8 Must-have Skills to Put on a Resume

A well-thought resume is central to success, and get an invitation to a job interview. Being a job applicant, you need to realize every single word you put on your resume matters and present yourself in the best possible light. Simply licking the most popular skills and listing them in your resume is not the optimal way to get attention from hiring managers. First, you need to decide on your unique set of skills to include. Let’s find out more about preparation.

3 Steps to Decide What Skills to Add

Follow these preparation steps to receive a unique and outstanding skillset that will draw recruiters’ attention.

Step 1. Determine Your Core Strengths

This process will not only help include the abilities in the resume but also give you a fresh look at yourself. You will see what areas need improvements and things you need to learn.

While making a list focus not only on a professional sphere, but also on character traits, and other relevant spheres.

Step 2. Study Demanded Abilities in Your Sector

Your resume should be updated with the latest market trends. It is especially important if you try to start your career in a completely new sphere. Check out popular job descriptions and similar resumes.

Step 3. Pay Attention to the Job Description

Study the position description backward and forwards. Ensure you have all the required capabilities to apply and be a relevant candidate. While listing your abilities, you can repeat the core ones a few times.

Why is the Skills Section So Significant?

Apart from demonstrating you as a valuable specialist, this part also plays a decisive role in making the overall impression. Most employers utilize special tools for scanning resumes and filtering out the candidates. The more attractive, well thought, and structured the abilities section is, the bigger your chances are to be invited to an interview. For some applicants, it is hard to make a decision, and they save time by getting professional resume help from special online services.

What Hard Skills are the Best to Include?

Hard skills are technical skills or abilities received through learning and work experience. Here are the most demanded ones:

1. Experience with Certain Computer apps And Systems

In a digitalized world, these skills became essential for job applicants. Familiarity with specialized tools and programs is a must if you look for a job in the IT industry where all decisions are made based on technical skills.

2. Relevant Certificates and Qualifications

Even though it may not be as significant as a university diploma, you need to mention all your valuable achievements from various fields. It will also show the hiring managers that you are constantly working on improving your expertise and self-education.

3. Foreign Languages

It may seem obvious, but many people underestimate the value of employees who can speak multiple languages. Knowing many languages will make your application stand out, especially if the requirements involve interaction with customers or partners. Always include fluency and proficiency in other languages in both summary and abilities sections.

What Soft Skills are the Most Suitable to Include?

Soft skills are easier to include as you may interpret them, and they are more flexible than hard ones. They can be related to any industry and suitable for employment in any sphere. In a nutshell, they are personality traits acquired not only through work but through overall life experience. Recent researches show that employers pay more attention to them. Keep in mind that despite you need to place your hard skills in a separate section, soft skills should be included separately. They play a decisive role if you want to find a job in marketing, sales, or services that involve interaction with customers. You need to pay more attention to them if you switch industries or don’t have an exhaustive background in a certain sphere. Let’s have a look at the most demanded ones.

1. Communication

This is an essential ability for effective work, and we all realized it during the pandemic when all the teams had to work remotely. Those who managed to interact with others effectively became strong game players and achieved more success or kept the company as effective as before the pandemic. While listing these abilities, provide a definite example of how they helped you achieve success and give examples of your high results supported with numbers.

2. Time Optimization

This ability is necessary for any candidate who is going to deal with numerous tasks. It demonstrates how well you can organize yourself and prove you will be an effective employee. Add this ability when you describe your work experience.

3. Team Working

This is a complex skill, highly valued by most employers. With communication getting more global, team-leading is getting more and more demanding. It requires emotional leadership that is the key factor. Include this skill while describing a certain high result in your experience and show how teamwork contributed to it.

4. Addressing Challenges

It is the ability to face difficult and unpredictable situations and deal with them. Creative thinking helps you look at the problem from a fresh angle and solve it. You can add this skill by mentioning a certain difficulty and describe a certain way you handled it.

5. Flexibility

This is a critical skill, and we realized its importance during the unpredictable global events of 2020. It means you can handle any circumstances, and they won’t influence your productive work. It also makes you prepared for company transformation, new roles, and responsibilities.

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out?

Now that you know the must-have skillset, let’s talk about making your resume notable. Creating an attractive piece that will draw the recruiters’ attention is a demanding process. That’s why many applicants use writing services ResumesOnTime.net to get professional resume help. Here are our pieces of advice:

Use Concrete Numbers

This is more impactful than simply describing your strengths. This way, the employer knows what to expect from you and what definite results your work can result in.

Define a Clear Objective of Your Resume

Clarify your professional goals and adjust your resume to them. This means you should eliminate all the irrelevant experience and skills so as not to confuse the hiring managers. Present your key goal and show how your experience can help achieve it.

Conclusion

Your abilities are the core of your resume. It is hard to overestimate their role in successfully applying for a job. The more attention you pay to add skills to your resume, the higher your chances are. Make sure every ability you add presents you as a valuable candidate and highlights your professional and personal strengths.

Carolyn Mckenzie

Carolyn Mckenzie

I studied at Georgetown University. My major was Secondary Education and Teaching, so I know how to work with resumes and how important home tasks are for them. I’ve always wanted to become a writer, so I joined the local newspaper team at the university. It helped me practice my writing skills to become a technical writer. Thanks to my 6-year working experience, I can consult people on the cover letters and write them immaculately.

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