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100 Good Skills to Put on a Resume [Complete Guide]

Jeff Gillis 0 Comments

By Jeff Gillis

Updated 6/4/2022.

When you’re adding skills to a resume, you don’t just want to focus on what you’re good at. Instead, relevancy has to be part of the equation. After all, every job you’re trying to land requires a very specific skill set, one that you need to show that you have.

Choosing the skills to put on a resume when you’re applying to a role isn’t something you should do haphazardly. Instead, you want to use the job description, company mission, and company values as a guide, creating a sense of alignment.

Additionally, it never hurts to have a handy list of skills by your side, making it easier to explore your options. So, if you’re on the hunt for good skills to put on a resume, here’s what you need to know.

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

There are two basic types of skillsets that a job seeker can have and include on their resume: hard skills or soft skills.

Hard skills are the skills or abilities for a resume that are easily quantifiable…that can be learned through classroom work, apprenticeships, or other forms of learning. These include things like operating tools, computer programming, speaking foreign languages, or different kinds of technical prowess.

Soft skills are more subjective and harder to quantify and are often grouped together by what we know as “people skills.” Some examples of soft skills include communication, relationship building, self-awareness, and patience.

Which Skills Are More Important?

The debate rages on about which of these two types of skills is more important.

According to executive consultant and Forbes contributor Naz Beheshti , “…There is an ongoing debate about the relative importance of soft and hard skills that imply a competition between the two. However, they are both necessary and complementary to one another.”

On the one hand, job seekers with proficiency in a specific hard skill may get hired more quickly. Many employers want to hire people that can deliver value with fewer resources (ex., the need for training, etc.), making hard skills their priority.

However, we are also seeing that many hiring managers are choosing to hire candidates with highly developed soft skills.

In the end, as Indeed puts it, “soft skills are necessary to create a positive and functional work environment.” Plus, hiring managers feel that they can always train the candidate in the hard skill that is required to complete the job, but soft skills are often skills that cannot necessarily be taught.

So, what does this mean for you? Mainly that you can’t simply just pick one or the other and cross your fingers. Instead, the best strategy is to take a balanced approach and make sure that your resume contains both hard and soft skills.

How Do You Choose the Skills to List on a Resume?

Here’s the deal; there’s a good chance you know what you’re good at in a professional sense. Often, you can use your experience, duties, training, and education as a guide, giving you a strong foundation. Then, it’s about diving a bit deeper, looking at traits that could help you stand out, and comparing it all to the job description.

By using a simple process, you can make progress faster. Here’s a quick way to get started.

1. Make a List of the Skills You Know You Have

As mentioned above, the easiest way to get a grip on your current skills is to reflect on your academic and professional experiences. Consider the tasks you’ve taken on, the training you’ve completed, and the courses you had in school. In most cases, that’ll give you some solid ideas about your hard skills.

After that, it’s time for soft skills. Here, you want to think of traits or capabilities that help you engage with others and navigate professional relationships. Often, these are reflections of your personality, so use that as a jumping-off point.

2. “Mine” the Job Descriptions for Must-Have Skills

The next step is to take a look at the job description for the position you are applying for and make a list of the required skills it includes. Then, compare it to your capabilities. Are any of the skills on both of the lists you just created? If so, these are must-haves for your resume.

Now, notice if there are any skills on the job description that you don’t have. If there aren’t any, great!

But if there are…don’t panic. There are things you can do, which we’ll dig into shortly.

If you’re dealing with a vague job description, you aren’t stuck either. Here is a link to a ton of job descriptions that can give you an idea of the skills needed.

3. Tailor Your Skills to the Company/Position

As you may have read in our other blog articles, it is always very important to “tailor” your resume to the company and position you want to land. For an in-depth look into how to make that happen, check out our Tailoring Method article. 

If you want a quick overview, the idea is to focus on capabilities the company wants to find. Every job requires a unique skill set, and you want to show you have it. As a result, it is absolutely essential that skills from the job description make an appearance on your resume.

However, you also want to dig deeper. Spend some more time researching the company, including going through all of their various web properties, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages.

Why? Because they will leave clues about the types of people they hire. That gives you more ideas about the best skills to put on a resume to land a job there, particularly when it comes to soft skills you may not find in a job description.

100 Resume Skills Examples

If you’re struggling with coming up with a list of skills based on your past experience, it can be easier if you have existing resume skills lists to work with. You don’t have to think up every possible skill; you can simply review the list and find the matches.

Here is a list of resume skills examples, divided into hard skills and soft skills, that you can use when applying for a job.

Hard Skills for a Resume

• Advanced Bookkeeping
• Appointment Setting
• Automotive Repair
• Cold Calling
• Computer Programming
• Conversion Testing
• Copywriting
• Customer Engagement
• Customer Service
• Data Analysis
• Digital Marketing
• Electrical Engineering
• Environmental Cleanup
• Forklift Operating
• Graphic Design
• Heavy Machinery Operation
• Installation
• Landscaping
• Mathematics
• Medical Coding
• Paid Online Traffic
• Patient Care
• Photo Editing
• Picking and Packing
• Project Management
• Schedule Management
• Search Engine Optimization
• Server Maintenance
• Social Media
• Spanish Fluency
• Statistical Analysis
• Systems Analysis
• Technical Support
• Telecommunications Systems
• Travel Booking
• Video Editing
• Website Design
• Word Processing

Soft Skills for a Resume

• Accountability
• Active Listening
• Adaptability
• Brainstorming
• Business Etiquette
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Conflict Resolution
• Contextualizing
• Critical Thinking
• Decision Making
• Emotional Intelligence
• Flexibility
• Goal-Setting
• Handling Pressure
• Influencing
• Insightfulness
• Interpreting
• Negotiation
• Open-Mindedness
• Organization
• Prioritization
• Problem Solving
• Relationship Building
• Reliability
• Resource Management
• Responsibility
• Self-Confidence
• Strategical Thinking
• Strong Work Ethic
• Time Management

What If I Don’t Have the Required Skill?

Whether you need to possess a specific skill depends on the job and the skill in question. Usually, here’s where you have to be honest with yourself. If the skills required are part of the core competencies of doing the job, you may want to reconsider your application.

For example, if a golf course posts a job posting for a golf pro, you probably shouldn’t apply if you’ve never swung a golf club.

However, you will come across situations where what you bring to the table is close. In this case, moving forward might be okay.

You need to be able to demonstrate, using examples from your past, that you are capable of doing the required skill, even if you haven’t specially done it. So, go over your work history with a fine-tooth comb and try to come up with a few examples of you doing something in the right ballpark.

They are going to ask about it in your interview, so don’t think you can just wing it, and everything will be fine.

Also, many job descriptions have “nice-to-have” skills on the list. If you happen to possess them, great. But if not, don’t assume you shouldn’t apply if you have the must-have skills. In the end, those capabilities aren’t outright requirements, so don’t screen yourself out based on them.

How To List Skills on a Resume

There are a few different schools of thought when it comes to deciding where to put (or how to list) the skills on your resume.

According to our friends over at online resume-builder Zety.com , “…skills are so very, very important that they should show up all over your resume. Not just in the resume skills section.” In other words, it is imperative that there are elements of your skills throughout your resume, including your resume objective/summary and experience sections.

In addition, there isn’t one right answer for where to include your skill section because that depends on the industry, company, and position you’re trying to land. For example, for a job where technical competencies are of the utmost importance, it is often beneficial to list the skills closer to the top of the resume, right underneath the resume objective or resume summary statement.

However, if through your research you determine that the hiring manager will put more weight into your experience, you may want to lead with your experience. Then, put the skills section further down your resume.

At the end of the day, the selection of the skills themselves is the most important thing. After all, most hiring managers will easily find your skill section regardless of where it is on your resume.

What About Skills for My Job Application?

When you’re looking for skills to put on a job application, you do have to treat it a little differently than skills for a resume. Usually, you’re working with a finite amount of space on an application, not just in an overall sense but in each applicable section.

Since that’s the case, you need to lean heavily on the job description. Look for any capabilities that are listed as must-haves or that are repeated through the job ad. Then, make sure those skills are featured prominently in several areas, including in work history descriptions and skills areas.

If you have to answer essay questions, discuss those skills there, too, whenever possible. Use any other relevant capability as a supplement, treating it as supporting information instead of the primary point you’re sharing.

However, if an essay question asks about a skill that’s not in the job description, feel free to dig in a bit. It’s a capability that’s clearly on the hiring manager’s mind, so touch on it occasionally to show you shine in that area.

Putting It All Together

If you were wondering, “What are some good skills to put on a resume?” you should now have a solid answer. The most important thing to remember is to select skills that are relevant to the position you are interviewing for and, more important than that, skills that your company puts a tremendous amount of value in.

Once you get your skills straightened out, you should make sure that the rest of your resume is congruent with the skills you just selected, namely, that your experience shows that you both used those skills in a work environment and developed the skill with on-the-job tasks.

Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advancement, having published more than 50 pieces of unique content on the site , with his work being featured in top publications such as INC , ZDnet , MSN and more.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Jeff gillis.

Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advancement, having published more than 50 pieces of unique content on the site , with his work being featured in top publications such as INC , ZDnet , MSN and more. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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How to List Skills on a Resume (Real Skill Examples)

This essential resume writing article is about how to list skills on a resume. For more resume writing help, visit our job seeker resource center .

EdgeWater Pharmacy just posted an opening for a Sales Associate right down the street from your home. You think you are the perfect fit for the job, so you submit your resume, but so do 30 other candidates.

Do you know who is going to get called in for an interview? 

The job seeker who looks like they have the most relevant skills for the job.

Make sure you’re getting the callback for an interview from a hiring manager by reading how to list your skills on a resume.

This essential job seekers’ guide will walk you through how to add the skills a hiring manager wants to see on your resume, along with 50+ real resume examples of skills you can use.

This article on how to include key skills on a resume covers:

• What are professional skills?
• Why are skills important on resumes?
• Different types of skills for job seekers
• Where and how to incorporate skills on a job application
• Top 50+ skills hiring managers want to see on your resume
• Fastest ways to gain new skills to get hired

What Are Skills? Why Are Skills Important?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a skill is:

“the ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance”

“a learned power of doing something competently : a developed aptitude or ability”

When it comes to job hunting, your skills are what set you apart. Every human on earth has a set of skills that is unique to them. Likewise, every professional position has a unique set of skills that is required for performing the job.

Finding the perfect alignment between these two ideas is the key goal for every hiring manager.

If a hiring manager finds someone that already possesses the skills needed for their job, they won’t have to spend so much time and money on training. It also means that their new employee will be able to pull their own weight more quickly, providing a quicker return on their hiring investment.

But how do hiring managers know who has what it takes to perform well on the job?

The first and most important place hiring managers look is at your resume. On average, a hiring manager spends 6 seconds reviewing a resume and during that time they are scanning the pages to see if the skills required for the job jump out at them.

If they find what they are looking for, you get called in for an interview. If they don’t quickly see what they are looking for, your resume will most likely be discarded.

As a job seeker, it is your responsibility to make sure you know what skills hiring managers are looking for.

Once you identify those skills, it is also your responsibility to make sure those relevant skills are incorporated into your resume in a way that stands out.

If you do these two things accurately, you will be the one getting called in for an interview and will be that much closer to landing a new job.

Types of Professional Skills (Real Resume Examples)

Skills can be broken down into four main categories:

• Hard skills
• Soft skills
• Transferable skills
• Job-related skills.

Before you start writing your own list of skills, let’s go through each of these skill categories to see what the difference between them is.

Hard Skills vs Soft Skills

Hard skills are specific, teachable, and tangible. They can be measured and tested using assignments and assessments. Hard skills are learned, either through on-the-job training or through school, rather than coming naturally.

Examples of hard skills for a resume:

Soft skills are intangible and are harder to measure. They are personality traits and interpersonal skills that come naturally to humans, rather than being learned through school.

People are born with soft skills. These soft skills grow and develop over time from your upbringing, education, and experiences.   

Examples of soft skills:

Contrary to popular belief, hiring managers often care more about soft skills than hard skills, though both hard and soft skills contribute to your appeal as a candidate.

Hard skills, such as computer programming or accounting, can be taught using a combination of curriculum and hands-on practice. Whereas soft skills, such as a positive attitude or punctuality, are harder to teach.

Regardless of your background, hiring managers are usually flexible with teaching you the hard skills needed for their job, as long as you already have the right attitude along with the aptitude to learn.

Transferable Skills vs Job-Related Skills

Transferable skills can be carried with you from one job to the other. These skills can be a hard skill or soft skill, as long as they can be used in any type of role, regardless of the industry, company, or position.

Examples of transferable skills:

Job-related skills are usually always hard skills.  These job-related skills are specific to a certain type of role or position.

Examples of job-related skills:

How And Where To List Skills On Your Resume

Skills should be included throughout your resume, rather than confined to one area.

While scanning your resume, hiring managers will be looking over each resume section, starting with the top. Because of how people read resumes, you need to make sure they see your skills immediately.

Guarantee hiring managers will see your skills by listing them in four key areas of your resume:

• Resume header
• Professional summary
• Summary of skills
• Work Experience section

If you are writing a resume from scratch, try using this free and easy-to-use resume builder from Resume.com. The sections and formatting are already created for you, so all you need to worry about is filling in the blanks to finish a free printable resume.

1. Resume Header

At the top of your resume, directly below your name, write your job title along with the three most relevant skills you have as a candidate.

This is the first section hiring managers will be reading, so it is important to draw their attention using bold and large lettering.

If you’re using this resume builder , the ‘ Blue Skies ’, ‘ Three Blocks Digital ’, and ‘ van Deco ’ resume templates already have a header section included, which will make finishing your resume easier.

When writing your header, it is crucial that you customize the job title and skills to each job you’re applying for. Your job application needs to be consistent – you can read more about consistency in this article .

For example, if you write Java Developer in your resume header, but are applying for a .NET Developer position, a huge red flag will go up for the hiring manager.

When writing your top three skills in your header, make sure they align with the required skills listed in the job posting.

If you’re applying for a job at a large company or corporation, or you’re applying through a job board, it’s helpful to keep applicant tracking systems (ATS) in mind. Make sure your resume makes it past ATS software by listing your skills using the same wording as the job posting.  

Example of skills in the resume header: 

2. Professional Summary

Below your header and contact information, you will have a professional summary section. A professional summary used to be called an ‘objective’, but the modern resume writing approach is to replace your objective with a professional summary section.

Your professional summary should give an overview of your background, years of experience, and the top skills that set you apart. The skills in your professional summary should be written in sentence form, rather than listed out.

If using the resume builder , the ‘ My Employment ’, ‘ Apple Green ’, and ‘ Side Panel ’ resume templates have professional summary sections that are sure to draw attention to your most relevant skills.

Example of skills in the professional summary of a resume:

3. Summary of Skills

Below your professional summary, include a ‘summary of skills’ section. Alternative titles for this section could be ‘core competencies’, ‘key skills’, ‘professional skills’, or ‘relevant skills’.

If you have less than 10 skills, you can list them out in columns. 

Summary of skills resume example (less than 10 professional skills) :

Summary of skills resume example (more than 10 professional skills) :

For your skills section, your skills should be listed, rather than written out in sentence form. This formatting choice helps hiring managers to pick out the key words quickly, which they can read about in more detail in the experience section after.

4. Experience Section

The ‘experience’ section usually comes after your summary of skills on a resume. Depending on your background, this could also be called ‘professional experience’, ‘work experience’, or ‘relevant experience’.

Your experience section is the perfect place to back your skills up with real-life examples of when you have used your skills, in addition to the results you have achieved.

When writing your experience section, give specific details about where, when, and with whom you have used your skills. When possible, use numbers and metrics to quantify your achievements.

Example of how to list skills in the experience section of a resume:

How to List Skills On A Resume – Finding Relevant Skills For You

To figure out what skills you should include on your resume, follow these three simple steps.

Step #1: Create a master list of skills

Go through each category and create a master list of the skills in your toolbox. Don’t be afraid to list things that seem obvious, like computer skills or customer service.

Although they might seem like a given in your profession, many hiring managers still want to see these skills listed.

Never include skills that you are no longer familiar with. If you write a skill on your resume, hiring managers will be expecting that you can deliver on that activity.

If you are worried that a hiring manager will over or underestimate your level of proficiency, feel free to write ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’, or ‘proficient’ next to each skill listed.

Step #2: Figure out the skills needed for the job

When applying for jobs, it is important to identify the set of skills that are needed. Picking out the needed skills will help you determine if you are a good fit for the role. It will also help you tailor your resume skills to the specific job you are applying for.

There are two main ways to determine the skills needed for a job.

The first is to dissect job descriptions and job postings that are posted on career websites and job boards. To do this, go through a job description and highlight each quality that describes the candidate the company is looking for.

For example, here is a job posting for a cashier position: 

Then create a list of all the qualities described, making sure to write each skill using the same wording that is used in the job posting.

The second way to figure out what skills are needed for a job is to search for people on LinkedIn who are already performing the role.

By searching for a certain job title in the search bar, you can find a list of professionals who are already in that job and then search through their profile to see what skills they have listed, both in their summary and experience sections.

Step #3: Match your master list with the skills needed for a job

The skills you write on your resume should be whatever overlaps between your master list and the list of skills you created from researching jobs.

By using this technique, you will be making sure that the skills you have listed on your resume are relevant to the jobs you are applying for.

A general rule of thumb is to never include skills that aren’t important for the job you are applying for.

For example, if you are applying for a project manager position, there is no need to list that you know yoga or CPR.

Top 50+ Skills Hiring Managers Look For On Resumes

A lot of research has been done as to what hiring managers look for on a resume. Many of the skills they seek are job-specific, while others are transferable.

To increase your chances of getting called in for an interview, include these top skills throughout your resume.

These professional skills are divided by category to help you find the skills that are relevant to you.

Soft Skills

Basic computer skills, customer service, project management, art & design, human resources, fastest ways to obtain new skills.

Are you looking for your first job? Are you missing some of the required skills on a job posting? If so, don’t worry. There are a range of ways for you to obtain the needed skills quickly.

If you are in need of a hard skill, this task is much easier. Hard skills are learned, so you can typically find an online resource, school, or curriculum to pick up the needed skills.

If you don’t have enough time to attend class in person, there are a number of online learning platforms with courses that you can take online, in your spare time. Some examples of popular eLearning platforms include Lynda, Udemy, and Skillshare.

Learning soft skills are a little trickier. These interpersonal and personality traits are hardwired into humans, so the only way to get better at them is to practice, practice, practice.

If you can’t practice soft skills while on a job, try to find some day-to-day activities that you can practice these skills during.

For example, if you need to work on punctuality, set a goal to arrive 5 minutes early wherever you need to be, no matter if it is for class or for coffee. Or if you need to work on your professionalism, pick up a volunteer job based in a professional, office setting.

More Skill-Related Articles For Resume Writing:

• How To List Hard Skills On A Resume (50+ Technical Skill Examples)
• How to List Computer Skills on a Resume (50+ Computer Skill Examples)

More From Forbes

How to list strengths and skills on your resume in 2024.

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Strategically and concisely place your skills throughout your resume to demonstrate what you're ... [+] capable of in an easy-to-read manner and to save space

One of the most crucial components of a resume is your strengths and skills section.

So many candidates make the mistake of only speaking to what they did in their work experience, but hardly any mention of what skills they developed or demonstrated within their roles. Including these skills can make all the difference between your application landing in the shortlisting pile or not.

But how exactly do you showcase your strengths and skills within your resume?

When deciding what work skills to include in your resume, and how to structure and place them strategically, there are a few conventions you need to follow and bear in mind:

1. Ensure Relevance

There's no use in listing any and every skill you've ever developed since the start of your career. You've likely built dozens of skills—but that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to include all of them. To help you decide which ones need to be excluded in an effort to keep your resume brief and concise, look at the requirements and qualifications listed in the job advert, and tailor your skills section accordingly.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, 2. create a skills section.

Create a dedicated section for your skills and strengths. You may title it "Skills" or "Skills Highlights." While it is essential to include examples of your skills all throughout the resume, it's also important to have this separate section so that it stands out to recruiters. Place this section near the top of your resume, after the professional profile, and before you delve into your work experience.

3. Group By Category

For ease of reading and scannability purposes, you may find it more effective to categorize your strengths and skills under relevant headings, particularly if you have quite a few. For example, you can say, "Technical Skills: Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Canva, MS Office," etc. Or, if you are bilingual or multilingual, you can save space on your resume (depending on layout of course) by grouping your skills and proficiency levels under languages.

4. Balance Soft And Hard Skills

If you work in an industry that tends to have a firm reliance and emphasis on "hard," technical skills, such as the technology industry, or manufacturing, it's pretty easy to overlook soft skills, also known as power skills.

However, according to CompTIA , the professional certification body for IT certifications, soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, organization, and project management, are needed more than you realize for—yes you read right—even largely technical jobs.

For instance, communication is necessary so that you can effectively liaise with project and product managers, and other non-technical stakeholders, so it's important to showcase instances of your communication skills in action, on your resume.

5. Update Periodically

We tend to forget how amazing we are as humans. The business and rush of life can frequently overwhelm us, and we get so lost in doing work, that we forget to take note of what we've actually achieved. If you've been suddenly laid off and are scrambling to find what strengths, achievements, and skills to list on your resume, chances are, you've been a victim of this very habit.

So, every now and then, review your resume and give it a refresh. Do this exercise every time you complete a certification or training course, learn a new skill at work, or achieve something remarkable in your professional life. This ensures your resume is always up to date, so that you're never caught out, forgetting what strengths and skills you actually possess.

Every time you learn a new skill or gain a certification, update your resume—you never know when it ... [+] will be needed

Ultimately, your skills section should complement the rest of your resume—and where you lack space, you can strategically include your skills throughout other sections as well. This will help to paint a comprehensive picture of your suitability for the role.

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Job Skills to List on Your Resume (And What to Exclude)

Showcasing your capabilities is critical to professional success, especially during a job search. The first step of almost every job application process is to submit a resume. With so much riding on that first impression, reflecting desired job skills in your resume is key.

Employers and hiring managers aren't just looking for employees who have the hard skills needed for their job position. They are also looking for employees with important soft skills, so it's important to reflect both types of skills on your resume.

Here are some in-demand skills to list on your resume:

• Trustworthiness.
• Self-starter.
• Adaptability.
• Growth mindset.
• Problem-solving skills.
• Time management.
• Virtual communication skills.
• Succinct writing.
• Collaboration.
• Deadline-driven.
• Ability to thrive in chaotic environments.
• Analysis and insight.
• Accountability.
• Commitment.

1. Trustworthiness

On the heels of the Great Resignation and candidates ghosting during the interview, hiring and onboarding processes, many employers are targeting candidates that show signs of trustworthiness and dependability. According to a recent study by ManpowerGroup , reliability is the top soft skill that employers worldwide are looking for. One way to show this in your resume is to show a progression of responsibility with one employer or that you have worked with one manager or team in more than one setting.

2. Self-Starter

Employers want to hire employees who are self-motivated. Capture how you have identified and acted on opportunities to improve quality or speed, boost morale, increase productivity, or minimize risks. Additionally, include how you are able to lead initiatives, projects or teams even when you may not be the official manager.

3. Adaptability

Have you been able to stay productive during continuous change? A key soft skill to show in your resume is your ability to adapt and thrive. Describe how you evolved your way of working during periods of change.

4. Growth Mindset

How have you challenged yourself or motivated others around you to learn something new or expand their thinking? The ability to learn is a learned skill in itself that improves the more you do it. It is why recent students are often better equipped to acquire and apply knowledge more quickly than peers who have not been in a learning environment recently. Capture how you have added new hard skills and sought to challenge yourself with new approaches.

5. Problem-Solving Skills

Rapidly changing technology and evolving work environments have led many teams and companies into unchartered territories. Professionals that have the ability to solve problems in new or difficult situations are better equipped to tackle future challenges that may not have a best practice or rule book to follow. Outline how you approached and resolved problems.

6. Time Management

Balancing never-ending emails, Slack messages, Zoom meetings and projects is tricky. Managers want to be able to gauge productivity. Be sure to capture how you manage time, efficiency and results when writing your resume.

7. Virtual Communication Skills

It is challenging to build effective relationships without in-person interaction. Show evidence of how you have expanded or strengthened relationships in and outside of your company using virtual communication tools . This can be as simple as listing the digital tools you use – such as Teams, Slack and Zoom. You can also write more descriptive impact statements. For example, explain how you created an online presentation template implemented by the sales team that resulted in 10 new deals. You can also explain how you increased engagement in virtual all-hands meetings by creating polls and encouraging the use of Q&A features.

8. Succinct Writing

With the rise in video meetings and enterprise messaging tools came the rise in Q&A and chat responses. Success with these platforms requires mastery of the art of getting to the point – succinct and well-written questions and responses are key. How you write your resume (and cover letter) is evidence of this competency. Don't overlook the importance of concise and relevant content in your resume.

An effective resume shows – not tells – how you add value. Yes, you need to list your responsibilities, but you also need to show what happened because you were there. In other words, call out your impact. For example, if you are responsible for recruiting and hiring and you would say it is one of your key strengths, include how many people you hired, how quickly you made those hires, and how many of your hires have outlasted the average tenure of your firm or your industry.

10. Collaboration

Every job description asks for "cross-functional collaboration." This means you need to know how to play well in the sandbox with other people who aren't your immediate co-workers. To illustrate your collegial approach, describe any "enterprise-wide task forces" you were invited to join. For example, communicate how your team was able to move through the financial planning and analysis approval process two times faster than other managers because of your track record of quality work. In short, show what was accomplished when you partnered across the company.

11. Deadline-Driven

In a competitive, technology-infused environment, even results with a 24-hour turnaround can seem 25 hours past due. The most productive employees get stuff done fast and have tactics for setting and exceeding deadline-driven expectations. Give evidence of your ability to work under pressure.

12. Ability to Thrive in Chaotic Environments

When speed is king, many organizations act before all options are assessed. Employees who can survive and even thrive in cultures where priorities shift, variables change and goals are moving targets are in greater demand than those looking for stable and fixed roles. Most growing companies are in flux and they want employees who can function even without a fully developed structure.

13. Analysis and Insights

No role or industry is untouched by data and analysis. If you are a doctor, you likely keep tabs on satisfaction ratings or statistics and information about the patients you treat. Are you a delivery driver? You may have data that tracks your routes, delivery times, number of deliveries made, and lost or damaged packages. Know the quantifiable metrics for your profession and address what those indicators show about you. Including analytical hard skills on your resume gives you a competitive advantage .

14. Accountability

The best teams are known for how the members take ownership of the work and the results. Describe which aspects of your department you are accountable for and how you maintain a high level of quality.

15. Commitment

Use your resume as an opportunity to show your commitment and professional passion to your career, industry, profession and your skill development. Employees who are invested in these areas often perform at the highest levels because their efforts are not just for a paycheck but also to contribute to their larger community or reputation. Your resume should show memberships in a professional association, participation in an industry conference, noted thought leadership on related topics, classes you have taken and more.

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

Soft skills are traits that come naturally, whereas hard skills are technical skills related to your job and industry. Soft skills are learned throughout your whole life and hard skills are generally learned through education and training. While soft skills can be used across different industries and a wide variety of circumstances, hard skills are used for specific tasks and can be industry-specific. Hiring managers tend to give priority to job candidates with strong soft skills since soft skills are harder to teach.

Your resume should underline your unique combination of hard skills and soft skills. If your resume is too hard-skill-driven, a hiring manager may discard your resume. On the other hand, if it's too soft-skill-driven, they may not feel that you have the necessary education or technical qualifications for the role.

What to Exclude From Your Resume

Your home address. It is not needed at the time of application and it can have some privacy or discrimination risks.

Titles to contact information. For example, instead of "Phone: 555-123-4567" you can just list the number "555-123-4567." It will be recognized for what it is.

Years of experience . First, job posts never ask for "two decades of managerial experience," so writing that as the lead in your summary earns you no points for applicant tracking systems or with the recruiter. Second, a reader can add up your years of experience (or make a pretty good guess) with your work history listed on your resume. Why give up your most valuable resume real estate to words that add no value to your candidacy?

Subjective or adjective-heavy soft skills. For example: Don't use phrases such as "people person," "meticulous attention to detail" or "team player." Recruiters and hiring authorities see hundreds of resumes. Subjective descriptions do not add any value. Hiring professionals have seen or met enough detail-oriented people who leave periods off sentences and forget to check spelling. If you cannot demonstrate or validate that you have a soft skill, it doesn't help your candidacy.

Job Skills Examples

These three examples show the job skills different professionals may list on their resumes.

Account Executive Job Skills

An account executive may demonstrate collaboration skills on her resume by saying something like, "Skilled at developing cohesive, energetic and highly successful teams that consistently exceed company goals and objectives over 15%."

Marketing Executive Job Skills

A marketing executive may demonstrate his impact at his position by saying something like, "Managed a team of 10 marketing consultants responsible for event management and other engagement activities. Leadership supported team customer relationship processes (CRM) improvement of 75%."

Software Engineer Job Skills

A software engineer can highlight her soft skills by listing them in her core competencies section. For example, "Problem resolution strategist, clear/concise communicator, quick to learn new processes."

In conclusion, discerning hiring managers are looking for candidates who can walk in with the skills to do the job immediately. Make sure your resume reflects a balance of the qualifications and soft skills most in demand for the role you are targeting. A customized, well-written resume is a critical component of a successful modern job search.

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• CV and Cover Letter
• 8 best teamwork skills for...

8 best teamwork skills for your resume (with examples)

10 min read · Updated on April 16, 2024

Prove you're the right fit for the team

When hiring managers are looking for the next new member of their team, they're not just looking for someone who can carry out the day-to-day tasks associated with the role. No, they're also looking for someone who will fit well into their team and contribute as a valued part of that unit. 

With that in mind, it will help your job search efforts if you can show on your resume that you know how to be a good team player. In this post, we'll identify the top 8 teamwork skills to put on your resume and look at how and where to include them. We've got some examples, too, so you can understand the best way to show off this important skill. 

The essential skills for teamwork on your resume

Adding teamwork to your resume isn't as simple as throwing in the line “works well independently and in a team.” In fact, we'd strongly recommend you avoid that line! It's generic, overused, and doesn't show how you add value. Instead, try adding some of these skills to show how you can excel in a team environment:

1. Conflict resolution

Unfortunately, conflict is a fact of life - even more so in a work environment, where you're thrown together for hours on end with people you may not choose to associate with otherwise. It's equally true that conflict doesn't make for a very happy or productive team. If you're the type that can step in to diffuse conflict or prevent it from escalating, that's well worth showcasing on your resume. 

2. Giving and receiving feedback

As companies seek continuous improvement in every aspect of their operation, change is necessary. That could mean change on a company, team, or personal level. But once the need for change is identified, it needs to be communicated. Whether you're the person giving or receiving feedback to enable this change, it's important that it's done graciously, fairly, and non-confrontationally. If that's a skill you have in your arsenal, why not weaponize it on your resume?

3. Communication

Communication  is one of the most vital teamworking skills of all! It encompasses a host of other skills, the main ones being speaking, writing and listening. If you can engage with others, convey information articulately, and understand the concerns of colleagues, you can put some very in-demand teamwork skills on your resume. 

4. Delegation

No one can do everything and knowing when to ask for help is a superpower. If you can recognize that someone else in the team may be better placed than you to complete a certain task, it's time to activate your delegation skills. When you can do this, you're well on your way to mastering a key leadership attribute and working your way further up the career ladder. That's not to say it's OK to offload all your work onto others though - that's likely to lead to bad feeling and rapidly crash team morale .

While you may not always agree with your colleagues, showing respect is non-negotiable for team cohesion. The ability to value others' perspectives and treat other people as you'd like to be treated yourself is hugely important in a team environment. If you can successfully work with the quirks of different personalities without provoking conflict, it could be worth letting your future employers know by showcasing it on your resume. 

6. Collaboration

Collaboration is at the heart of teamwork. Being able to work harmoniously with others is a vital teamwork skill for your resume, so make sure you show how you've achieved strong outcomes by working collaboratively either with your team, with other teams across the business, or even with suppliers and partners. 

7. Positivity

There's nothing quite like a moaner for sucking the lifeblood out of a team. You know the type – always on hand with some salacious gossip, a complaint, or a generally negative attitude. They sow discontent, which leads to low morale and is often accompanied by a decrease in productivity. Prove you're not that person by showing off your positive, can-do attitude on your resume.

8. Relationship building

Some people seem to naturally strike up a rapport with others, while some people find it a bit trickier. If you're the type that can make a friend of anyone, you have a great teamwork skill for your resume. Building positive relationships not only improves team harmony, it's also valuable for engaging wider teams such as suppliers, customers and colleagues from other functions. It's easy to see why it's a great teamwork skill on your resume!

Where to show professional teamwork skills on your resume

Now you know which specific teamwork skills are in demand, but how can you show them off on your resume? There are several places where you could consider adding them. 

In the Profile section 

The Profile is the elevator pitch at the top of your resume. In this short paragraph, the aim is to convince the reader that you have the skills and experience required for the vacant role and that it's worth reading your resume in greater depth. Depending on the role, it may be worth highlighting a couple of teamwork skills here. Make sure the skills you select are the ones most relevant to the vacancy and, if possible, frame them as a success that has directly benefited the business. 

In the Key Skills section 

The Key Skills section seems like the ideal place to add teamwork skills, doesn't it? Not so fast! Ideally, this section will be weighted in favor of hard skills - they're the job-specific skills you've acquired throughout your career. While it's OK to include some soft skills here too, remember that a long list isn't particularly engaging to read and limit yourself to keywords that you find in the job advert. 

In the Professional Experience section 

Now we get to the meat of the matter. In the Professional Experience section, you can really show off and emphasize all those amazing teamwork skills on your resume to position yourself as a fantastic addition to any team. You have a bit more space here to give detail and context, so that you're doing more than just saying “I'm a great team player” - you're actually proving it. 

In the Education or Professional Development section 

These sections aren't traditionally used to show off specific skills but, if you're light on work experience, you can expand this section to demonstrate skills you've gained while studying. Perhaps you were part of a team project at university or completed a course in conflict resolution that you could highlight here. 

In the Hobbies and Interests section 

While the Hobbies and Interests section is by no means obligatory, you can use it to show off skills you've developed outside of work. This is particularly handy if you're struggling to add teamwork skills elsewhere on your resume. Sports teamwork skills are great on a resume for students, for example.

How to add teamwork skills on your resume

As with any skill on your resume, the best way to add it is by showing, rather than telling. That means providing concrete examples of when you've used a particular skill - ideally with a positive outcome that benefited the business or the team. Below you'll find some teamwork skills examples, so that you can fully understand how to incorporate them and use them as inspiration for your own document.

Example of teamwork in the Profile section 

A positive and customer-focused Customer Service Assistant, with an extensive knowledge of the railway network. Confident handling delays, cancellations, and security and takes a calm, professional approach to resolving incidents and complaints. Communicates respectfully with colleagues and customers alike to quickly build a rapport. Possesses an in-depth understanding of health and safety requirements and prioritizes customer welfare. 

Example of teamwork in the Key Skills section 

Product Management   |   Stakeholder Communications   |   Conflict Management   |   Analysis   |   Project Management   |   Strategic Thinking   |   Agile Methodology

Examples of teamwork in the Professional Experience section 

Mediated between a Junior Developer and the Team Manager to resolve conflict over processes, listening to both sides and proposing a solution accepted by both parties 

Conducted performance reviews, provided constructive feedback on areas for improvement and offered support and development opportunities to address them

Liaised with teams across the business, communicating persuasively to win their buy-in to new projects and delivering confident presentations to large audiences

Turned around a delayed project by reviewing plans and delegating tasks fairly across the team, achieving delivery 2 days ahead of the original deadline

Led by example to build a cohesive and productive team that respected and valued each other despite having very different personalities

Negotiated a $10,000 cost reduction with a supplier, having collaborated with them to identify and address inefficiencies in the current supply process

Motivated colleagues to complete a complex project on time by adopting a positive, can-do attitude to overcoming challenges

Increased team output by 15% by instilling a sense of common purpose through team-building exercises and optional team social events

Example of teamwork skills in the Education section 

Course: Conflict Management and Resolution, 2024

BSc degree: French and English Literature, University of Alabama, 2023

Gained skills in collaboration and delegation as leader of a group project

Example of teamwork skills in the Hobbies and Interests section 

Soccer player:  Contributed significantly to the team that won the Alabama Youth Cup

PTA member:   Collaborated with other parents to raise $10,000 for the school 

Other words for team working

Of course, you don't want to repeat “teamwork” and “team working” multiple times throughout your resume. Switch up the vocabulary to ensure you're presenting a compelling and engaging read. Try these ideas: 

Collaborating

Communicating

Cooperating

Supporting 

Working together

How to improve your teamwork skills 

Not everyone was born a natural collaborator and not everyone has had the opportunity to contribute to a team before they first hit the job market. If you're looking to develop or improve your teamwork skills, there are plenty of ways to do so.

Understand your role

By fully understanding your role in the team and the role of the team in the wider business, you'll be equipped to fulfill your responsibilities and support others in fulfilling theirs. Hold yourself accountable for completing all your tasks, as they will likely impact other members of the team. 

Stay open minded

Actively seek feedback and act on it. Listen to what others are saying and try to look at issues from their perspective. Accept differences rather than taking a negative attitude. 

Get organized

An organized team member is a reliable team member, so plan, schedule, use apps, and set yourself deadlines to ensure you're not letting anyone down. 

Push yourself

Ask if there are opportunities to contribute to teams beyond your day-to-day role - if a project is looming, you may get the chance to work as part of a different team, with different objectives and different perspectives. Take the opportunity to learn from others and push yourself beyond your comfort zone. 

Teamwork skills on a resume are essential!

Whichever role or industry you're aiming for, it's almost guaranteed that you'll be part of a team – small or large, on-site or remote, traditional or matrix. Therefore, it makes sense that you dedicate a corner of your resume to proving your skills in this area. With our advice, you're now well-placed to make sure your resume demonstrates your excellence in this area. 

If you'd like an expert eye on your resume before you send it out to recruiters and hiring managers, why not submit it for a free, no obligation resume review ?

Recommended reading:

The 10 Secrets of Effective Team Management

11 Best Administrative Skills for Your Resume (With Examples)

How to Create an Effective STAR Method Resume (With Examples)

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11 Best Marketing Skills for Your Resume + Examples

Highlighting Writing Skills on Your Resume

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