nursing skills
- Patient assessment
- Stress management
- Attention to detail
- Compassion
- Wound care
- Decision making
- Technology skills
- Communication
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Clinical nursing skills
- Nurse practitioner skills
- Triage knowledge
Retail skills and job descriptions
- Time management skills
- Work ethics
- Attention to detail
- Communication skills
- Customer service skills
- Dependability
- Resilience
- Organization
- Initiative
- Merchandise control
- Operations
- Product rotation
- Receiving
- Purchasing
- Product sourcing
Sales skills and job descriptions
- Communication
- Enthusiasm
- Relationship building
- Social skills
- Storytelling
- Active listening
- Marketing
- Presentation
- Negotiation
- Business management
- Technology
- Buyer Research
- Time management
- Collaboration
- Confidence
Statistics skills and job descriptions
- Statistics
- Economics
- Data analytics
- Biostatistics
- Data distribution
- Statistics analysis
- Database
- Quantification
- Statistical modeling
- Clinical trial
- SQL
- Python
- Data analytics
- Economics
- Hypothesis testing
- Statistics and probability
- Data visualization: Excel, Google Charts
Teaching skills and job descriptions
- Creative thinking
- Critical thinking
- Strong ethics
- Classroom management
- Leadership
- Maintain records
- Planning
- Prepared
- Record keeping
- Scheduling
- Time management
- Patience
- Communication
- Organization
- Imaginative thinking
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Technological skills
- Conflict resolution
How to List Skills on a Resume
Depending on the resume format you use, your have three to four places to add skills on a resume; the resume objective, work history, skills section, and summary of qualifications. Here’s some quick rules and examples to help you start.
Add resume skills to a resume objective or summary
Visit our summary statement or resume objective articles to learn how to write an introduction that explains your interest in the role and one or two qualifying skills that meet a job’s requirements.
Here’s a sample summary statement, where we highlighted your skills:
Experienced administrative assistant with six years as a mid-level and executive-level assistant. Independently compose and edit project proposals, charts, presentation material and routine correspondence; ensure material is well organized and analyses are clear and concise, and clear all presentations by management before distribution.
Add resume skills to your work history
Your work history section is usually your resume’s longest, most detailed part. This section offers the most opportunity to pepper job skills throughout your resume. Try to include at least one skill per bullet point entry or an average of three to six skills per job entry.
Let’s see this administrative work history sample with resume skills in bolded text:
Accountant, City of Industry
May 2021 – recent, Los Angeles, CA
- Assist the Finance Director and City Manager in the operation and capital improvement budgets.
- Collaborated with the senior accountant to pull and verify quarterly balance sheets, receipts, and financial documents to present an annual audited statement of the city’s financial condition.
- Daily tasks include receiving, verifying and filing various financial documents including revenue and expense reports, vouchers, billing statements, balance sheets and per diem requests.
List resume skills in a separate skills section
A traditional skills section will include six-to-eight skills in a bulleted list, like the sample skills section below.
A standard Skills Section examples for an accountant:
- Email correspondence
- Problem-solving and critical thinking
- Attention to detail
- File organization
- Budget management
- Certified Public Accounting (CPA) certificate
Where this section lives depends on the resume format you choose.
- Chronological: Your skills section sits below your summary statement and work history, but above the education section.
- Hybrid: You skills section lives below your summary statement, but above the work history and additional section.
- Functional: Your skills section exist beneath a professional summary and summary of qualification and features multiple skills section.
How to add skills to the functional resume format
A functional resume replaces a detailed work history section with a detailed combination of two sections: a Summary of Qualification and Resume Skills sections.
The Summary of Qualification highlights your precious skills and responsibility throughout your entire career rather than responsibilities linked to one specific job.
Example of Summary of Qualifications skills section:
- Provide executive-level administrative and analytical support to the Senior Director of Product.
- Act as a communication liaison between the Senior Director of Product and internal and external entities.
- Effectively organize and prioritize calendar, correspondence and projects to effectively support the Senior Director of Product in achieving quarterly goals objectives.
Unlike most resume skills sections, which only feature six-to-eight skills, a functional resume features three or four skills, backed by related tasks and accomplishments. Here’s a pared-down example of a functional resume’s expanded skills section with two skills:
Relevant Skills section sample:
Administrative
- Effectively organize and prioritize calendar, correspondence and projects.
- Provide timely and thorough follow-up communication
- Screen incoming calls.
- Provide administrative support to the department’s Leadership Team.
Organization
- Manage the scheduling and preparation of meetings/events, take minutes, and arrange conference rooms and catering.
- Anticipates logistics in preparing presentations and handouts.
- Schedules and arranges travel and prepares travel vouchers and reimbursements on time to ensure prompt reimbursement.
Use a Resume Builder to Quickly
Find Job Skills
Resume Skills FAQ
What skills should I add to my resume?
You should add a combination of soft, hard and technical skills to your resume. Carefully scan a job description to find the unique skills required to excel at that job. You can find these unique skills, or resume keywords, by looking for the following text treatments:
- Repeated tasks
- Bolded text
- Underlined words
- Italicized phrases
- Highlighted skills
- Capitalized words
What are some good skills for any resume?
The best skills to add to your resume reassure hiring managers that you’re a knowledgeable and collaborative addition to a team. Good skills to put on resumes can include the following social and technical skills:
- Collaboration
- Teamwork
- Vocal communication
- Written communication
- Organization
- Computer knowledge
- Team management
- Problem-solving
- Attention to detail
Where should I put my skills section?
Where you place your skills section depends on your chosen resume format. We bolded the placement of your skills sections on the three main resume formats:
Chronological resumes:
- Contact information
- Summary statement
- Work history
- Skills section
- Education
- Optional sections (certifications, hobbies or professional organizations)
Combination resumes:
- Contact information
- Summary statement
- Skills section
- Work history
- Education
- Optional sections (certifications, hobbies or professional organizations)
Functional resumes:
- Contact information
- Summary statement
- Summary of qualifications
- Relevant skills
- Work history
- Education
- Optional sections (certifications, hobbies or professional organizations)
Where can I research top skills for my job?
We lightly covered the top skills requested by some industries. However, we carefully researched over a hundred industries to find the top skills for thousands of jobs. You can visit our master library of resume examples to research key skills based on your career interests.
Can I use a Resume Builder for the skills section?
Yes, you use a Resume Builder to help you write your skills section. Our builder incorporates years of research and job-specific data to help you format your resume and suggests crucial skills based on your work history and experience.