Writing Skills for a Resume (Guide + Examples List)

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Table of contents

What are writing skills and why do they matter?
40+ examples of writing skills to include on your resume
How to include writing skills on your resume
How to improve your writing skills
More skills resources
Key takeaways

Effective communication is one of the most important skills for a professional, no matter your field, industry or seniority level. Your resume needs to showcase your ability to convey your ideas to co-workers and shareholders. For this, you need to demonstrate your writing skills.

But how do you make the most of writing skills on your resume? Read on to find out:

What writing skills are and why they are valuable for your resume.
A list of essential writing skills to reference and include in your resume.
How to highlight your writing skills on your resume for maximum impact.
How to improve your writing skills so you can build an even stronger resume than before.
Key takeaways to remember the most important points.

Need help building a resume that showcases your writing skills? Try our AI Resume Builder. This tool provides professionally written text suggestions that you can customize, automatic formatting to meet your standards and guidance to overcome writer's block.

What are writing skills and why do they matter?

If you're wondering just what writing skills are, look no further than the name! Writing skills are skills that help you achieve clear and effective written communication.

But why do I need writing skills if I'm not a writer? Well, turns out writing skills aren't just "skills for writers." They're abilities that make you a stronger worker and communicator in any professional setting.

Maybe you aren't a writer, but have you ever needed to document your accomplishments at work? Or to write an email? What about writing a resume or putting together a cover letter? That's right, writing skills aren't just helpful on a resume, they also empower you to write a great one. Resume writing skills help you further your career in more ways than one!

Depending on your career needs, you might choose to stick with general writing skills that demonstrate your communication abilities, or you may want to showcase your technical expertise as a writer with specific writing skills for professional writing applications, such as academic writing or technical writing.

40+ examples of writing skills to include on your resume

Now that you know what writing skills are and why they matter, let's dive into some examples of writing skills that you can include on your resume to position yourself as an effective communicator.

General writing skills

When you're not a writer by trade, you don't need to be a masterful wordsmith. What you do need is a few key skills that help you get your message across clearly and effectively.

Here are some general writing skills to list on your resume:

Written communication
Critical thinking
Email writing
Research
Spelling
Editing
Use of specific text editors like:
- Microsoft Word
- Google Docs
Collaboration
Creativity
Innovation
Problem-solving

Specific writing skills

Many industries rely heavily on writing. Depending on your role and the purpose of what you're writing, you may need to employ a highly specialized skill set.

Examples of specific types of writing skills required in writing-centric roles:

Academic writing
Ad writing
Technical writing
Creative writing
Grant writing
Social media writing
Content writing
Documentation writing
PR writing
Scriptwriting
Blog writing
Copywriting
UX writing
Journalistic writing

Skills for writers

If your job is in writing, the skills you need to list on your resume can go deeper than what most people need to include when their role simply requires writing emails and occasional reports.

Examples of highly specialized writing skills:

Mastery of different writing styles
Adaptability of voice and tone
Imagery
Editorial judgment
Ideation
Word count
Familiarity with target audience
Knowledge of style manuals such as:
Storytelling
Evoking emotion
Paraphrasing
Quoting
Summarizing
Source research and verification
Formatting
Spelling and grammar
Rhetorical devices
Keyword use for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

How to include writing skills on your resume

Now that you understand the importance of strong writing skills, you can focus on showcasing them on your resume. Here's how to get started:

Step 1

Pay attention to writing-related keywords from the job description

Every job listing includes specific skills and responsibilities. These keywords are crucial to demonstrate that you meet the requirements of the role, and many of them will relate to writing skills.

If a job listing highlights critical thinking skills, written communication and research, you can rest assured that these three writing skills are great candidates for your resume.

Pro tip

Aligning your writing skills with the job listing also improves your resume's chances of passing through applicant tracking systems (ATS), which are designed to screen out unqualified candidates.

Step 2

Include writing skills in your skills section

Your resume's skills section is the perfect place to highlight your writing skills. Use this section to showcase your ability to communicate effectively and adapt your writing style to different purposes and audiences.

This is the place that employers will look to find out what skills you feel confident in. Make sure that your most important writing skills are on display here, but this section isn't the only place where you can showcase them.

Step 3

Incorporate writing skills throughout your resume

Your writing skills shouldn't be confined to just one section. Use your resume profile to highlight a few key writing skills at the top of your resume, and use your work experience section to describe concrete examples of how you've used your writing skills to achieve results in the workplace.

Pro tip

If you're an entry-level applicant whose resume focuses more on skills than experience, consider using a functional resume format to make sure that your writing skills take top billing.

Step 4

Use specifics to back up your skills

It's one thing to say you're a skilled editor or a research wizard, but these skills make a much stronger impression if you can back them up. Include specific examples of how you've used your writing skills to achieve measurable results.

Don't just say that you've compiled data onto a PowerPoint presentation, say that you "aggregated vital company data onto a slide presentation shared with 190 shareholders and achieved a 33% higher than average engagement score in follow-up surveys." Obviously, you should make sure that whatever you say is true, but getting specific with numbers is a great way to showcase the real world impact of your writing skills.

Step 5

Don't overlook your cover letter

Your cover letter provides a great opportunity to expand on your qualifications. A thoughtfully written cover letter is also a great chance to show off some writing skills in action.

Give your cover letter the attention it deserves so that your unique voice shines through. But also, be sure to write a cover letter that highlights specific writing skills and how they align with the expectations of your target role. Look for cover letter examples to guide you, and use our Cover Letter Generator if you need help getting started.

How to improve your writing skills

You know what writing skills are, you know why they matter and now you even know how to incorporate them onto your resume alongside your other vital professional skills. But what if you feel like your writing skills are lacking? Now the issue at hand is how to improve your writing skills so that you can make the most of them for your job search.

Fortunately, improving your writing skills is something you can do every day without changing up your routine all that much.

Improve your writing skills by:

Communicating mindfully: Your writing skills often correlate to your speaking skills. Think about the way you talk to others and practice active listening. Do certain communication styles lead to more effective understanding? Pay attention to what works and what doesn't.
Reading: Many of the best writers are also avid readers. Whether it's news articles, books or corporate memos, think about the material you read every day. How do the authors get their point across without losing your attention?
Practicing accepting feedback: Constructive criticism might be constructive, but let's face it — it's almost never fun. But that doesn't make it any less important. To improve your writing skills, focus on the feedback you've received in the past, share some of your current work with a respected friend or colleague and try to really metabolize the notes you receive. Be open to the changes they suggest to you and think of how those changes might improve your writing.
Embracing the process: If hamburger essays were the bane of your existence in fifth grade, then you might think of writing, and the associated writing skills we've discussed, as a tedious chore. But even if you'll never love the writing process, you do have to embrace it to some extent if you want to improve. Next time you work on your writing skills, fight the urge to take shortcuts and really focus on devoting that time to the writing process.

More skills resources

Looking for help understanding, improving or listing a different career skill? Check out our other guides for assistance.

Now, let's get into some key takeaways to remember so that you can get to making your writing skills shine.

Key takeaways

Emphasize general or specific writing skills
Whether you're a writer or not, writing skills can be key to helping you communicate with your co-workers, customers or colleagues. Your resume should highlight the writing skills that help you do your job well, whether it's for emails or full proposals.
Showcase writing skills on your resume and cover letter
Prove that you possess the writing skills you list by making sure that your resume and cover letter are well-written themselves. It's difficult to convince a manager that you're a great writer if your application is full of sloppy mistakes.
Back up your skills with examples
List your writing skills in your skills section and then expand upon how you've used them in your work experience section by providing concrete examples of the results you've achieved. These examples will have extra oomph if you use numbers to drive home your impact.
Improve your writing skills
Practice makes perfect. If you want writing skills to be a selling point for your resume, then you should be prepared to devote some time to honing them. This doesn't have to be hard. Even paying attention to the way you receive information from others can be helpful as you develop your ability to communicate.

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