You find a promising job opening, update your work history, and then pause at the skills section. Should you write “communication,” list every software program you have used, or copy phrases from the job description? Many applicants struggle with what to write in skills on a resume because a simple list can feel vague or repetitive. The solution is to choose relevant, specific abilities and support the most important ones with evidence elsewhere in your application.
Strong skills on a resume help an employer quickly understand what you can do, how well you may perform the role, and whether your background matches the position. The best choices are not universal. They depend on the job description, your experience, and the needs of the employer.
What are good skills to put on a resume?
Good resume skills are abilities that are relevant to the target position and that you can honestly demonstrate. They generally fall into two categories: hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills
Hard skills are technical or job-specific abilities learned through education, training, or experience. They are often easier to test or verify than personal qualities. Examples include:
- Data analysis and data visualization
- Bookkeeping and financial reporting
- Project management
- Search engine optimization
- Graphic design
- Programming languages
- Customer relationship management software
- Foreign-language proficiency
- Equipment operation
- Technical writing
Whenever possible, be precise. “Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables and lookup functions” communicates more than “computer skills.” Similarly, “Spanish—professional working proficiency” is more useful than “bilingual” if it accurately describes your ability.
Soft skills
Soft skills describe how you work, communicate, solve problems, and interact with others. Common examples include:
- Written and verbal communication
- Team collaboration
- Adaptability
- Time management
- Conflict resolution
- Critical thinking
- Attention to detail
- Leadership
- Creativity
- Organization
These qualities matter, but simply listing “hardworking” or “team player” provides little proof. A stronger resume demonstrates soft skills through accomplishment statements. For example, “Coordinated weekly schedules for a 12-person team” supports organization and collaboration without relying on generic claims.
How to decide what to put in your skills section
If you are wondering, “What can I put as skills on my resume?” begin with the job advertisement rather than a general online list. Read the posting carefully and identify repeated requirements, named tools, essential duties, and preferred qualifications.
Next, compare those requirements with your own background. Include a skill only when all three of the following are true:
- It is relevant to the position.
- You genuinely have the skill at the stated level.
- You could explain or demonstrate it during an interview.
Use the employer’s wording when it truthfully reflects your experience. If the advertisement requests “inventory management” and that is work you have performed, use that phrase instead of a less specific term such as “stock duties.” This makes the connection between your qualifications and the role easier to recognize.
You can also research the typical requirements of an occupation through the O*NET database of occupations and workplace skills. It provides information about job tasks, technologies, knowledge, abilities, and skills across many career fields.
Examples of skills for different jobs
The right skills vary by occupation. A useful list focuses on the tools and abilities the employer is most likely to value.
Administrative positions
- Calendar and appointment management
- Document preparation
- Spreadsheet software
- Records management
- Professional email communication
- Meeting coordination
Customer service positions
- Customer relationship management systems
- Complaint resolution
- Product knowledge
- Active listening
- Order processing
- De-escalation
Marketing positions
- Content strategy
- Email marketing
- Social media management
- Web analytics
- Copywriting and editing
- Campaign reporting
Entry-level candidates and students
- Research
- Presentation development
- Team projects
- Academic or laboratory software
- Event coordination
- Written communication
If you have limited paid experience, skills can come from coursework, internships, volunteering, student organizations, freelance projects, caregiving responsibilities, or community activities. The source matters less than your ability to show how you applied the skill.
How to list skills on a resume
Create a clearly labeled section such as “Skills,” “Technical Skills,” or “Core Competencies.” Use short phrases rather than full sentences, and arrange them by relevance. A technical applicant might organize the section into categories such as programming, databases, software, and operating systems. A multilingual applicant might separate language skills from job-specific tools.
A concise example could look like this:
- Project tools: Asana, Trello, Microsoft Project
- Reporting: Excel pivot tables, dashboards, monthly performance reports
- Languages: English—native; French—professional working proficiency
- Operations: Scheduling, vendor coordination, process documentation
Avoid skill bars, star ratings, or percentages unless the measurement has a clear and recognized meaning. Saying you are “80% proficient” in leadership does not tell an employer what you can accomplish. Plain descriptions such as beginner, intermediate, advanced, or professional working proficiency are usually easier to understand when a level is necessary.
Where should skills appear?
Placement depends on how important your abilities are to the target role. For a technical position, career change, or skills-based application, place the skills section near the top, usually after your professional summary. If your experience already shows a clear progression, the section may appear after work experience or education.
Do not limit important skills to one section. Reinforce them in your professional summary and accomplishment bullets. For example, listing “staff training” in the skills section is stronger when your experience also says, “Developed onboarding materials and trained eight new employees.”
Your wider application should remain consistent as well. Skills, employment history, cover-letter examples, and professional contacts should support the same picture of your qualifications. Review guidance on strengthening job applications with effective references before providing people who may be asked to confirm your work and abilities.
Skills to leave off your resume
More is not necessarily better. Remove abilities that are outdated, unrelated, too basic for the position, or impossible to support. Common problems include:
- Listing basic expectations such as email use for an office role
- Including software you used once but cannot operate independently
- Claiming vague traits such as “nice” or “good worker”
- Adding every skill from the advertisement regardless of actual experience
- Using unexplained abbreviations that a recruiter may not recognize
- Listing obsolete tools when they are not relevant to the employer
Never exaggerate proficiency. Employers may assess technical knowledge during an interview, request a work sample, or ask detailed questions about how you used a particular skill.
A practical final check
When deciding what to put in skills in a CV or resume, ask whether each item helps establish your fit for this specific job. Keep the section focused, use recognizable terms, and provide evidence in your experience bullets. Tailor the list for each application rather than sending the same collection of abilities everywhere.
The strongest skills on a resume are not the most fashionable or impressive-sounding ones. They are the abilities the employer needs, stated clearly and backed by real examples of what you have done.
