Ten Best Skills you should definitely include on your Resume 

At some point in life, all of us will find it necessary to write a Resume. Then the rigorous process of searching a proper way to write a resume begins. Whilst you’re on the search process, you’re bound to stumble upon the Skills section listed in most Resume templates.

Now the real problem begins. This is one of the section that your potential employer will have a look at. So, it’s important to pay a little extra focus while writing this section. One might not have a huge skillset to boast about or the exact opposite. Whichever it may be, you’ll have to list them properly. This article will serve as a guideline no how to identify your skills and list them most suitably.

Hard and Soft Skills 

You might have heard these terms before. But do you know what they mean? Well, allow me to clarify.

Hard skills refer to certain job-specific abilities. The technical skills you learn in school, through training programs, job experiences are all part of your hard skills. These are the teachable skills which are easily measurable. For instance, hard skills might include the following:

• Coding
• Network configuration
• Ability to operate certain equipment and many more

In contrast, soft skills are the abilities that are not unique to any job. Maybe you’re great at managing people. Or you might be a great communicator. These are your soft skills. Its further examples could be:

• Customer-care
• Time management
• Leadership

Your employer will probably search for the right combination of both types of skills in you. Highlighting only one type and no paying any attention to the other one is a big no-no. It’s important to emphasize your top hard and soft skills in your Resume.  However, you cannot simply say that you’ve got them. The way you write them is also an important factor. But we’ll get to that eventually.

Identifying Your Best Skills

Now that we’ve cleared out about the types of skills, let’s move on to figuring out the ways to identify your best skillset. You might boast a huge array of skills but are they all worth mentioning? Your employer will search for the skills that will complement the type of job you’ve applied for. Thus it’s necessary to filter out your best skills and enlist them. However, if you’re not sure what your best at, try considering your previous experiences. What would your peer say you’re good at? Here are a few other tips that will help you identify your best skills:

• Try considering your past achievements or recognitions

Your achievements, rewards, and recognition can assist you in identifying your skills. If you’ve achieved something in the past, it’s most likely that your skills assisted you. So try introspecting on that.

• Ask help from your peer group

Many a time people around you notice things about you that you do not. Try asking people in your friend circle or your seniors about what type of skill they think you possess.

• Take help from the professionals in the respective field

You can also consider asking help from the professionals already working in the field you’re applying for. Ask them about the skills that are necessary to succeed in the respective fields and what particular do the employers look for.

However, while listing the skills be certain that those are your skills. Don’t include something you’re not comfortable with.

How to List Your Skills?

Moving on further, you’ll have to decide on how to list the skills in your resume. Well, there are two parts to it.

1. What job you’re applying for and the information about the company

Recruiters usually don’t spend a lot of time reviewing just a single resume. They have to filter out a lot of applicants. So be sure to list those skills that are necessary for you in that job. Firstly, have a look at the job description and try matching your skills with those mentioned. Then try gathering information about the company you’re applying to. What’s the company about? What is their organizational culture?

For instance, if you’re applying for the post of a software developer, it’s important that you list the programming languages you’re proficient at. Furthermore, if the company values teamwork, try including something that complements it in your resume. In this scenario, the lists you could include might be:

• Proficient in JAVA
• Completes work timely
• Team Leadership

2. Choose an appropriate skill section format

Going through online Resume templates, you’ll find multiple ways in which you can list your skills. Choose the one that you feel comfortable with and that best suits you. However, there are three basic formats for writing the skills section:

1. List skills in a functional resume

   If you lack extensive professional experience or have decided to change your career, then you can list your skills at top of your resume. This type of resume is known as a functional resume. To list your skills in this format, you must create a separate skill section that shows your achievements along with the relevant skill for the position you are applying for. Usually, your experience section should follow the skills section in this format.

   Example:

   Skills

   Complaint Resolution

   Received over 30 calls per day from dissatisfied customers regarding shipment delay, broken items, and order mistakes. Achieved an average customer satisfaction rate of 95%.

2. Listing skills in a separate skill section

   If you happen to have extensive professional experience, then it’s better to back it up by relevant skill section right after your experiences section. It helps to support your professional experience with skills relevant to the job.

   Example of skills for a database administrator:

   Relevant skills: Proficiency in DML and DDL, knowledge of data protection act, employee relations.

3. Try including them in the experience section

   You can also choose to include your skills under the description of your previous job experiences. This provides you an opportunity to strengthen your skill section with the inclusion of specific job-related examples.

   For instance, if your skill includes project management, you can write it as “Successfully managed 4 projects in the first half of 2019 and delivered competitive results before deadlines.”

Top 10 skills you can include in your resume

Listing hard skills is relatively easier as compared to soft skills. Furthermore, it is suggested by LinkedIn that 57% of employers value soft skills more than hard skills.  Here we’ve listed some hard and soft skills that you can probably include in your resume.

1.Active listener

This refers to a person’s ability to stay focused on what is being said, comprehend the info and respond accordingly. Use of verbal and non-verbal technics is used by an active listener. An active listening skill shows that you are engaged and interested in a certain task.

Related listening skills:

• Taking notes
• Non-verbal communication
• Asking question

2. Communication skills

Communication means both clearly presenting your idea and also receiving relevant information. Communication skills include listening, speaking, observing and empathizing. It is important to have good communication skill for everyone.

Related communication skills:

• Proper written communication
• Active listening
• Interpersonal communication

3. Computer/technical skills

In this age, it’s very much important that you mention your technical skills or computer-related skills in your resume. Some computers skills might be prerequisites for the job, so be sure to mention it in the resume.

Related computer skills:

• Mastery of Microsoft Office Package
• Fluent in a programming language
• Spreadsheets

4. Customer service skills

Any company strives to serve its customers. Therefore, it is necessary to include some form of customer service skill in your resume. These are the traits and practices that help address the needs of the customers.

Related customer service skills:

• Problem-solving
• Active listening
• Interpersonal skill

5. Interpersonal skills

In any company, you will have to deal with the people around you. So, build a resume that properly shows that you can work in a team and convey your ideas to your colleagues.

Related interpersonal skills:

• Leadership
• Patience
• Communication

6.Leadership skills

Leadership is referred to as the ability to motivate others to achieve a common goal. It doesn’t matter whether you are the department head or a project head, you need to list your leadership skills.

Related leadership skills:

• Risk-taking
• Team management
• Flexibility

7. Management skills

This skill helps a person to organize people around you and tasks. Good management skill is a must for anyone who one day hopes to occupy a managerial position in the office. Managers should gather both soft as well as hard skills to enhance their management skills.

Related Management skill:

• Task delegation
• Project management
• Decision making

8. Problem-solving skill

A good employee should be able to properly analyze the situation, determine the source of a problem and find a solution for it. A well-rounded employee has an effective problem-solving skill and thus is valued in every organization.

Related problem-solving skills:

• Research
• Communication
• Active listening

9. Time management skills

The ability to complete tasks before deadline shows that you take your job seriously and that you are a dedicated employee. Balance your work and professional life to achieve your goals promptly.

Related time management skills:

• Organized
• Focus
• Task delegation

10.Transferable skills

Soft skills are not unique to any job, thus can be labeled as a transferable skill. While switching career paths, things like flexibility, teamwork, time management and many more might come handy. These skills can give you an upper hand while applying for a job, especially if it’s in another industry.

Related transferable skills:

• Creativity
• Leadership
• Team management

The list of your skillset depends upon the job you are applying to. Make sure that you do not submit the same resume to every position you are applying to. Have a clear look at the job description, list your skills accordingly in a proper format and then send out your resume. Remember, a resume is not the only thing that matters in your evaluation. However, a good resume will certainly make you stand out among others.