The Best Skills to Put on a Resume (With Examples)
The skills section is one of the most-read and most-misused parts of a resume. People either stuff it with twenty random words or fill it with vague phrases like “team player” that mean nothing. Done right, it tells a recruiter, and the software scanning your resume, that you have exactly what the job needs. This guide covers which skills to put on a resume, where to put them, and how to make them count.
Hard skills vs soft skills
There are two kinds of skills, and a good resume uses both, just in different ways.
Hard skills
These are specific, teachable abilities you can usually prove: software, tools, languages, certifications, techniques. Think Python, Excel, Salesforce, Spanish, financial modeling, or graphic design. These belong in a clear skills section because recruiters and tracking systems search for them by name.
Soft skills
These are how you work and work with people: communication, leadership, problem-solving, adaptability. They matter, but listing them as plain words does almost nothing, because anyone can claim them. Soft skills are far more convincing when you show them through your experience rather than naming them.
Where skills go on your resume
Your hard skills work best in a dedicated, scannable skills section, usually a short list grouped by type. Your soft skills are better proven inside your work experience bullets, where you can show them in action. A recruiter believes “led a team of six through a tight launch” far more than the word “leadership” sitting in a list.
The best hard skills to put on a resume
The right skills depend entirely on your field, but here are strong, in-demand examples by category to get you thinking. Include the ones that are true for you and relevant to the job.
- Data and analytics: Excel, SQL, Tableau, Power BI, Google Analytics, data visualization
- Tech and development: Python, JavaScript, Git, cloud platforms, API integration
- Marketing: SEO, content strategy, Google Ads, email marketing, HubSpot, copywriting
- Design: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, UX research, prototyping
- Business and operations: project management, budgeting, CRM software, process improvement, forecasting
- Languages: any second language, with your level
Soft skills that actually matter
A few soft skills genuinely move the needle for employers, including communication, leadership, problem-solving, time management, and adaptability. The trick is to prove them, not list them.
Skills: communication, leadership, problem-solving, teamwork, hardworking
Led a 5-person team through a software migration, coordinating across three departments and finishing two weeks ahead of schedule.
How to pick the right skills for each job
This is the step that turns a generic skills list into a targeted one. For every application:
- Read the job posting and highlight the skills it names, especially the ones repeated or listed as requirements.
- Match those against your own skills and put the overlap front and center.
- Use the same wording the posting uses, so both the recruiter and the tracking system find what they're looking for.
How many skills should you list?
Quality beats quantity. Somewhere around 8 to 12 well-chosen hard skills is plenty for most resumes. A giant list of twenty or more dilutes the strong ones and starts to look like padding. Pick the skills that are both relevant to the role and genuinely yours.
Skills to leave off
- Outdated tools no one asks for anymore, unless the job specifically wants them.
- Basics that are assumed,like “email” or “Microsoft Word,” for most professional roles.
- Vague soft-skill words with nothing to back them up.
- Anything you can't actually do. It will come up in the interview.
Show your skills, don't just name them
The strongest resumes do both: a tight skills list for the hard, searchable abilities, and work experience bullets that prove the rest in context. When a recruiter sees “Salesforce” in your skills and then reads a bullet about how you used it to grow renewals by 15%, the claim becomes real.
Build a skills-matched resume in seconds
Choosing the right skills for every job, in the right words, is exactly the kind of careful work that's easy to skip when you're applying to a lot of places. It's also the kind of thing software is good at.
With Speed Resumes, you list your skills and experience in your profile once, then let it match them against each job posting. The most relevant skills land where they belong, worded to match the role, on a clean ATS-ready resume you can download in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
What skills should I put on a resume?
Focus on hard skills that are relevant to the job, like software, tools, languages, and certifications, and prove your soft skills through your work experience instead of just listing them. Always match your skills to the job posting.
What is the difference between hard skills and soft skills?
Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities you can prove, such as Excel, Python, or a second language. Soft skills describe how you work, like communication and leadership, and are best shown through real examples.
How many skills should I list on a resume?
About 8 to 12 well-chosen hard skills is right for most resumes. A longer list dilutes your strongest skills and can look like padding.
Should I list soft skills on my resume?
Naming soft skills in a list does little, because anyone can claim them. Instead, prove them in your work experience bullets, for example by describing a time you led a team or solved a hard problem.
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