Be honest – when was the last time you revamped the skills section of your resume?
That’s right. Many candidates ignore this part, choosing instead to focus on professional achievements, qualifications, or education. They don’t even suspect that they’re making a huge mistake. That’s because the skills section acts as a deal-breaker during the early screening process. Here’s why.
Why Is Your Skill Set Important?
Skills are the essence of your professional experience. They’re the fruit of all your hard work, so it’s only fair that you brag a little and show recruiters that your skill set makes you the right match for the position. On average, recruiters spend as little as 6 seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether it’s worth reading. Naturally, your job at this point is to make the most of these few seconds of attention. That’s why knowing what skills to put on a resume is crucial. By using your skill set as a foundation for your professional identity, you’ll develop a strong personal brand that will help you stand out among other candidates.
So, What Skills Should You Include on Your Resume?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that communication skills are among the most sought after in any industry. More than two thirds of recruiters clearly position communication as the most important element in every worker’s skill set. But recruiters are also looking for basic, non-technical skills – these make up roughly 30% of all skills listed on a job posting. And the same is true for highly technical positions! All this means that it’s worth it to expand the skills section of your resume and include skills recruiters desire most: written and verbal communication, leadership, strategic planning, analytical thinking, and teamwork.
Here’s How to Showcase Your Skills on a Resume
- Stay relevant – make sure the skills you list on your resume match those listed in the job description. Check other listings for similar positions to get a better idea about the most sought-after skills.
- Check the skill sets of people who already have your dream job – have a look at their LinkedIn profiles to see what type of skills and accomplishments are listed on their online resumes. Add those you have as well to your resume – this way, you’ll be following an industry standard.
- Add some extra skills – even if not mentioned in the post, skills that translate across jobs are fair game, but only as long as they’re relevant to the position.
- Feature skills everyone wants – have a look at the universal skills all employers want and add them to your skills section.
- Be specific – Add details and numbers. They’ll act as excellent proof of your proficiency.
- Focus on keyword skills – you probably realize that recruiters use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to make their lives easier. Add keyword skills to your resume and you can be sure that the bots that sift through hundreds of other documents will notice you.
Failing to properly showcase your skills on a resume means that you’ll be missing out on many opportunities for grabbing a recruiter’s attention. If you spend some time crafting your skills section, you’re bound to seriously boost your chances at landing your dream job.
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