The skills you put on your resume should provide an accurate representation of what you can do. We suggest that you incorporate them into both the skills and work history sections. Choose to include hard skills that showcase your most notable professional abilities. Examples include computer programming, accounting, and typing.
It is also a good idea to include transferrable soft skills. Examples include good work ethic, problem-solving, and organization. Finally, remember to include skills that are universally desired across all industries. Hiring managers should be able to review your list and understand why they should hire you. For help creating your document, refer to our resume writing tips and our list of top 10 skills to put on your resume.
10 Skills to Put on Your Resume in 2018 |
You could choose from many great skills to put on your resume. But if you include every skill you can think of, your resume will be much too long. Narrowing down your options to the most relevant selections is essential. Check out our list of top 10 skills below for a universal approach to resume creation.
1. Communication
Communication consistently ranks high among hiring managers. While hard skills are important, soft skills are also highly valued. A recent Bloomberg study reveals that job recruiters consider communication skills to be very important. Unfortunately, the same recruiters report few candidates have good communication skills. Since this highly desirable soft skill is so rare, it is wise to list it on your resume if you have it. Communication skills can include both verbal and written forms.
2. Business Development
Bentley University recently commissioned a new labor market analysis across nine different industries. As part of the analysis, they collected data from over 24 million job listings. Their findings identify business development as a top skill. According to their data, many industries value business development skills. The analysis referred to business development as a hybrid skill.
Developing hybrid skills may help applicants land jobs in various industries. Business development is a hybrid because it includes marketing, customer service, and analytical thinking. It is one of the highly-desired skills to put on your resume.
3. Excel
In today's workplace, knowing how to use Excel is a must. You will probably use Excel at some point, regardless of your position or industry. You can use it to make calculations, create formulas, and organize data. You can also use it to identify trends and build charts for professional presentations. Learning the entire Microsoft Office suite will make you a more universally valuable job applicant and is one of the eye-catching skills to put on your resume.
4. Interpersonal Skills
When selecting skills to put on your resume, remember that interpersonal skills are transferable skills; they are important across all industries. No matter what job you take, you will almost certainly need to cooperate with others. Curt Peterson, Principal Engineer at Peterson Geotechnical Group, LLC, has extensive hiring experience. He always looks for interpersonal skills when interviewing applicants.
When asked which skills he values most, Peterson responded, "When I interview people, I evaluate their personalities. I determine if they are likeable, and most important, if they can work well with others. We spend more time with some coworkers than we do our spouses and families. They need to be nice, decent people with a good work ethic, or work will be awful."
You can list interpersonal skills in a variety of ways to target your personal strengths. "Positive attitude," "collaboration," and "relationship management" are great terms to use. Select the words and phrases that best match your own interpersonal skills.
5. Analytical Skills
You need to know which valuable skills to put on your resume. According to the Journal of Education for Business, managers value analytical skills in the workplace. Analytical skills include the ability to perceive and use information to solve problems. Alternative words to use when listing analytical skills include "problem-solving," "critical thinking," and "research." Employers want to hire individuals who are as good at coming up with solutions as they are at identifying problems.
6. Cloud and Distributed Computing
In our technologically-advanced society, computing is a universally desirable ability.
A LinkedIn analysis referenced by Business Insider confirms this. According to the analysis, cloud and distributed computing is one of the most in-demand skills around the globe. Employees with these tech talents can help businesses organize and share their resources. According to LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher, every industry needs tech employees. Acquiring technological skills will likely serve you well, whether you're seeking a tech-specific position or not.
7. Data Mining
As with general computing skills, data mining abilities are currently in high demand. Fisher states that data mining made the number two spot on LinkedIn's list of most in-demand skills in 2015. Data mining is the process of sorting through data to discover relationships and patterns that can predict future trends. Discovering trends can help businesses develop more effective operational and marketing strategies. In simple terms, data mining makes it easier for businesses to lower costs and increase sales.
Which industries need it most?
- Financial/banking
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing engineering
- Fraud detection
- Advertising
- Retail
- Consumer analytics
8. Marketing
Monster (a large job platform) analyzed information from more than 900,000 job postings in several industries. Their goal was to identify the top skills that consistently appeared across most of the listings. CNBC reviewed the data and used it to create their own list of top skills to develop. Marketing made it to the number two spot on their list in order of importance.
Many employers expect their employees to have a basic understanding of marketing. Learning about current marketing techniques is important for all employees, regardless of position. Social media marketing is an especially valuable skill that can make you a more qualified job candidate.
9. Product Management
Few people have the ability to transform an idea from a concept to a successful product or service. Businesses value employees who have product management experience. They want people on their team who can present product ideas to potential investors in a convincing manner. Product management includes forecasting, production planning, and marketing of a product. In short, it involves successfully managing all stages of a product's lifecycle to maximize success.
Product management is a versatile skill that can get you hired in a variety of industries. Any business that markets a product or service relies on product managers to help them succeed. If you have experience in this area, be sure it is one of the skills you put on your resume.
10. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a useful aptitude that can make you a more adaptable job candidate. Beyond editing images, you can use Photoshop for many other purposes. It is often used to improve company photos, create advertisements, and design web pages. You can also use it to create promotional videos and 3D imagery. Adobe Photoshop is important for graphic designers, web developers, production artists, and photographers.
Which industries need it most?
- Advertising
- Web development
- Photography
- Product-based industries
- Service-based industries
What's Next? |
Creating a great resume is one of the first steps to getting a good job. Your resume should include your most relevant, universal skills, as well as job-specific skills. Writing your document from scratch can be a challenge, especially when it comes to knowing which skills to put on your resume. Fortunately, there are tools available to make the process easier. For help writing yours, use Resume-Now's quick and effortless resume builder as a resource.
