Tips for Adding Skills to Your CV

Why list skills on your CV?

Listing skills on your CV helps to show employers that you’re a suitable candidate for the job. Most job descriptions have a list of the key skills that are essential or desirable for the role. Making sure you include a list of the skills you possess helps the reader to quickly assess the strength of your application. In addition, peppering references to your skills throughout your CV shows how you’ve used those skills to bring success and achievements to your career.

While it’s important that your skills list reflects the job description, skills on your CV can also help to differentiate you from other candidates. Aiming to include a few skills that aren’t referenced on the job advert, but that you feel are useful for the role, can show employers what makes you unique from other applicants.

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

There are various different types of skills that you can add to your CV. Some can be related directly to your professional experience (hard or professional skills) while others are closely connected to your personality traits (soft or personal skills).

The main types of skills to add to your CV are as follows: 

Hard skills: these are specialist and technical skills that you can learn through study or practice. You should develop stronger hard skills as your career progresses, but equally you can become less competent at them  if you don’t practice regularly. Make sure you show how your hard skills have contributed to achievements and success in your career to date. For example:

Soft skills: these tend not to be associated with a particular job or industry, but rather reflect your personal qualities and character. Soft skills are typically transferable across different roles and industries, and they’re growing in importance in the modern world of work. You can mention soft skills throughout your CV, but always remember to relate them back to the job description and the role they’ve played in your career. For example:

Competencies: these  are different to skills. They include a combination of the skills, knowledge and behaviours you need to be successful in a job. For example, your ability to learn coding languages demonstrates analytical skills.

It’s important to balance both hard skills and soft skills on your CV. Your hard skills will help the employer to assess your core abilities and the immediate contribution you can make to the organisation. Your soft skills will show how well you’ll fit into the team and the long-term benefits that your personal qualities and characteristics can offer to the company.

Hard skills

As mentioned, hard skills are ones that you have learned either on the job or in education. They refer to the professional knowledge or training that you picked up in your career or education. For example:

• If you’ve worked in customer service, you know how to use a cash register.
• If you’ve lived in France, you may be able to speak French fluently.
• If you’ve studied law, you’re familiar with legalese.

Hard skills show employers what you can do. They’re usually dependent on the job or industry, although some are transferable, e.g. the ability to manage a budget.

Some of the most sought-after hard skills are:

• Blockchain
• Cloud computing
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• UX Design
• Business analysis 
• Affiliate marketing 
• Sales
• Scientific 
• Video production 

Soft skills

While hard skills are the set of abilities to perform in a job, soft skills are the personal traits or the natural abilities that you possess. They usually relate to your emotional intelligence and the way you interact with people.

Unlike hard skills, soft skills are transferable across all industries and job types. 

It can be hard to prove that you possess a particular soft skill, but it’s not enough to state that you’re able to adapt to different situations, for instance. Instead, try to find examples of times when you demonstrated adaptability and include these in your CV.

It’s important to list a good mix of hard and soft skills in your CV so that employers have a well-rounded picture of you. In some industries (e.g. sales or human resources), your soft skills may give you the edge over other candidates.

The top soft skills desired by employers are:

• Creativity: you can bring new ideas to the table.
• Persuasion: you can bring others round to your way of thinking.
• Collaboration: you’re able to work well with others.
• Adaptability: you can adapt quickly to new situations.
• Emotional intelligence: you can evaluate and respond appropriately to others’ emotions.

Competencies 

Competencies can be best described as the set of skills, knowledge, abilities and behaviours that enable you to be successful in a job. While skills let employers know what you’re good at, competencies explain how you apply the skills to a job.

For example, if you’re a data analyst, it’s a given that you need Excel skills. But to apply those Excel skills effectively, you also need attention to detail and the ability to communicate findings clearly and concisely. These are competencies.

To put it all together:

Examples of competencies:

• Analytical: how you can gather information and draw conclusions from it
• Decision-making: ability to make decisions quickly and efficiently 
• Leadership: ability to lead a team
• Problem-solving: how you find effective solutions to problems
• Commitment to excellence: attention to detail

Skills to leave off your CV

You don’t need to list every skill you have, especially if they’re not related to the job or you’re not particular proficient at it:

Language skills

Only include these if you truly feel confident that you can use them in a professional environment. You may have an intermediate understanding of Spanish, but that doesn’t matter if you can’t hold business conversations in the language.

Microsoft Word and computer skills

Nowadays, everyone has these skills. Stating that you can use Microsoft Word or a computer is the same as saying that you can read or write. It also gives the impression that you don’t have any special skills and so, you need to pad out your CV with skills that everyone possesses.

An exception would be if you have mastered Word’s advanced features and have taken an Advanced Word certification exam.

Irrelevant skills

Being a pro at bungee-jumping is impressive, but if you can’t connect the skill to the job description, leave it off your CV.

Social media

You might have thousands of followers on social media, but there’s more to being a social media specialist than posting engaging content. Unless you’ve also earned significant revenue from your followers or have managed social media campaigns, it’s best not to mention your Facebook or Instagram skills.

Outdated tech skills

While technology is evolving at a rapid pace, it’s still important to keep on top of the relevant tools and software used in your industry.

Listing outdated technology in your CV makes you look out of touch and vulnerable to ageism. Employers may also think that you’re not able to adapt to changes.

How do you add a skills section to your CV?

Start by reading the job description carefully to identify the skills required by your prospective employer.

Make a list of your own skills including soft and hard skills and try to match these to the skills in the job description.

If you’re unsure which skills you possess, you could ask former colleagues and managers or review past performance reviews. Also, try to remember all the times when you received praise for a job well done.

It may be tempting to lie about or exaggerate your skills, but avoid doing this, as you’ll most probably be asked about them in interviews.

You have a few options for listing your skills in your CV:

• Functional or skills-based CV: a skills-based CV is particularly useful for job-hoppers or career changers
• Dedicated skills section: beneficial for those who have extensive experience but want to highlight specific chills
• Professional experience section: Alternatively, you can weave your skills in with the description of your job responsibilities.

However you decide to list your skills, make sure you keep them relevant to the job you’re applying for. Use a CV layout of Jobseeker to easily structure your skills section.

Tailoring your skills section for different job applications

Like all aspects of your CV, it’s essential to tailor your skills section for each job application. The skills required by each employer, for every role, across all different industry sectors will always be unique, and so should the skills you include in your CV. Take a look at these tips for adding skills to your CV for every application:

• Read the job description: job adverts and job descriptions usually come with a list of key skills the employer is looking for. This should give you an indication of whether you’re right for the role, and which of your key skills to mention in your skills list, and throughout your CV.
• Identify keywords: applicant tracking systems (ATS) are a key part of most modern recruitment processes. These software applications can scan and rank CVs based on the candidate’s likely suitability for the role. They often do this by searching CVs for keywords that match those listed in the job description. As such, it’s important to incorporate these throughout your CV, and in particular in your skills section.
• Study CV examples: search online for example CVs that match the job title or the job description of the role you’re applying for. These can give you more ideas of what skills employers tend to look for.
• Provide context and evidence of your skills: if you have space, it can be useful to expand your skills section beyond a simple list, and to explain how you’ve used your skills to make an impact in previous roles. For example, rather than simply listing ‘flexibility’, you could write ‘flexibility to adapt to evolving technologies in the workplace, including the adoption of AI tools to help with key strategy decisions’.

Showcasing Examples of Your Skills

While it’s useful to provide a brief bullet-point list of your skills on your CV, it’s also essential to provide examples of your skills throughout the document. You can do this by adopting the STAR method. STAR stands for ‘Situation, Task, Action, Result’. For every entry in your CV, it’s important to consider these four elements, to add evidence and show the impact your skills have made on your career and to the organisations you’ve worked for.

Here are some examples of showcasing the impact of your skills on your CV:

Skills for CVs with No Experience

If you’re just starting out in your career and you lack a body of relevant work experience, it’s still possible to include valuable and highly regarded skills in your CV. Focus on transferable skills and personal qualities that will make you a strong employee and help you to have a positive impact in the workplace. Listing soft, transferable skills such as communication, flexibility and teamwork on your CV can help to make you a suitable candidate for a wide variety of jobs.

In the absence of suitable employment examples, draw on your education and other life experiences. These could include internships, volunteer work and hobbies and interests to show how you’ve developed and used the skills necessary for the job.

The Importance of Transferable Skills for Your CV

Transferable skills are growing in importance in the modern world of work. A study by the World Economic Forum suggests that in the future it will become more normal for workers to have multiple careers throughout their working lives (1). In this situation, those with transferable skills will thrive the most.

Transferable skills are any skills that you can put to use in various different roles and industry sectors. Some transferable skills are soft skills, such as communication skills, creativity and analytical thinking. Others are hard, more technical skills such as project management, data analysis and programming that are becoming increasingly useful across a wide range of industry sectors. Developing transferable skills and listing them on your CV gives you a huge advantage in your job search, and in your future career opportunities.

Example Skills Lists for Different Roles

Here are some examples of key skills for different job roles and industry sectors:

Finance skills

Hard skills:

• Credit analysis
• Financial reporting
• Financial compliance knowledge
• Advanced Excel skills
• Portfolio management
• Coding and data analysis

Soft skills:

• Presentation skills
• Written and verbal communication
• Networking
• Teamwork
• Problem-solving

Healthcare skills

Hard skills:

• Administering medication
• Patient consultation and diagnostics
• Performing surgical procedures
• Medical record management

Soft skills:

• Attention to detail
• Empathy
• Stress management
• Active listening
• Problem-solving

Education skills

Hard skills:

• Lesson planning
• Classroom management
• Digital assessment tools
• Instructional design
• Learning management systems

Soft skills:

• Relationship building
• Collaboration
• Conflict resolution
• Patience
• Self-motivation

IT skills

Hard skills:

• Coding
• Database management
• Network configuration and management
• Hardware deployment
• Operating system knowledge

Soft skills:

• Collaboration
• Attention to detail
• Analytical skill
• Project management
• Flexibility

Marketing skills

Hard skills:

• Data analysis
• SEO
• Digital tools including CRM, CMS and project management software
• Social media management
• Online ad management
• Creative skills including design, photography and video production

Soft skills:

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Curiosity
• Creativity
• Critical thinking

Quick Tips for Listing Skills on Your CV

Follow these quick tips for best practice to ensure your CV skills section makes a strong impression with the reader:

• Tailor your skills list: always tailor your skills list to the job description to ensure you meet the selection criteria, pass the ATS stage and show the employer why you’re a suitable candidate for the role.
• Use bullet points: bullet point formatting helps keep your skills section brief, to-the-point and easy to read.
• Place your skills list in a suitable position: for a functional or skills-based CV, you may wish to place your skills towards the top of your CV. For a traditional CV, it usually comes after your work experience and education sections. Alternatively, you could use a two-column design and place your skills list in a sidebar.
• Add context to your skills: if you have space ion your CV skills section, offer an explanation of how you’ve used your skills in your career to date.
• Mention skills throughout your CV: don’t confine your skills purely to your skills section. Instead, make sure you mention them throughout your CV summary, work experience and other optional sections to show how you’ve used your skills and the impact they’ve made.

Learning New Skills for Your CV

As your career progresses, it’s essential to keep developing your skills so you can add these to your CV and stay ahead of the chasing pack. If you can show a commitment to learning new skills on your CV, this will help mark you out as a self-motivated, proactive candidate who’s committed to developing their career.

Seek out training opportunities in work wherever possible, and accept any offers of training that you feel could help your future employability. You can also take matters into your own hands and manage your personal career development by enrolling in training courses and completing certifications that develop your skills and look good on your CV. Online training platforms such as Coursera, Udemy and Skillshare are great places to add to your skill set.

Top Skills to List on Any CV

While some job roles require highly specific technical skills and industry knowledge, there are other skills that are in-demand more or less across the board. Take a look at this list of the 10 most powerful skills to list on your CV, whatever role you’re applying for:

• Teamwork: your ability to work well with others is critical to your chances of success in almost any role.
• Communication: showcasing the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, clients, senior leadership and customers is an essential trait for most jobs.
• Leadership: leadership isn’t just important for managers; it showcases various strengths and natural traits that make you an attractive employee and a valuable team member.
• Organisation: time-management, multitasking and other organisational skills are highly valuable in the busy modern workplace.
• Problem-solving: your ability to view a challenge from all angles and come up with a solution will help you to move forward in various different careers and industry sectors.
• Analytical thinking: analytical thinking showcases your ability to embrace innovative approaches and find new and creative ways of reaching solutions and positive outcomes.
• Attention to detail: accuracy and attention to detail are important qualities that will ensure your work is of a consistent high standard, whatever job you do.
• Interpersonal skills: your ability to build and maintain positive working relationships can have a significant impact on your immediate colleagues and your wider team.
• Flexibility/adaptability: the nature of work is constantly evolving, so the ability to flex, adapt and thrive in any work environment is highly valued by many employers.
• Self-motivation: a self-motivated employee is one who doesn’t need constant monitoring and can be trusted to be productive and deliver work of a high standard without supervision.
• Project management: project management skills are transferable across a range of industries and job roles, and showcase your ability to deliver projects on time and within budget.

Sources:

(1) World Economic Forum: Having many careers will be the norm, experts say