Resume writing
Skills to Put on a Resume: 40+ Practical Examples
The best skills to put on a resume are the capabilities the target job requires and your experience can prove. A focused list helps an employer scan your fit; specific accomplishment bullets make the claim believable.
Table of contents
A skills section is useful for fast scanning and keyword matching, but it cannot carry the resume alone. Use the same important capabilities in accomplishment bullets where you can show context and results.
How to choose resume skills
- Read the job description and mark repeated tools, methods, responsibilities, and credentials.
- Compare the list with skills you have actually used.
- Check a trusted occupation profile such as O*NET for standard terminology.
- Rank the overlap by importance to the role.
- Keep only the skills you could explain in an interview.
Hard skills and soft skills
Hard skills are teachable capabilities such as SQL, bookkeeping, copy editing, or equipment operation. Soft skills describe how you work, such as communication, leadership, and problem solving.
Both matter, but they should be presented differently. Tools and methods can often sit directly in a skills list. Broad interpersonal strengths are more convincing when an accomplishment demonstrates them.
Too general
Leadership, communication, teamwork, problem solving
More useful
Trained six new associates, created a shift handoff checklist, and reduced order corrections by 18% over three months.
40+ resume skills examples
Choose only the examples that fit your target role and actual experience.
Business and operations
- Project planning
- Process improvement
- Budget tracking
- Vendor management
- Inventory control
- Scheduling
- Risk assessment
- Quality assurance
Data and technology
- Microsoft Excel
- Google Sheets
- SQL
- Python
- Tableau
- Power BI
- Data visualization
- CRM administration
- Git
- HTML and CSS
Marketing and sales
- Content strategy
- SEO
- Email marketing
- Market research
- Lead qualification
- Sales forecasting
- Google Analytics
- Campaign reporting
Customer and people skills
- Customer service
- Account management
- Conflict resolution
- Training and onboarding
- Interviewing
- Facilitation
- Public speaking
- Cross-functional collaboration
Writing, design, and language
- Copy editing
- Technical writing
- Presentation design
- Canva
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- UX research
- Spanish
- Mandarin
Role-specific and certified skills
- First aid and CPR
- Food safety
- Forklift operation
- Bookkeeping
- Payroll processing
- Electronic health records
- Laboratory procedures
- CAD
How to write the skills section
Use recognizable names and group skills only when the categories help scanning. Avoid rating bars and star systems because they do not explain what “four out of five” means.
Simple format: Skills: SQL · Tableau · Excel · Data visualization · Forecasting · Stakeholder presentations
Put the most important skills first. Then echo two or three of them in your experience with action, context, and a result.
Resume skills checklist
- Every skill is relevant to the target role.
- The most important capabilities appear first.
- Tools and methods use precise, recognizable names.
- Your strongest skills are supported by examples elsewhere.
- The section is short enough to scan quickly.
- Spelling and capitalization are consistent.
Once you have chosen the skills to put on your resume, open the free resume builder and check that the surrounding experience proves your most important claims.
Sources and further reading
Put it into practice
Put the right skills into context.
Open LeanCV, tailor the example content, and check that your skills are supported by the experience around them before exporting the PDF.
Resume skills FAQ
How many skills should you put on a resume?
Include a focused set of roughly six to twelve skills that matter to the target role. A shorter, relevant list is more useful than a long inventory, especially when your experience bullets also prove the most important skills.
Should you put soft skills on a resume?
Yes, but show soft skills through evidence whenever possible. Reserve the skills section mainly for job-specific capabilities, tools, methods, languages, and credentials.
What are good skills to put on a resume with no experience?
Use skills you can support through school, volunteering, projects, clubs, caregiving, or personal work. Match the job description and be ready to explain where and how you used each skill.
Where should the skills section go on a resume?
Place skills near the top when technical or job-specific capabilities are central to the role. Otherwise, put the section after experience or education.