Hand holding pencil & hourglass above paper reading Skill, Growth, Ability, etc.

Infographic: Skills to Put on a Résumé to Land the Job

Skills are just as important to your résumé as work experience. Here are what skills you should list on your résumé and how to present them to land a job.

It’s not just your work experiences that make your résumé pop—it’s your skills too. Transferrable skills, soft skills, technical skills—all of these deserve a place on your résumé. But what skills should you really include in your application? Is it better to list your technical skills and let recruiters assume you have the soft skills to back those up? Zety offers a breakdown of how to incorporate your skills into your résumé like a pro.

What skills should you put on a résumé to land the job?

On average, recruiters will only spend six seconds looking at a résumé. Skills are your chance to make a recruiter stop and shout: Eureka! This person is perfect! So what is the best way to showcase your skills and land the job you want?

Related: Entry-Level Résumé Mistakes to Avoid as a New Grad

Zety-infographic-for-writing-a-resume

Via zety.com

Know what skills are important

Studies—e.g., Blomberg, NACE, Prospects, and others—place the same skills at the top of their lists that show the skills employers want most. They all happen to be basic, non-technical skills. Surprised? In fact, 67.3% of recruiters in all industries say communication is the most important skill; 77.8% of employers desire leadership and teamwork among new grads, with technical skills desired by 67.5%. Employers make these desirable skills clear in job postings as 1-in-3 skills listed in a job posting are basic skills like verbal communication or Microsoft Office, and in general, 1-in-4 skills are basic skills, even in highly technical jobs. This puts the top five universally desired career skills as:

  • Communication (written and verbal)
  • Leadership
  • Planning and strategic thinking
  • Analytical thinking and research
  • Teamwork or collaborative work

Related: The Top 10 Hard and Soft Skills All Employers Want

How do you put skills on your résumé?

So how do you go about presenting these skills on your résumé to land the job? We’ve got the answer for you in six easy steps.

  1. Make your skills relevant to the job offer: Read the job offer. Underline the skills required by the employer. Match your skills to those you find listed in the job description. Check similar offers too.
  2. Research people who already have the job you want: Go to LinkedIn and check out the skills and accomplishments of professionals who already have the job you want. If you have those skills, add them to your skills section on your profile.
  3. Add extra skills for extra value: Transferable skills are skills that translate across jobs—like Microsoft office or speaking Spanish. Add them even if they’re missing from the job descriptions.
  4. Add the universal skills all employers want: Just to make sure you have everything—look back at the list of universal skills we provided. Do you have any of them? If you do, put them in your skills section.
  5. Numbers will make you stand out from the crowd: Add numbers and details (proof) to draw the eye of the recruiter. Instead of “proficient at sales conversions” write “able to convert 45% of leads to sales.”
  6. Beat the bots by adding key words: There is a good chance a bot will read your résumé. Résumé bots, or ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), look for keyword skills from job descriptions in your résumé to beat the bots.

Related: An Easy 4-Week Plan to Perfect Your Résumé

There's a method to the madness when it comes to the job search and application process. Don’t risk a great job by not properly preparing your résumé with the valuable skills you likely don’t even realize you have. Boost your résumé with these highly sought-after skills and get ready for the job offers to roll in!

Looking to gain some of those skills to put on your résumé? Check out Our Best Advice on Building Important Skills as a Student.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About CollegeXpress

CollegeXpress

Welcome to CollegeXpress, your one-stop college shop! We’re a free college planning website used by millions of college-bound students, parents, and counselors—anyone who needs help navigating the college search and application process, financial aid opportunities, and more. 

You’ll find comprehensive College Search and Scholarship Search tools, tons of articles and expert advice, unique college Lists & Rankings, and lots of other resources to help make your life easier. Teen Vogue even named us one of the 7 Best College Search Websites!

Current college students and recent grads also love CollegeXpress for our Graduate Program Search tool and endless information on student life, internships, and beyond. We really have something for everyone, no matter where you are in your college journey.

Create a free CollegeXpress account to start connecting with colleges, winning scholarships, and simplifying your life as a student!

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Wright State University

Dayton, OH


Kyla McClain

Kyla McClain

High School Class of 2024

I found CollegeXpress when you partnered with Bold.org for a scholarship. I found your website, put my information in, and got connected. I only wanted to stay in North Carolina [for college] and not move far from home, but you all opened a door up for me. I started researching colleges you suggested for me. On your social media platforms, you also give really good test-taking tips that I used and suggested others to do the same. It helped me a lot on my exams, so thank you.

Priscilla Yeboah

Priscilla Yeboah

High School Student

I was afraid and timid throughout my search for colleges, but I finally found the college that was fit for me and luckily I got accepted. One of the most influential things that helped me was the articles and advice on CollegeXpress. They've helped me a lot and benefited me as a senior to make the right choices in life. Thank you!

Amari Toussaint

Amari Toussaint

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress helped me narrow my school choices down from 10 schools to four and then two. It also gave me information on a school I had never heard about or thought about attending until now, which is the school I will be attending in the fall. I am thankful for CollegeXpress and its helpful tools.

Mataya Mann

Mataya Mann

High School Class of 2022

To say that CollegeXpress is a helpful tool would be an understatement as it is much more than that. Before finding CollegeXpress, all I knew was that I wanted to go to college, it was going to be insanely expensive, and I felt lost. CollegeXpress has given me access to resources such as helpful tips for applications and scholarship [opportunities], and helped guide me in a direction where I feel confident moving forward and pursuing a career. CollegeXpress has helped instill a spark in me that makes me want to continue and supports me in doing so.

Jeff Parsons

Jeff Parsons

Counselor

Thank you so much for this valuable information about these opportunities. I truly appreciate the CollegeXpress communications and use them to keep my high school seniors informed about their opportunities!