How to Write a Job Resume Skills Section

What's on the Page?

  • On your job resume, figure out what kind of skills are necessary for the job and compare it with a list of your own skills
  • Never lie about your skills
  • Common skills people list on resumes
  • After listing the skill then describe it briefly
  • Make sure the skills you list are relevant to the job you're applying for
  • If you have a lot of skills in one area (technical knowledge for example) then group those skills together for easier reading

So the first thing you should do before you begin writing the skills section of your resume is figure out what kind of skills are important for that job. Then you should compare that list with the skills you possess.

Do not list skills that you do not have. NEVER LIE on your resume.

Common skills people often list on a job resume are the following:

  • Communication
  • Problem solving
  • Team player or working collaboratively with a team
  • Planning and/or Organizing
  • Technical or systems knowledge

Skills and Descriptions

Under each skill write a description of what aspects of that skill you are talking about. For example:

Event Planning- Planning parties or events on a large or small scale including budgeting and working with third parties.

Relevant skills

Please make sure that your skills are relevant for the job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying to be a file clerk at the local hospital’s medical records department then event planning is probably not a necessary skill for the job. Neither are Team player skills necessary for that job. Try attention to detail and organization.

I'll say it again...

Let me say this again, just to let you know how important it is. If you are NOT good at organization then DON’T say that you are! If you do NOT know how to balance a budget DON’T say that you do! NEVER LIE on your job resume. Seriously.

Groupings in a list

If you are applying to a company about some kind of technical job then it might become necessary to list a whole bunch of technical skills. When organizing this section, bunch all these technical skills together instead of listing them separately. Then list other non-technical skills (assuming you have some).

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