One of the most important sections of your resume is the ‘Skills’ section.

Not only does these one-word make your resume more appealing but they also help you beat the ATS.

While listing skills on your professional resume is fairly easy, finding the ‘right’ skills to list is a little bit trickier. 

But worry not, we got you covered. Being one of the top rated resume writing services in South Carolina, our writers have cracked the code of using skills to elevate your resume and make it rank well on any application tracking system a company may use.

Remember, there’s a thin line between using the right skills for the job and boring the recruiter with overused work and irrelevant information.

Importance of the Skills Section in a Resume

If you are listing skills on your resume without giving it a second thought just to fill out a section then you might be underestimating the significance of including the right skills in your skills section. A skills section has a lot of benefits such as:

Differentiates you from other candidates: Utilizing the skills section properly can help you differentiate yourself from other candidates. Highlight your unique and valuable skills that are not demonstrated in the work experience section. Use relevant skills so that the recruiter can easily see how you are a good fit.

Highlights your qualifications: The skills section provides you with an opportunity to showcase your relevant qualifications and expertise to impress the recruiter. By listing skills specific and relevant to the targeted job, a candidate can demonstrate their suitability for the role and make their application more attractive to potential employers.

Grabs the recruiter’s attention: Recruiters typically spend only 6 to 7 seconds scanning a resume before deciding its worth. By placing prominent skills at the top of the resume, you can quickly grab the recruiter’s attention and create a lasting first impression.

Works as a quick resume summary: The skills section also works as a quick summary of your qualifications and abilities as it is easier for recruiters to go through and they use it to assess your suitability for the specific job position.

Soft Skills Vs. Hard Skills

A widely-spread misconception that many people have is that soft skills are not that important and a resume should only contain hard skills to impress the recruiter. However. It has been revealed that 74% of recruiters prefer candidates who possess a good balance of both of them.

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills refer to a person’s general characteristics and personality traits that are intangible and cannot be quantified. They are self-developed independently and differ from person to person. Soft skills are just as crucial for any professional career as hard skills, as they reveal an individual’s character traits. Teamwork, leadership, effective communication, and time management are examples of some of the most sought-after soft skills that recruiters look for in potential employees.

Soft skills are really important for a person to have workplace success because they allow a person to communicate and work effectively with coworkers, express their ideas, and team building.

What are Hard Skills?

Hard Skills are the technical knowledge and abilities that are specific to a job and are necessary to perform it effectively. They vary from job to job and are developed through experience and education. Hard skills are measurable and can be acquired through training or work experience. Each job requires a unique set of hard skills. Some of the most popular hard skills that are required for almost every job nowadays include basic computer skills like MS. Office Suite, project management, and data analysis.

Hard skills are crucial and you cannot perform a job without having the set of specific hard skills required for it. They help you in advancing your career and are a must-have for professional development. You can develop almost any hard skill with training and practice.

How to Write a Skills Section in a Resume

Now that you know the importance of the skills section and the difference between soft skills and hard skills, it is time to learn how to list skills on your resume. According to the best resume writing services in South Carolina, you should include the skills section at the top of your resume, immediately after the profile summary. This is because a recruiter only looks at your resume for a couple of seconds and if the skills section is placed within eye level of them opening your resume, they will be able to spot it easily and go through it quickly.

A recruiter’s decision about whether you are a good fit for the job or not can be influenced greatly based on the skills you have so it is best to include all of your skills together, separated by a ‘,’ or a ‘|’ to make it easy to read. Make sure all of the skills you are including in the resume are relevant to the job role and do not ever make the mistake of lying about your skill just for the sake of seeming like the perfect fit as this can backfire pretty bad later on.

50 Essential Skills to Include in Your Resume

Here are some of the top skills that you should include in your resume, although make sure they are relevant to your specific job role:

Communication

Leadership

Interpersonal skills

Problem-solving

Teamwork

Adaptability

Time management

Creativity

Attention to detail

Project management

Writing

Multitasking

Organizational skills

Public speaking

Customer service

Sales

Data analysis

Research

Financial analysis

Conflict resolution

Negotiation

Presentation skills

Marketing

Training

Risk management

Quality control

Collaboration

Strategic thinking

Budgeting

Decision-making

Planning

Foreign language proficiency

Coaching

Event planning

Mentoring

Procurement

Software proficiency

Data entry

Crisis management

Public relations

Recruitment

Payroll management

Inventory management

Human resources management

Supply chain management

Change management

Storytelling

Troubleshooting

Itinerating

Accounting

Conclusion

Skills are an important element of your resume because, in all honesty, a recruiter does not care if you are a good software developer, they care about whether you possess the necessary skills required to be a good developer like your proficiency with software development frameworks, programming languages, troubleshooting, and database management. It is best to do a lot of research and read the job description thoroughly before you start listing skills on your resume to ensure that your skills section is killing it.