130+ Skills to Put on Resume in 2025 (Templates & Examples)

Why Your Resume Skills Section Matters

Imagine you are a hiring manager: You have a pile of resumes in front of you. What's the first thing you look for? Skills.

Skills are the main basis to seal a strong impression on the employer. So it is always essential to possess insight into what skills are to be mentioned for that particular job. How will you know which skill to mention on your resume for your applied job?

You have listed the skills on your resume, and now you're all ready to apply for the job with your resume. Believe it when we say listing the skills is only part of the recipe for getting shortlisted. You are just halfway there. The remaining path is not just the skills, but the "right" skills on your resume.

We are here to provide a detailed outline of the skills that should be highlighted on your resume. Skills are the first components of a resume to be glanced at, as they provide a snapshot of your eligibility for the job. Not only do they inform the employer about your talents, but they also highlight your interpersonal behaviors and overall personality, helping to attract the employer.

Different Skills to Include on Your Resume

Now we know why highlighting the right skills is important. But there is still a way to go, in case you are determined to craft a "perfect" resume. You must be familiar with the category under which the particular skill from your resume comes and also verify that you have not over-listed skills from each category. By categories of skills, we refer to "hard skills" and "soft skills."

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

What are hard skills?

Hard skills are those skills that can be developed by training, practicing, or experience. To simplify, hard skills are those that we learn to meet or perform certain industry-related errands or tasks.

These skills are job-specific and demonstrate the level of proficiency in certain fields. To gain a better understanding of hard skills, let us guide you through some examples in various fields:

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are interpersonal skills that talk about the behavior and personality traits that enable the candidate to effectively manage work at the workplace. They describe the attributes and habits of the individual that foster both professional and personal growth. Let us delve deep into understanding soft skills through some examples:

What are transferable skills?

Understanding transferable skills

Apart from hard skills and soft skills, there are also transferrable skills that are not job-specific. Transferrable skills are those skills that do not depend on the job demands and can be applied to and needed for all kinds of jobs. These skills are also known as "portable skills" since they can be transferred from any job to any job.

Best Hard Skills to Put on Your Resume Industry-Wise

Every industry has its demands for hard skills. As the industry changes, so do the hard skills required for that particular industry. Through this section, we aim to explore the hard skills based on industry.

IT and Computer Science Skills

The following skills are the hard skills essential in various domains.

Programming

In the programming field, proficiency in programming languages is essential. You can include expertise in programming languages like Python, Java, C++, or other languages based on the job description.

Cloud Computing

Nowadays, every service is offered remotely with the use of the internet by using servers. This is cloud computing. Cloud computing is the management, storage, and usage of data over the internet and the delivery of services remotely. Some famous cloud service providers are AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity experts analyze the security of the systems, identify risks, and troubleshoot problems. They primarily engage in preventing threats from external sources to the data and foreseeing and analyzing any suspicious activity. To obtain a career in the cybersecurity field, one must have the following hard skills:

Healthcare Skills

The following skills are required in the healthcare industry.

Nursing Skills

These skills consist of interpersonal abilities that help in assisting and treating the patient with full attention. There are many positions as a nurse. Each position requires a separate set of hard skills. Following is the set of hard skills according to the position as a nursing assistant.

Registered Nurses

RNs are responsible for communicating with the patient's family and spreading awareness of the medical conditions. Skills that should be mentioned on a resume for a registered nurse position are:

Nursing assistant skills

A nursing assistant's basic role is to take basic care of patients and provide them with proper care. Some hard skills to be mentioned on a nursing assistant's resume are:

Licensed Practical Nurse

An LPN takes care of the patient under the supervision of RNs and doctors. Some hard skills that they can highlight in their resume are:

Medical Coder Skills

A medical coder is a professional who converts the patient's details, lab reports, and any other medical information into universally accepted codes to ensure the accuracy of the data and manage the data effectively. One needs high-value skills to become a medical coder.

Medical Assistance

Medical assistants perform both clinical and administrative duties. Clinical duties include preparing and keeping the prescribed medication ready, preparing the medical instruments for surgery, and assisting with procedures and examinations. Administrative skills include managing medical records, scheduling doctor appointments, and checking patient intake.

Finance and Accounting Skills

Since all the tasks related to finance are performed using various tools nowadays, it is important to be skilled in various tools and also know how to use various software.

Investment Banking Skills

Investment banking deals with helping companies increase their capital. It deals with issuing and selling stocks and serves the company with complex financial needs.

Financial Analysis

Financial analysts are responsible for analyzing the performance of the company regarding finance, decoding the financial metrics, and providing insights on the current market trends.

Some hard skills you can use if you're applying for a financial analyst role:

Marketing and Sales Skills

Following are the hard skills demanded in the sales sector.

Digital Marketing

Sales Skills

Customer Service Skills

Engineering Skills

There are various branches of engineering, and each branch deals with different purposes. Hence each branch has its criteria.

Civil Engineering

Civil engineers perform the construction and design of buildings.

Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineers must be proficient in physics, as the major role of electrical engineers is to apply the laws and principles of various branches of physics. They deal with devices that run on electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism.

Mechanical Engineering

Since mechanical engineers deal with designing, constructing, and operating machines, they must have profound knowledge of mathematics and physics. They should be aware of engineering principles. Some of the technical skills that a mechanical engineer should possess are:

HR Skills

When you are applying for a human resources position, ensure you have highlighted the following skills:

Business Operations Skills

Business operations are the tasks performed by the company in providing its services to the customers or clients. For management of business operations, we need the following skills:

Web Development Work Skills

Cloud Computing & Cloud Engineer Skills

Content Writer Skills

Art and Design Skills

Graphic Design

Skills for Data Analysis

Presentation Skills for Resume

You can also highlight your presentation skills if required. Some jobs, like sales executive roles and consultant roles, need these presentation skills. In such cases, where required, you have to demonstrate your presentation skills so that the recruiter will know that you are capable of handling the connections well.

Negotiation Skills Resume

In cases where agreements matter, negotiation skills play a vital role.

Time Management Skills

Time management skills are very important, irrespective of the sector that you are working in. These skills include creating a timetable, avoiding procrastination, setting a timer, following the timer properly, keeping track of the time, etc.

Server Skills for Resume

Warehouse Skills for Resume

Warehouse management handles the supply of goods, storing of goods, and management of the goods in the place.

Retail Skills for CV

Office Skills for Resume

Whatever the job is, you will have to work in the office. Some of the common skills to finish the office work smoothly are:

Legal Resume Skills

Wondering what these "legal resume skills" are? These skills are those that involve handling legal procedures.

Education Skills

Receptionist Skills and Abilities for a Resume

A receptionist needs to have high-level communication skills and the ability to answer the customer's questions regarding the company.

Product Manager Skills for a Resume

A product manager, as the name suggests, is a qualified person who is competent in analyzing the market, plotting a roadmap for the development of a product, and taking responsibility for the success of the product. Product management requires hard skills like:

Highlighting Soft Skills on Your Resume

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Listing hard skills for the specific job is not sufficient to help you pass through the first step. As already discussed, highlighting the right skills is vital.

The common blunder that is performed by many aspirants is believing hard skills are all that are looked for by the employer. Or every so often you may overlook hard skills and overlist soft skills. No, it is not going to work that way.

Any job requires both technical and interpersonal skills to fulfill it. It takes more than just hard skills to decide whether you are fit for the role or not. Therefore, it is beneficial to check if you have listed both hard skills and soft skills on your resume and also examine whether the skills align with the job description or not. That being said, let us now explore soft skills:

Communication and interpersonal skills

Leadership and Management Skills

Following communication, leadership is also an important factor in determining your behavioral abilities. Leadership qualities include decision-making abilities, the ability to guide the team and provide mentorship, and accountability for all tasks.

Here we provide you with some examples of demonstrating leadership and management skills in your resume:

Problem-solving and critical thinking

Mastery is meaningless if it cannot solve a puzzle. You have the right skills needed for the job, but if you cannot utilize the skills and frame a solution to a specific problem, then what is the use? of the skills? So problem-solving and critical thinking are also important soft skills that you can put on your resume.

Examples of problem-solving skills in different scenarios are:

Scenario: A customer is dissatisfied with the product and is willing to provide negative feedback.

Skill: Listened to the concerns of the customer and assured a refund or an exchange in return, offered limited discounts on future products, thus avoiding damage to reputation and also satisfying the customer with apologies.

Scenario:A software application is causing trouble by executing in an unwanted way.

Skill: Analyzed the code for error, troubleshot and fixed the bugs, and ensured the coding and the software management were done accurately. Resolved the issue, and now the applications work in our favor.

Scenario: The number of users for the network is reduced due to glitches and improper working.

Skill: Fixed the network issues and offered high discounts on recharge purchases. Enabled many exciting offers and facilities, thus compensating for the loss of network

Adaptability and Flexibility

Adaptability and flexibility are also crucial qualities for any job aspirant. Irrespective of the job sector, these skills are mandatory. Adaptability means being able to adjust to new environments quickly and get along with the new experiences without affecting work performance.

Flexibility means being available anytime regarding work issues or anything. Flexible means you can easily adjust to one's behavior and the changing circumstances. Both in personal and professional life, these skills are important because, in this fast-running world, situations keep changing from second to second.

At the workplace also, behaviors in fellow workers or the department you are working in keep changing rapidly, and you should be able to pass through the changes and deliver the same positive work performance.

Organizational Skills

Organizational skills are those skills that help you manage and finish the tasks properly. They include time management, scheduling and implementing skills, proper planning, prioritization techniques, goal setting, project management skills, resource management, and many more common skills that you must have to organize and properly execute a plan regarding work.

Skills for a Resume for Teachers

Teachers play a major role in shaping the future of students. It is highly needed that the teachers are trained well enough, have adequate knowledge of the subject, and are highly skilled in delivering comprehensible lectures. If you are aspiring to become a teacher, the following skills help in making your resume stand out.

Resume Skills for Freshers

For a fresher, the skills to be updated in a resume depend on his or her academic background and the career or job that he or she wants to pursue. The mentioned skills and projects should align with their academic wins and the specific job as well. An effective resume showcasing the skills in demand shows that the candidate is interested and prepared for the job. For freshmen, the skills depend on the sector.

Here's a quick snapshot of skills for freshers in various domains:

Data Scientist skills in resume for freshers

Digital marketing skills in resume for freshers

Cybersecurity skills for freshers

Software engineer skills for freshers

Medical officer

HR department

Why Listing the Right Skills on Your Resume is Important

Think your resume is going to be reviewed by the employer first? Then, think again. Our technology has evolved so much that the very first step towards your job application is going to be approved by a machine. Sounds unusual? Well, it should not. Because in recent times, the first employer that screens you is ATS (Applicant Tracking System).

The Applicant Tracking System is a widely used piece of software designed to help recruiters filter out applicants' resumes based on how well they align with the job requirements. The mechanism is as follows: The ATS provides custom templates or allows employers to customize job descriptions and their requirements.

Then, through its integration with various job sites, ATS eases the process of posting jobs online and reaches into the eyes of many job seekers. After receiving the applications, ATS scans the resume to find certain keywords in the resume that match the job description and filters them out. It stores all the qualified resumes' details, like contact address, applicant's name, and resume, in the database.

Later, recruiters can retrieve the qualified candidates' information through the database. In this way, listing the "right" skills on your resume is crucial for you to pass through ATS and get shortlisted. And also, there are many reasons you must list the "right" skills on your resume. Some of them are listed below:

What if the company doesn't use ATS?

It is still mandatory for you to mention the "right skills." Because a recruiter likely goes through your resume by himself/herself if the company doesn't use ATS. It is not possible for a human to sift through hundreds of resumes in a single day all by himself/herself.

So he/she just focuses on the skills section in your resume to evaluate your eligibility. Therefore, whatever the case is, listing the right skills is essential. Quite possibly, a recruiter determines your qualification in less than 7 seconds.

Tailoring Your Resume Skills for Specific Jobs

Your resume should be crafted in such a way that it seems perfect for the job. There are some basic and imperative steps to be followed to craft a perfect resume.

We are dedicated to spreading the knowledge in the most comprehensible way. So if you still have not grasped how to tailor your resume, we're here to provide you with an example:

Best Practices for Listing Skills on Your Resume

Following some tips for placing the skills in the right place in the resume is recommended to enhance the visibility of your resume:

Skill Section Placement

Based on the number of skills you want to list and the type of skills you want to list, you can choose any of the following skills sections: technical skills section, additional skills section, and relevant skills section.

Technical skills section

If the job you are applying for seems to equally prioritize skill set and work experience, then opting for technical skills is good.

Example: cybersecurity resume (only skills section)

Additional section

This is a section where you will list out only a few skills, and this section is integrated with other skill sections. In general, if you decide to list your skills in an additional section, then work experience will take up most of the space in the resume. This is often linked to the technical skills section.

An additional skills section might look like this:

Relevant skills

In case you feel your previous work experience demonstrates a lot more than your skill set would demonstrate, then you can go for this relevant skills section. This section lists down your skill set as one headline, your work experience as one, and your achievements as one. You can also include interpersonal skills.

Example:

Experience

Achievements

Interpersonal skills

Demonstrating Skill Proficiency

You can showcase your skills in your work experience to imprint a positive impression on the employer. Combining your work experience with skill demonstrations is a good practice to stress your competence for the role. It repeatedly keeps informing the employer that you are fit for the role. You can even mention the level of expertise you have in a particular skill to clarify your learning level. There is a cover letter to every resume for a more personalized illustration of your skills. It is also recommended to highlight your competencies in a way more personalized manner in your cover letter.

Quantifying Your Skills

When talking about achievements or the contributions you have made to your workplace, you can quantify your achievements. Like,

Coming to skills, you can mention your skills by quantifying them. An example is as follows:

Include Your Skills in the Work Experience Description

As already discussed, it is advised to include your skills even in your work experience description. Integrating the work experience with the skills is one of the ways to continuously stress upon your achievements and competency.

Developing and Improving Skills for Your Resume

It's one thing to list the skills, but what's the backstory behind acquiring those skills? Success is visible, but the journey is often hidden. What's in the journey for you? How do you start your journey?

Let us answer all the questions above. In simpler terms, how do you gain those skills that are required to grab the job? The Internet is a free school. We have no place to complain about the lack of resources. The answer to every question is the internet itself. By utilizing the internet properly, you can acquire skills or gain knowledge in any field. Here's how:

Key Takeaways

A quick overview of this article is provided below: