Skills for Your Resume: What to List and How
Short answer: List 6–15 specific skills the job asks for and you can prove — mostly hard skills such as tools, methods and qualifications. Use the posting’s exact wording, group them if you have many, and back the important ones up in your experience bullets.
Hard skills first
Hard skills are specific and checkable: software, languages, methods, licences, equipment. They are what applicant tracking systems and recruiters search for.
Soft skills — show, don't list
"Communication" and "leadership" in a skills list carry little weight. Prove them in a bullet instead: Presented quarterly results to the executive team shows communication; Led a team of 6 shows leadership.
How many?
Six to fifteen is a good range. Fewer can look thin to a parser; many more dilutes the ones that matter.
Group them when you have many
- Languages: Python, SQL, R
- BI & analytics: Power BI, Tableau, Looker
- Methods: A/B testing, forecasting, causal inference
In the builder, add a skill with details to get a grouped line like this.
Examples by field
- Technology: Python, TypeScript, React, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, SQL, CI/CD, system design
- Healthcare: patient assessment, medication administration, IV therapy, Epic EHR, BLS/ACLS
- Sales: prospecting, negotiation, Salesforce, pipeline management, account planning
- Marketing: Google Ads, SEO, HubSpot, GA4, content strategy, email marketing
- Finance: financial modelling, forecasting, GAAP, Excel (advanced), NetSuite
- Customer service: Zendesk, de-escalation, CRM, typing speed, bilingual support
- Trades: NEC code, blueprint reading, forklift certification, OSHA 30
Each of the 60 resume examples lists the skills and the keywords that recur in real postings for that role.
Put it into practice
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