10+ Best Skills For Your Resume (According to Employers)

Even if you’re a recent graduate or a student without formal work experience, you still have valuable skills to showcase on your resume.

Below, you’ll find a list of the best hard and soft skills to highlight on your resume – even if you don’t have work experience.

What are the different types of skills?

The different types of skills are hard skills (specific, teachable abilities) and soft skills (personal attributes that help you thrive in the workplace).

When you write your resume, you want to include a combination of both. Typically, you should list your hard skills outright, while soft skills should be demonstrated through examples in your work experience section.

Top hard skills to list on your resume

Hard skills are the abilities that are required for you to do your job. When hiring for a role, employers are primarily looking for hard skills on your resume.

According to a poll of hiring managers, these are the most sought-after hard skills across a variety of industries:

📊 Data Analysis

You might already have experience analyzing data if you’ve worked on research papers, lab reports, or class projects. Skills in tools like Excel (for charts or formulas) or basic coding in Python are valuable for a variety of different jobs.

Example of data analysis skills on a resume

“Analyzed survey data from 100+ respondents for a research project, identifying key trends to support my team’s findings.”

📣 Project Management

Employers value project management skills, even if your experience comes from school. Managing a group project, leading a club event, or coordinating volunteer work all demonstrate this skill.

Example of project management skills on a resume

“Led a group of 5 students to deliver a class presentation ahead of schedule, coordinating tasks and ensuring deadlines were met.”

🧑‍💻 Tech and Coding

If you’ve taken coding classes or worked on personal programming projects, list those languages. Even beginner-level knowledge in HTML, Python, or Java shows potential.

Example of coding skills on a resume

“Created a personal website using HTML and CSS, showcasing portfolio projects.”

🗣️ Foreign Languages

Being fluent in foreign languages like Spanish, Mandarin, French, or others can be a significant asset in many roles, especially in international or customer-facing positions.

Listing language skills on your resume indicates your ability to communicate effectively with a broader audience, making you a valuable candidate for roles that involve global outreach or multilingual customer support.

Example of language skills on a resume

“Intermediate Spanish proficiency, practiced through coursework and travel experiences.”

📈 Marketing

Skills in social media management or content creation are easy to build, even if you haven’t held a job in marketing before.

Think about whether you’ve helped promote a club event or started a personal blog. Small experiences like these are a great way to demonstrate your talent for marketing.

Example of marketing skills on a resume

“Increased event attendance by 30% by managing social media promotions for the student art club.”

Top soft skills to highlight on your resume

Soft skills are the personality traits that make you a strong employee and a good person to work with.

Unlike hard skills, you shouldn’t list soft skills on your resume outright. Instead, highlight them through the examples listed in your work experience section.

Hiring managers say that these are the top soft skills they look for in potential hires:

🧏 Communication

Excellent verbal and written communication skills are crucial in almost every role. Employers value candidates who can convey information effectively, present ideas clearly, and engage in meaningful discussions with both colleagues and clients.

If you don’t have any professional experience, your experience presenting in class or writing essays is a good way to demonstrate your communication skills.

Example of communication skills on a resume

“Delivered a 15-minute presentation on climate change to a class of 30 peers, receiving positive feedback on clarity and engagement.”

👥 Teamwork

Teamwork involves working effectively with colleagues to achieve common goals. Employers look for individuals who can collaborate, contribute to group efforts, and help resolve conflicts. Teamwork skills are especially important in environments where projects require cross-functional teams or remote collaboration.

Example of teamwork skills on a resume

“Collaborated with 3 team members to design and launch a fundraising event, raising $2,000 for charity.”

📐 Problem-Solving

Problem-solving is the ability to analyze issues, think creatively, and develop effective solutions – something everyone’s done at some point during work or in school.

Employers value problem solving skills because they demonstrate your capacity to handle challenges independently and contribute to a team’s success by finding ways to overcome obstacles.

Example of problem solving skills on a resume

“Developed a cost-effective solution for a class engineering project, reducing material costs by 25%.”

💡 Adaptability

Adaptability refers to your ability to adjust to new conditions, whether it’s a change in company strategy, technology, or day-to-day responsibilities. Employers value candidates who can handle unexpected changes and remain productive and positive when facing new challenges.

To highlight your adaptability, mention times you adjusted to a new challenge, like switching to remote learning or learning new tools quickly.

Example of adaptability on a resume

“Adapted to online learning during the pandemic, maintaining a 3.8 GPA while adjusting to new technologies.”

⏳ Time Management

Time management is the skill of organizing and prioritizing tasks to ensure you complete your work in an efficient way.

Employers are always looking for individuals who demonstrate effective time management skills because these skills mean you’ll be better able to meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks without compromising quality.

Example of time management skills on a resume

“Managed 5 courses and extracurricular activities while meeting all deadlines and maintaining academic honors.”

How to highlight skills on your resume

If you want to showcase your skills effectively, you need to do more than just list them in the skills section of your resume.

Highlighting your skills the right way can make all the difference in grabbing a potential employer’s attention and landing an interview.

1. Match your skills to the job description

The best way to identify what skills employers are looking for is by analyzing the job description for the position you want.

Take this job ad for a nursing position, for instance. We’ve highlighted soft skills in green and hard skills in yellow:

In this ad, you can quickly pick out several good skills to put on your resume. For example, there’s a range of technical skills needed for the position in the bullet points, as well as many soft skills that help define the ideal candidate.

2. Place skills strategically

There are two different places on your resume where you can highlight your skills:

• Dedicated skills section: List key hard skills in a dedicated “Skills” section on your resume for easy scanning. This is where you want to list any skills that are “need to haves” for the job.
• Experience section (through examples): For other skills — soft skills in particular – the best way to demonstrate your abilities is by providing examples in your work experience bullet points. This is where you want to list skills that are “nice to haves.”

For skills you really want to emphasize, work them into both parts of your resume. This way employers can see you have a certain skill at a glance, plus an example of what you accomplished with that skill.

3. Use action verbs to demonstrate impact

Using action verbs like “developed,” “led,” “optimized,” or “analyzed” can help describe how you applied your skills in previous roles, showing your contributions clearly and effectively.

For example, instead of simply stating “Project Management,” say “Led a cross-functional team of 10 to successfully deliver a software project on schedule and within budget.”

To go even further, you should use hard numbers whenever possible to highlight your impact. For example, “Optimized customer onboarding process, reducing time to completion by 30%.”

4. Specify your level of proficiency (when appropriate)

Employers want to know how experienced you are with certain skills before they interview you.

For example, if you list Spanish as a skill on your resume, you should include a metric that indicates your skill level, such as “Intermediate”, “Fluent”, or “Native.”

Frequently asked questions about resume skills

Here are answers to some of the most common questions job seekers have about listing skills on their resume:

What’s the difference between hard skills vs soft skills?

Hard skills are the specific, teachable abilities you need to do your job — like coding, accounting, or operating machinery. Soft skills, on the other hand, are the personal qualities that make you good at working with others and navigating your professional life.

You might learn hard skills through education or training, but soft skills often develop through experience and personal growth. Both are essential: your hard skills might get you the interview, but your soft skills often determine whether you’ll be a successful team member and advance in your career.

What skills should I put on my resume if I have no work experience?

You most likely developed some hard skills in school, such as research or presenting. You can also put soft skills on your resume. For example:

• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Positive attitude
• Assertiveness
• Time management

Additionally, listing language skills on your resume (if you have any) is a great way to set yourself apart from other more experienced applicants in the US.

Should I include skills that I’m still learning?

Yes, you should include skills you’re still developing on your resume if they’re highly relevant to the job, but it’s important to be transparent about your proficiency level. Instead of listing these emerging skills, consider using phrases like “working knowledge of,” or “basic proficiency in,” to accurately reflect your capabilities.

Should my skills section change for each job application?

Yes, customize your skills section to highlight the most relevant abilities for each specific position you’re applying for.

You should organize your skills section by listing your most job-relevant abilities at the beginning of your skills section.

You can also feature your best skills in your resume introduction to catch employers’ attention right away.

Are there skills I shouldn’t include on my resume?

Leave skills that aren’t relevant to your target role off your resume, even if they’re impressive.

Also, skip outdated technical skills that are no longer industry-standard (like older versions of software) or skills that are so basic they’re assumed for professional roles (like using email or basic Microsoft Office skills).